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Harvest Foundation position

By John Lloyd on Aug. 19, 2007.

Program Officer – Education
The Harvest Foundation
www.theharvestfoundation.org
Martinsville, Virginia

Position Summary:
Program Officers are the primary grant-making professionals at the Harvest Foundation. Program Officers are assigned to work closely with community organizations, local leaders and officials to determine needs and opportunities for grant making. Program Officers work independently as well as in teams and depending on experience and expertise may be involved in non-grant making activities such as program development and strategic planning. Program officers must have deep conceptual and analytic ability; written and oral communication skills; professional integrity; judgment; vision and creativity; attention to detail and follow through; programmatic knowledge base; management of paper flow and time; cultural competence; collegiality and collaboration; and human relations and team building skills.

Position Accountabilities:
• Serves a lead program officer at the Harvest Foundation for issues concerning the practice and trends in education in the domains of pre-K; secondary and primary education; alternative education; higher education, and workforce development.
• Reviews letters of inquiry and full proposals.
• Prepares and presents written proposal summaries for the Executive Director and the Board of Directors, including recommendations for approval or decline.
• Monitors progress of grantees to assist in their success in achieving key objectives.
• Initiates or develops projects in collaboration with others.
• Initiates community outreach and serves as a liaison between The Harvest Foundation and grant seekers.
• Participates on various program-related teams to foster shared problem solving and to accomplish special projects.
• Participates in peer review of grant applications.
• Assists in the development of grant docket materials and reports.
• Reviews and remains current in issues and trends in education, philanthropy and other program investment areas, especially health and welfare issues affecting education.
• Conducts special projects.
• May supervise outside consultants, support staff, student interns, and volunteers.

Qualifications:
The successful candidate for Program Officer – Education should be a creative and analytical thinker, innovative and pragmatic with a high degree of receptivity to other fields and new ideas. The individual should possess a keen intellect and have a fundamental affinity for dealing with complex issues, especially those in the education domain.

The Program Officer should be an intellectually curious and interdisciplinary thinker. The candidate should be able to distill ideas, clarify issues and have the intellectual depth and pragmatic know-how to be able to facilitate dialogue among colleagues, peers and a variety of different constituencies. He/She should be as at home in the boardroom as in the neighborhood, with the ability to maintain appropriate professional distance in each place.

The successful candidate should have a good sense of humor and be an open, communicative and confident professional who enjoys exploring issues. It is imperative that the Program Officer has excellent written and oral communication skills and be able to think on his/her feet while dealing practically with sometimes conflicting demands and expectations.

The Program Officer should have exceptional organizational and administrative skills, and be able to manage multiple tasks simultaneously. The ability to plan, set goals and objectives, organize and follow- through is important.

The Program Officer will be an experienced team player for whom the ownership of ideas is less important than the result of the collaborative effort. As such, the individual will be a team player who can take both leader and follower roles as the situation requires. The individual will have exceptional standards of professionalism; high integrity, honesty and a commitment to quality in all aspects of one’s performance are expected. A strong work ethic, high-energy level and a sincere sense of dedication to the mission of The Harvest Foundation are essential.

Minimum Education:
• Undergraduate degree in education or other relevant discipline required
• An advanced degree in education or other relevant discipline strongly preferred.

Minimum Experience:
• A minimum of five years of experience as a practitioner, funder or policy expert in the education field is required.
• Experience which would demonstrate the ability to conceptualize, administer, evaluate and communicate education programs is essential.
• Experience in or a deep understanding of education practice and trends in pre-K; primary and secondary education; alternative education; higher education, and workforce development.
• Although previous professional experience in philanthropy is not required, a previous relationship with philanthropy as a grantee, consultant or advisor is helpful and preferred.
• It is also preferred that the candidate have experience with or a deep understanding of rural, low income, and diverse communities.

APPLICATION PROCESS
Email a cover letter and resume in Microsoft Word format by September 21, 2007 to:

The Harvest Foundation Program Officer Recruitment & Selection Committee
Attention: Program Officer – Education Position Vacancy
E-mail: ewade@theharvestfoundation.org

Please do not make phone inquiries or fax resumes. Only electronic resumes will be accepted. For more information about the Harvest Foundation please visit our website

http://www.theharvestfoundation.org

The Harvest Foundation is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

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