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Job Openings
The following positions are for the Skoll Foundation. All contact information for applications and inquiries are contained within each of the postings.
The following positions are for the Skoll Global Threats Fund, a sister organization to the Skoll Foundation. All contact information for applications and inquiries are contained within each of the postings.
Program Officer
Department: Program and Impact Team
Employment Status: Full-time, exempt
Background
The Skoll Foundation was established in 1999 by eBay’s first president, Jeff Skoll, who serves as the founder and chairman. The Skoll Foundation’s mission is to drive large-scale change by investing in, connecting and celebrating social entrepreneurs and other innovators dedicated to solving the world’s most pressing problems. Social entrepreneurs are proven leaders whose innovative approaches and solutions to social and environmental problems are helping to better the lives and circumstances of countless underserved or disadvantaged individuals and society overall. By identifying the people and their organizations already bringing positive change around the world, the Skoll Foundation empowers them to extend their reach, deepen their impact and fundamentally transform society.
Position Description
The Program and Impact team seeks a Program Officer who brings a combination of intellectual curiosity, a passion for social change, a focus on tangible results, a “can do” attitude and a desire to work within a team that practices continuous learning and improvement. The Program and Impact Team manages the Skoll Foundation’s “invest” programs (grants, investments in and loans to social entrepreneurs and other innovators). Like the foundation itself, the invest programs are continuously evolving as the foundation seeks to maximize its impact.
The Program Officer will be an integral member of a team responsible for: (1) working with a select group of partners to take advantage of opportunities that drive greater impact; and (2) advancing opportunities for significant progress towards targeted foundation goals within specific issue areas.
The Program Officer will be engaged in primary relationships throughout the foundation’s programs, but will play a key role in identifying and catalyzing investment opportunities for greater impact. Program Officers are expected to accept a high degree of individual responsibility for anticipating and meeting deadlines, analyzing and managing opportunities and risk, producing high-quality documents and graphic materials, maintaining records and welcoming feedback with the aim of continuous improvement and contribution to team performance.
Primary Duties & Responsibilities:
- Manage a portfolio of investment relationships, including conducting due diligence on grant and investment applications, managing relationships with grantees, developing investment outcomes and milestones, and monitoring and evaluating investment progress and impact
- Draft and edit investment proposal summaries and recommendations for management and board review
- Participate in the development and implementation of best practices in relationship management, with a goal of strategically and seamlessly linking grantees to other foundation services, resources and staff
- Develop relationships with networks of foundation, corporate, NGO and issue expert partners in order to advance grantees’ work and foundation issue area priorities
- Serve as primary and secondary point person on a variety of foundation investment programs and initiatives
- Contribute to, and lead as assigned, analysis of emerging program investment opportunities and issue areas
- Participate, and at times lead, multidisciplinary teams addressing current and emerging foundation priorities
- Interface with grant seekers, grantees and partners, responding promptly and appropriately to a variety of e-mail, written and phone inquiries, and conducting site visits and convenings in accordance with program objectives
- Interest in and experience with building community networks and/or connections
- Participate in the development of processes to measure, learn from and improve impact
- Help develop services, in addition to grants, that will provide value to grantees, improving their capabilities, scale and impact
- Participate as a member of the P&I team in developing the department’s strategic plans
- Liaise with consultants and evaluators as assigned
- Maintain collegial working relationships with colleagues and constituents
- Undertake special projects, as assigned
Qualifications and Abilities:
- Demonstrated knowledge of the practices and contributions of social entrepreneurs
- Experience and desire to work within a team environment with an emphasis on adaptability, learning and continuous improvement
- Ability to manage multiple priorities and work cooperatively to satisfy needs of internal and external constituents
- Demonstrated analytical and strategic thinking skills
- Experience analyzing the operational and financial capacity needs of organizations to undertake major initiatives
- Excellent interpersonal skills, sound judgment and discretion
- Outstanding communication skills, written and verbal
- Competency in a language in addition to English highly desired
- Demonstrated ability to work sensitively with diverse people and communities.
- High standards, integrity and a sense of humor
- Expertise in MS Office (Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint) and general database systems
- Competency in language(s), in addition to English, is desirable
- Ability to travel domestically and internationally
Education and Experience
- Masters degree in business, economics, international development, public administration or a related discipline is required
- Ideally ten years but no less than five years of progressively responsible positions, with a distinguished record of accomplishments in the philanthropic/nonprofit or for-profit sectors
- Experience working in a developing country, preferably with social entrepreneurs or other local organizations, is desirable
- Prior investment and/or strategic consulting experience is desirable
- Combination of both philanthropic/nonprofit and business experience
Compensation
A competitive compensation package will be commensurate with background.
APPLICANTS
Send a cover letter and resume to: jobs@skollfoundation.org. Please specify Program Officer in the message subject line. The foundation will contact qualified applicants. In your cover letter please tell us how your specific experiences and accomplishments address our needs and mission. The closing date for resume submissions is September 17, 2010.
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