Company Name
William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
Company City
Menlo Park
Company State
CA
Job Location
Menlo Park, CA
Company Information
Job Description
The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation is searching for two Grants Officers to join the Grantmaking, Learning, and Operations (GLO) team. Established in 1967, the foundation’s grantmaking has focused on helping to solve social and environmental problems at home and around the world, concentrating its resources on activities in education, the environment, global development and population, performing arts, and philanthropy, along with grants to support disadvantaged communities in the San Francisco Bay Area. With assets of around $15 billion, annual awards of grants and gifts recently totaled around $530 million. The foundation’s culture and approach to its work are informed by their guiding principles.
The Grants Officers will be joining the foundation at an exciting inflection point in its history as it implements the learnings spurred by the continuing pandemic and the national reckoning with racial justice awareness that coalesced around the summer of 2020. Grants Officers will be joining a team that has been reimagined into a foundation-wide resource for ensuring that equity and transparency remain the centerpiece of their grantmaking efforts. Embedded with a program team(s) as their dedicated thought partner and resource, Grants Officers serve as a liaison between their program and the GLO team to shape relevant promising practices and process improvements from around the foundation. The foundation is seeking to add two members to the Grants Officers cohort, reporting to the Director, Grantmaking, Learning, and Operations.
TEAM OVERVIEW
In early 2021, the Grants Management department was relaunched as the Grantmaking, Learning, and Operations (GLO) team, incorporating responsibility for collating and disseminating insights and learnings from their own work, and from around the foundation, into opportunities to drive process improvements that maintains equity and transparency in their grantmaking efforts. The team is in a continuous learning posture, utilizing their unique vantage point across the organization as embedded partners with programmatic teams and collaborators with administrative functions to facilitate the grantmaking process and achieve foundation goals.
The GLO team plays a pivotal role in all grantmaking activities and has a valued voice in all aspects of the foundation’s work, from developing tools and processes to implementing systems and advancing promising practices through training. The team designs systems to interact with grantees, manages the grant lifecycle, aggregates information, analyzes data, and shares learnings across the foundation. Working on every program and on every grant, the GLO team is a critical partner and respected resource in the management and implementation of program strategies, serving as thought partners and catalysts for innovation.
GLO led the process of launching a new Salesforce Grants Management System (GMS) and remains in deep collaboration with the IT team to continue the refinement and rollout of it. A set of values drove the process and design principles, including: leveraging collaboration and mutual respect in grant practice, transparency and learning for both staff and grantees, and supporting lean Hewlett Foundation staffing with simple and flexible procedures. In addition, an integral part of the design considerations for the new GMS was a focus on equity for grantees and staff.
OPPORTUNITIES & CHALLENGES FOR THE NEW GRANTS OFFICERS
Reporting to Marcus McGrew, the Director of Grantmaking, Learning, and Operations, the incoming Grants Officers will be joining an innovative team structure that has combined Grants Management with Organizational Learning. The next Grants Officers will engage with the following opportunities and challenges:
Program Partnership
Embedded within a specific program(s), Grants Officers are a critical partner in the foundation’s grantmaking operations, ensuring that grants practices are consistent with the Foundation’s policies and values. Grants Officers serve as the first reviewer for their program’s grants, reviewing proposals for accuracy and data integrity. They also ensure that grantmaking operations are continually refined, bringing in learnings from their peers on the GLO team to socialize promising practices that streamline processes and ensure the equitable and transparent treatment of programmatic partners in the field.
Technical Support
Grants Officers have a unique lens into the programmatic work of their embedded team(s) and the wider operations of the foundation as a member of GLO. As such, Grants Officers play the role of a systems translator, liaising across the administrative functions of the foundation to ensure that both GLO and the programmatic perspectives are incorporated into the systems and processes that govern the use of the foundation’s technology. In support of their program team(s), Grants Officers provide technical support and promising practices guidance, with particular attention to the recent deployment of the foundation’s Salesforce grants management system.
Advising and Training
Grants Officers regularly assess the areas of expertise that exist within the GLO team to identify opportunities to provide trainings and facilitate knowledge sharing for their program team(s). Ranging from forecasting and planning, to data analysis, and developing and deploying learning modules, Grants Officers actively seek ways to share the expertise of the GLO team. This includes taking an analytical, “solutions oriented” approach to improve how the foundation collects, curates, and uses knowledge and information about its grants and grantees.
Project Management
Grants Officers lead projects of varying complexity across all levels of the organization to advance promising practices and the Foundation’s goals. This includes establishing a project plan, setting the scope, timeline and budget, working with relevant consultants and vendors, and managing the project team(s). Grants Officers foster and facilitate inclusion and consensus-building, while advocating for their own point of view and ensuring project goals are achieved.
Job Qualifications
DESIRED ATTRIBUTES OF THE GRANTS OFFICERS
The Grants Officers will be motivated by the Hewlett Foundation’s guiding principles with an understanding of the influence that a foundation can have within its chosen areas of focus. They will have some experience with grantmaking, grant writing and stewardship, nonprofits, or philanthropy – we highly encourage philanthropic recipients and partners to consider bringing their experiences and expertise into the candidate pool. While no one candidate will embody all the qualifications below, the ideal candidate will possess many of the following professional and personal abilities, attributes, and experiences:
• A minimum of 7 years of professional experience is desired, preferably in a context that developed the skills needed for effective grant management.
• A bachelor’s degree in a related field is preferred.
• An authentic commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice principles and to implementing strategies that drive equity in grantmaking processes.
• Experience with data management, and familiarity with data systems and business processes; direct experience with Salesforce would be highly valued.
• A consultative, customer service like approach to project management that centers inclusion and consensus-building.
• The ability to think big picture as well as focusing on day-to-day operations, pivoting from strategic level to implementation.
• The ability to prioritize and synthesize information in an analytical and systematic manner.
• Strong emotional intelligence and the ability to build trusting relationships across silos and teams.
• Possess the presence and confidence to facilitate robust conversations, welcoming and recognizing the value of differing perspectives.
• Comfort with providing structure within ambiguity.
• Have strong written communication skills.
• A growth mindset with an optimistic approach and can do attitude.
Possessing any of the following qualifications would be welcome value adds to the foundation:
• Financial or business analysis skills.
• Experience in adult learning and training including designing effective training and learning sessions.
• Experience in a consulting environment managing large scale projects.
• Experience in a decentralized organizational culture with ability to flex across dynamic teams.
• A commitment to mission driven work and interest in a broad range of social issues.
• A respectfully candid approach to advocating for oneself.
• An aptitude for pivoting between being relational and technical engagements.
• Experience in international grantmaking, grant writing and stewardship, nonprofit, or philanthropy.
The salary range for this role starts at $130,000 – $160,000 and includes a comprehensive benefits package. Salary offers are based on a candidate’s years of experience and the foundation’s practice of maintaining salary equity.
How to Apply
To learn more about the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation please visit: www.hewlett.org
This search is being led by Cara Pearsall and Robert Diggs of NPAG. Candidates may submit their cover letter, outlining their interest, qualifications, and commitment to equity and transparency as a central tenet of effective grantmaking, along with their resume via NPAG’s website.
The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation embraces the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion both internally, in our hiring process and organizational culture, and externally, in our grantmaking and related practices. We are an equal opportunity employer and welcome applications from people of all backgrounds, cultures, and experiences.