Program Officer

Rosepat Opportunity Manager; Northern (KY); Hybrid; USD 60,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Emergent Fund is seeking a Program Officer to advance grantmaking and movement-building initiatives, reporting to the Co-Director of Movement Building. The role focuses on coordinating participatory grantmaking, building grantmaking systems, and ensuring equity and accessibility for grantees.

The ideal candidate is a proactive project manager with strong organizational and analytical skills, capable of working independently to support rapid-response philanthropy and trust-based funding in the

Responsibilities

• Support the Co-Directors of Movement Building in facilitating Emergent Fund’s monthly participatory grantmaking cycles, including preparing materials for Advisory Council review and tracking decisions.
• Assist in vetting and conducting due diligence on grant applications to inform Nomination’s Network recommendations and Advisory Council decision‑making.
• Coordinate communications with applicants and grantees

Skills

Project management

Systems thinking

Data analysis

Organizing workflows

Grantmaking support

Job description

Only candidates who are considered a strong fit for this role will be contacted.

To protect the integrity of our process, please do not call, email or message the Emergent Fund team about any open roles or consulting opportunities. We will only review applications submitted through the JazzHR portal as received and will invite a short list of candidates to schedule a video screening. All submitted inquiries and materials will be for the purposes of interviewing and hiring only, kept strictly confidential, and will not be used in Emergent Fund’s work. Use of AI in the application and recruiting process is strongly discouraged. We anticipate a high volume of applicants so please note that the below hiring timeline may be subject to change.The deadline for applications is September 28, 11:59pm EST, with an anticipated start date of December 1, 2026.

About Emergent Fund

Movements have long relied on creative collective responses to crises and catalytic moments as strategic opportunities to advance visionary organizing. Emergent Fund and Emergent Action Fund are movement rapid response funds led by and for organizers with intersectional, collective liberation values. As a nationally recognized philanthropy culture disruptor and praxis leader, Emergent Fund challenges power in who we fund as well as with how we fund. We serve as one of the few open, accessible trust-based, no strings attached grants for rapid response and emergent organizing led by frontline Black, Indigenous, and people of color. All our grantmaking is driven by the leadership of directly impacted communities who are committed to building movement and transforming sociopolitical catalysts into lasting social change. Our model demonstrates that people-powered philanthropy can move at the speed of trust and at a pace that meets movements’ needs.

The need to build capacity for our work is clear. In the almost 10 years since our inception, the Emergent Fund has mobilized almost $20 Million directly into the hands of frontline organizers and thousands of movement organizations across the US and its colonized territories. The Movement Building Team is now in critical need of support and partnership to execute their vision for movement-aligned grantmaking and movement building.

The Emergent Fund (501c3) and our sibling Emergent Action Fund (501c4) are respectively fiscally sponsored by Assets Under Movement (c3) and Organize Action (c4).

About Program Officer Role

The Emergent Fund is hiring a Program Officer (PO) to play a critical role in the successful execution of Emergent Fund’s grantmaking and movement‑building initiatives. This is a new role that will report directly to and work closely with the Co-Director of Movement Building in relationship‑building with movement partners, coordinating the participatory grantmaking process, and building grantmaking systems, capacity building offerings, and infrastructure that prioritize care, equity, and accessibility for grantees.

As essential movement funding infrastructure and one of the few rapid response funders who operate at our pace and scale, the Program Officer will be critical for our own organizational sustainability to protect and grow organizer’s access to trust‑based, nimble rapid response dollars when it matters most.

We are looking for someone who is energized by project management, systems and spreadsheets, data collection and analysis, organizing workflows, and keeping a lot of moving parts coordinated. This role will serve as the engine behind our grantmaking work, providing critical logistical, communications, and project management support across a wide range of grantmaking strategies. The ideal candidate is an independent, self‑directed, and proactive project manager, well‑organized, deeply values‑aligned, and excited about supporting radical movement fundraising from behind the scenes.

Key Responsibilities

Grantmaking & Movement Partner Support (50%)

• Support the Co-Directors of Movement Building in facilitating Emergent Fund’s monthly participatory grantmaking cycles, including preparing materials for Advisory Council review and tracking decisions.
• Assist in vetting and conducting due diligence on grant applications to inform Nomination’s Network recommendations and Advisory Council decision‑making.
• Coordinate communications with applicants and grantees