Program Officer

Jersey Digs; Newark (NJ); Hybrid; USD 100,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical insurance

Dental insurance

Retirement contributions

Paid parental leave

Professional development

20 days vacation

Job summary

Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation in Newark, NJ, seeks a Program Officer to steward a portfolio of 20–30 grantee relationships and oversee roughly $6–7 million in annual grantmaking. You will advise across investments and shape strategy with the Program Director and leadership.

This role is hands-on and community-focused, requiring regular field presence, site visits, coalition engagement, and end-to-end grants management across New Jersey. Hybrid schedule and a starting salary of $100,000–$120,000.

Qualifications

• Experience managing relationships with diverse stakeholders.
• Strong writing and public speaking skills.
• Ability to travel across New Jersey, including evenings and weekends.
• Familiarity with grants management systems such as Salesforce is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Manage end-to-end grants from proposals to final reports.
• Steward 20–30 grantee relationships and $6–7 million in annual grantmaking.
• Collaborate with Investments team and leadership to shape strategy.
• Represent the foundation at coalitions, community meetings and site visits.

Skills

Community development

Economic development

Relationship building

Public speaking

Grant management

Salesforce familiarity

Travel flexibility

New Jersey knowledge

Tools

Salesforce

Job description

Position Details

• Position Type: Full-Time, Hybrid (In-Office 3 Days/Week)
• Classification: Exempt
• Reports To: Program Director
• Location: Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, Newark NJ
• Starting Annual Salary Range: $100,000-$120,000 dependent on experience

About The Dodge Foundation

New Jersey is the third wealthiest state in the country and despite its significant wealth and diversity, it remains one of the most inequitable states where prosperity is not shared evenly. Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, located in Newark, NJ, is a private foundation committed to helping to close the racial wealth gap in our state. The Foundation is focused on creating impact for historically underserved New Jersey communities across key economic and policy levers such as housing affordability, expanding high quality work opportunities, increasing access to benefits, debt and credit repair, and wealth building. The Foundation believes in deploying all of its resources, including grants, local investments, and its full endowment, in service of that mission.

About This Opportunity

Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation is looking for a Program Officer to steward a portfolio of approximately 20-30 grantee partner relationships and $6-7 million in annual grantmaking. This role will also advise and collaborate with the Investments team on direct programmatic investments. While the Program Officer’s role will initially focus heavily on our Housing Choice strategy, this focus may expand or evolve over time based on organizational needs and the successful applicant’s background and experience.

This role is for someone who wants to work deeply in the field and in the community. The Program Officer will engage regularly with partner organizations, attend community meetings and site visits, and represent the foundation at coalition tables, building the kind of trust and reciprocity that makes the Dodge Foundation an effective community partner. Working in close collaboration with the Program Director and Foundation leadership, the Program Officer will help shape, evaluate, and refine their portfolio ensuring strong strategy alignment with broader foundation objectives. They will also independently manage the full grants cycle from end-to-end, including communicating and case making to the Foundation’s leadership and Board, stewarding partner relationships, identifying new opportunities, maintaining open, timely and respectful channels of communication with prospective and existing partners, and developing and maintaining complete and accurate partner data and reporting.

What You’ll Do

Generally, the Program Officer’s work and time will be split across the following three areas:

• Field presence (about 50%): site visits, events, coalition meetings and one-on-one time with prospective and existing partners and stakeholders across New Jersey in order to build strong relationships, learn about new opportunities, contribute to conversations regarding economic and housing policy and practice developments, and stay abreast of news, trends, and other events that influence economic outcomes in our priority cities across New Jersey.
• Strategy and Investments (about 30%): In collaboration with the Program Director and other foundation leaders, structure, refine and advise on grant investments, advise Investments team on potential housing deals, and partner with the Communications and Learning & Evaluation teams to surface and share important stories, insights, and learnings.
• Grant operations (about 20%): manage and contribute to an organized, timely grants process from proposal to final report.

What success looks like in your first year

• You have expanded your subject matter expertise on economic and housing issues and policies in New Jersey
• You have cultivated relationships with key players, such as peer funders, developers, public agencies, and policy advocates in the state, local and national economic development spaces.
• Partners describe you as a trusted, reachable thought partner who shows up and follows through with timely and respectful communication and action
• Every active grant is current, documented and on schedule.
• You have visited active and prospective grantees in person and brought new partnerships into the pipeline.
• Foundation colleagues count on you for economic and housing sector insights and connections.
• You are perceived as an active, visible, and influential voice amongst peer funders and partner organizations, known for sharing insights from across the field and connecting partners to each other or to other funders
• The board and leadership can see clearly what your portfolio is achieving, and what the foundation is learning from it.

Who You Are

Recognizing the wide range of profiles that may be interested in this role, we will prioritize candidates with demonstrated work experience in community and/or economic development,, meaningful experience and networks in the New Jersey communities where our grantee partners are, a track record of building deep and trusting relationships with diverse stakeholders, and a bias towards turning strategy into action. Specifically, the most competitive candidates will bring:

• A clear racial and economic justice analysis, and an understanding of how various economic development policy levers have shaped the racial wealth gap in the state.
• 4-6 years of professional experience managing relationships with diverse stakeholders in a variety of settings
• A track record of building trust with community-based organizations and working with them as partners.
• Strong organization and follow-through, with the ability to manage many grants and deadlines without letting partners feel it.
• Clear writing and public speaking, including the ability to turn complex concepts into crisp and compelling recommendations for a board and / or build buy-in across diverse stakeholders
• Familiarity with grants management systems such as Salesforce preferred.
• Ability and willingness to travel often across New Jersey, including some evenings and weekends.
• New Jersey knowledge and networks are a strong plus. Candidates from south and/or central NJ are strongly encouraged to apply

We know great candidates don’t always check every box. If this role excites you and you meet most of these qualifications, we encourage you to apply.

Compensation & Benefits

Compensation: The starting salary range for this role is expected to fall between $100,000 and $120,000 commensurate with experience.

Benefits: Geraldine R Dodge Foundation offers a competitive compensation package including full medical and dental insurance, generous retirement contributions, paid medical and parental leave, professional development, and 20 days of vacation for full-time employees.

Location and schedule: This is a full-time, hybrid position, with 3 days a week in our Newark office or on-site with community partners. Regular office hours are Monday-Friday, 9:00 AM-5:00 PM. Frequent travel across New Jersey, including some evenings and weekends, is part of the job.