Program Officer

We are seeking a Program Officer to join our Grantmaking team as part of our Community Engagement (CE) department. This position reports directly to our Director of Grantmaking and is based in Santa Barbara County.
 

Please review our Job Description below, before applying.  

All applicants must submit a professional resume, cover letter and completed copy of our employment application, in order to be considered.  

We encourage submissions by or before Wednesday, February 7, 2024. 
 

Position Summary:  

The Program Officer is responsible for researching and analyzing community needs and supporting the creation and management of grantmaking opportunities to serve the communities of Santa Barbara County. Reporting to the Senior Director of Grantmaking, the Program Officer serves as a key thought partner and will have primary responsibility for managing grants within the community strategy areas and convene learning partners. The Officer will help to identify potential grantees, assist with proposal development, provide grantee technical support, and monitor grant performance. 

Specific Responsibilities:  

• Develop community outreach plan in assigned areas to ascertain community needs, including outreach to a broad base of constituents representing all sides of the issue. 
• Investigate and gain in-depth knowledge of assigned issue areas and geographic regions. 
• Serve as a liaison between the foundation and grantee partners, grantseekers, other foundations, evaluators and policymakers.  
• Contribute to the ongoing strategy development, refinement and implementation of the foundation’s community engagement priorities to scale impact.  
• In coordination and collaboration with the Sr. Director of Grantmaking, Director of the Collaboration for Social Impact, and the Community Grants Program team, create and oversee grant programs from inception to distribution. 
• Convene or participate in groups to create and/or support collaborations to solve community issues. 
• Assist in making the Foundation a learning organization by sharing relevant insights, learnings, and observations. 
• Work with outside consultants and colleagues to direct and implement various grant cycles. 
• Work closely with the Philanthropic Services Department to create ongoing exchanges of information in departmental partnerships. 
• Maintain relationships with grantees, related organizations, other foundations, and SBF’s Board of Trustees. 
• Be informed of community decisions/actions involving local and regional nonprofit, philanthropic, and government organizations that may impact Foundation work. 
• Make presentations to community groups, partners, committees, and SBF Board on areas of Foundation work.  
• Recruit, convene and manage committees, task forces and advisory groups and provide written reports, when required. 
• Evaluate grant proposals, create objective analyses, and make recommendations to committees for funding. 
• Plan and coordinate community events, trainings, and workshops. 
• Monitor and evaluate performance of grants. 
• Facilitate and participate in community visits, learning visits, outreach activities, and public speaking opportunities.  
• Work with the Data Processor to process grants and maintain the quality of content in the databases. 
• Be an active and engaged staff member, attending staff meetings and events. 
• Keep outlook calendar populated as per SBF’s standard. 
• Other duties as assigned. 

Essential Requirements:  

• At least three years of relevant experience in similar roles. 
• Excellent verbal and written communications skills. 
• Emotionally intelligent with the ability to communicate and collaborate with a diverse range of populations. 
• A good listener and team-player. 
• Gain the trust of others in the organization and community. 
• Quickly shift gears when organizational priorities shift. 
• Respond constructively to problems, challenges, and difficult situations. 
• Assess programs and use data to support organizational decision making. 
• Oversee multiple projects and competing priorities. 
• Proficiency in MS Office Suite, especially Outlook. 
• Proficiency in various computer applications and the ability to learn new programs quickly. 
• Knowledge of nonprofit engagement, policy, or implementation of social programs in Health Care and Behavioral Health sector, preferred. 
• Demonstrated ability to think critically about program design and implementation.  
• Creative, flexible, and collaborative with an ability to work in a team-oriented environment; demonstrates a high degree of initiative; results-oriented. 
• Ability to continually seek information and look for new approaches to processes and practices. 
• Be welcoming of feedback as a means to personal and professional growth. 
• Bachelor’s degree, preferred, in public health, public policy, social sciences, behavioral health, business or a related field. 

Work Environment:  

• General office environment, maybe in open office area or shared office space. 
• Dogs (pets) intermittently on the premises, please see our Pet Policy for more information. 
• Hybrid work option may be available and employee must provide their own modem, router and internet connection. 
• Significant telephone, video and computer work (repetitive movement – typing).  
• Some driving travel within the county and occasional travel outside of the county (via car or plane). 
• Frequent sitting, standing, walking, climbing stairs, bending and occasional lifting/pushing of light to heavy loads (10lbs. to more than 50 lbs.) 

At SBF, we value wellness and offer a very generous benefits package, including: up to 15 days of PTO in the first year of employment, 14 holidays, sick time, 401K with 4% matching in the first year and an additional 6% of profit sharing after one-year anniversary, fully paid medical and ancillary benefits and more! 

This exempt role is compensated annually $65K-$88.9K annually, depending on skills and experience.                

All applicants are required to submit an employment application, a resume and cover letter to hr@sbfoundation.org.