Field Building Officer (PF)

Perspective Fund; New York (NY); On-site; USD 100,000 - 110,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Flexible work arrangements

Job summary

Perspective Fund, based in New York, seeks a full-time Field Building Officer to support, grow, and improve the media impact field through funding, convenings, and collaboration with peer funders, filmmakers, and nonprofits. Reporting to the Director, the FBO will work with the Film Impact Officer and the rest of the team to develop strategies that maximize impact and explore new tools and methods.

We value cross-sector learning, rigorous measurement, and a commitment to social justice as we

Qualifications

• 7+ years in social justice media impact or documentary field.
• Proven track record in outreach campaigns.
• Extensive network in media impact and human rights.
• Willingness to learn from other fields to improve messaging.

Responsibilities

• Increase ability to measure and analyze campaign success with internal standards.
• Find and leverage new tools and platforms to improve influence.
• Seek expertise from other fields to improve messaging, mapping and distribution.
• Lead growth of the non-fiction media impact field through funding and convening.
• Collaborate with organizations and filmmakers to test innovative models.

Skills

Social justice media impact

Field-building strategy

Stakeholder engagement

Media outreach campaigns

Research and analysis

English writing

Tools

Google Suite

Microsoft Office

Airtable

Job description

P erspective Fund , an impact focused non-fiction storytelling fund based in New York, is looking for a full-time staff member to lead the charge in supporting, growing and improving the media impact field through funding, convenings, and collaborating with relevant stakeholders (peer funders, filmmakers, nonprofits, etc.). Additionally, the Perspective Fund team is interested in exploring ways in which the non-fiction media field can develop new tools and methods to maximize impact.

The Perspective Fund Field Building Officer (FBO) will report to and work under the direction of Perspective’s Director, and work in close collaboration with the rest of the team, which currently includes a Film Impact Officer.

Vision

Vision

Achieve the maximum possible impact on the world by reaching key audiences and influencing the thinking and actions of that audience.

To ensure that impact strategy and implementation in the non-fiction media space is a viable and competitive career path that’s appealing for talented, ambitious people.

Goal

Goal

Bring a visionary approach to partnering with grantees, and the industry more broadly, to cultivate and increase the use of innovative approaches to maximize impact.

Key Responsibilities

High Priorities

• Increase Perspective Fund’s ability to measure and analyze the “success” of media impact campaigns (in partnership with Metrics-focused consultants) and create an internal standard for how we define impact.
• Find and leverage new tools and distribution platforms to improve influence and engagement.
• Actively seek out expertise and test approaches from other fields to improve messaging, influence, mapping, distribution, etc.
• Lead the charge in growing the non-fiction media impact field and cultivating a more unified impact movement (by funding, convening and evangelizing).
• Collaborate with organizations and filmmakers to experiment and test innovative models & ideas.

Medium-term Priorities

• Support sustainable career opportunities and roles within the media impact space.
• Connect civil society with the media impact space to work collaboratively on large scale systemic problems, bridging the gap between outreach and movement building.
• Spearhead innovative models and structures which can be replicated, scaled and learned from by the field. Seeding innovative organizations and for-profit models through program-related investments and recoverable grants.
• Discover the “secret sauce” for navigating outreach in the age of streaming platforms.
• Increase Perspective’s internal capacity to add value and advise on outreach strategy and impact infrastructure.

Long-term Priorities

• Build and strengthen network of grantees to address the field’s challenges (see below) at various levels.
• Create an open channel of communication with grantees and partners to share learnings and rapidly elevate successful models and/or iterate promising experiments.
• Further develop the sophistication and effectiveness of outreach campaign strategies and execution.
• Normalize impact funding into production budgets/costs/fundraising so a portion of outreach costs are realized by everyone (investors, distributors, production specific donors), instead of a few philanthropic players baring the bulk of the financial responsibility.
• Expand our understanding and support for other forms of media beyond feature non-fiction.

Challenges of the field

• Redundancy in impact efforts and development.
• Vacuum of funding in the media impact space.
• Aversion to testable models as well as metrics/quantitative based approaches.
• Lack of alignment between film investors’, distributors’, filmmakers’, and grantmakers’ interests.
• Impact Producers and experts leaving the space because of a lack of career stability.
• Reliance on old models and complacency (while acknowledging there is value and existing low hanging fruit with existing models). Non-fiction media impact is lagging behind efforts to use misinformation and modern tools to influence public opinion.
• Lack of resources and access to leverage sophisticated tools/methods.
• Grantmakers’ and funders’ aversion to higher-risk innovation and experimentation.

Knowledge and Skills Requirements

• 7+ years of experience in the social justice media impact field, documentary film space and/or the media field in general.
• Professional experience in impact/outreach campaigns utilizing media for social change. This could be as a film producer, proposal evaluator, or strategist.
• Extensive network and connections in the media impact, documentary, and human rights fields.
• Proven track record of strategizing and delivering major media impact and field strengthening initiatives, helping organizations adapt to rapidly evolving field.
• Eagerness to expand media impact expertise by learning from other fields to improve messaging, influence, mapping, distribution, etc.
• Strong understanding of all phases of media production, finance, evaluation, distribution and impact, and provision of strategic support.
• Familiarity with and commitment to human rights and social justice issues.
• Excellent English-language writing and editing skills, as well as research, analytical and organizational abilities.
• Understands and values social justice, including racial and gender equity as an organizational operating principle - and is committed to continued learning on issues related to race, gender, equity, diversity, and inclusion.
• Knowledge of Google Suite and Microsoft Office; experience with Airtable a plus.
• Comfort with financial information, budgets and databases.
• Ability to remain flexible, work independently and in a team, and manage one’s own time.
• Ability to handle confidential information with complete discretion.
• Willingness to learn, be open to new ideas, and have fun.
• Understands and values social justice, including racial and gender equity as an organizational operating principle – and is committed to continued learning on issues related to race, gender, equity, diversity, and inclusion.

Preferred Qualifications

• Knowledge of emerging digital and multi-platform storytelling practices globally.
• Experience working in a cross-cultural environment.
• Proficient in a second language a plus.

Salary and Benefits

Salary range: $100,000 - $110,000 based on experience. We offer a very generous benefits package including payment of 100% of the health insurance premiums for employees (and 80% of the premiums for spouses, domestic partners and qualified family members). Wellspring also offers other benefits including life insurance, long‐term disability protection, a group 401(k) retirement plan (with an employer match), support for continuing education, up to $5,250 in annual student loan repayment OR college savings assistance for dependents and is committed to providing transgender‐inclusive healthcare.

Limitations and Disclaimer

The above job description is meant to describe the general nature and level of work being performed; it is not intended to be construed as an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties and skills required for the position. The team member may be required to perform duties outside of their normal responsibilities from time to time, as needed.

Perspective Fund believes we are strengthened by the diversity of our staff, and welcomes such diversity including race, gender identity or expression, educational attainment, disability, veteran status, and personal experience with the criminal justice system. We welcome applications from people of all cultures, backgrounds, and experiences, and we strongly encourage people of color and persons with disabilities to apply.

We actively cultivate an institutional culture that reflects the values of respect, equity and inclusion that we seek through our work to amplify in the larger world. We hire, promote and retain interns based on their professional qualifications, demonstrated abilities and work performance, as well as on the degree to which these qualities are required in the employment positions made available by the Foundation’s service needs and business requirements.

All personnel decisions, including but not limited to recruitment, hiring, compensation, assignment, training, promotion, discipline and discharge, are made without discrimination based on any protected characteristic as defined by law, e.g., race, color, religion, national origin, citizenship, ancestry, age, disability, gender identity or expression, sex, sexual orientation, marital or familial status, domestic partner status, veteran or military status, genetic predisposition or carrier status, and prior criminal convictions, as well as educational attainment.