Program Officer, Climate

The Barr Foundation; Boston (MA); On-site; USD 85,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

The Barr Foundation in Massachusetts seeks a Program Officer to advance its Climate Program across Clean Energy, Climate Resilience, and Mobility in Massachusetts. You will collaborate with Climate team members to develop grantmaking strategies, assess proposals, and support grantee success, while aligning with program and budget planning.

Role involves coordinating with senior officers, evaluating grants, and contributing to communications and field leadership.

Qualifications

• Minimum of five years of relevant professional experience working in the nonprofit, public, or private sector.
• Commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, including lived experience.
• Ability to listen to and empathize with community challenges and support grantees, partners, and community-based leaders.
• Ability to analyze complex organizational and community conditions; understanding of policy, political, and community dynamics.
• Strategic thinking and execution of strategies as part of a team; ability to define objectives and manage projects end-to-end.
• Experience evaluating impact using both data and informed opinions; assess nonprofit health and organizational capacity.

Responsibilities

• Develop climate grantmaking strategies and support portfolio work in Massachusetts.
• Manage and collaborate with climate grantees; evaluate proposals and monitor grants.
• Draft internal analyses for leadership and trustee consideration of proposals.
• Collaborate with teams on evaluation and learning across grants and clusters.
• Share learnings and shape public narratives on climate issues and philanthropy.
• Coordinate with other Barr program teams and support grant logistics.

Skills

Strategic thinking

Grantmaking

Budget management

Stakeholder engagement

Communication

Diversity, equity, inclusion

Education

Bachelor’s degree or higher

Tools

Asana

Access

Salesforce

Job description

The Barr Foundation is seeking a Program Officer to work with all three strategies of its Climate Program on shared work in Massachusetts to support the Climate grantee portfolio.

Planning and Strategy

• Collaborate with the Climate team members in developing climate grantmaking strategies that will have a strong impact in areas important to the Foundation.
• Contribute to assessment and modifications of strategy in response to new knowledge, changes in context, and new perspectives, and serve as a thought partner on the Climate team.
• Maintain a wide breadth and depth of knowledge about the current trends, professional practices, and policies pertinent to the program. This work could include managing research projects to support the climate field on behalf of the Senior Program Officers.
• Assist with developing and tracking program and project budgets.

Grantmaking

• Work with the Senior Program Officers to manage and collaborate with climate grantees in Massachusetts related to Clean Energy, Climate Resilience, and Mobility. Evaluate new proposals, conduct site visits, actively assist organizations in improving the quality of proposals and activities, manage active grants, assess their progress, and analyze and act on financial and programmatic reports.
• Manage consultants and special projects related to Climate, including cohorts and grantee convenings.
• Support grantees by being available to support logistics, troubleshooting and questions throughout the grantmaking process.
• Draft internal documents and analyses for Foundation leadership and trustee consideration of grant proposals.
• Collaborate with the Climate and Learning and Evaluation teams on the evaluation of grants or grant clusters in support of program strategy reviews.
• Collaborate with the Communications team to share learnings, shape public narratives on climate issues, and generate positive attention for the work, ideas, and voices of our partners to contribute to the fields of climate, nonprofits, and philanthropy.
• Coordinate and collaborate with other Barr program teams.

Field Leadership

• Develop and cultivate strong working relationships with grantees, outside advisors, experts in the field, public sector partners, and colleagues in philanthropy.
• Contribute to the team’s knowledge by keeping abreast of current trends, emerging issues, policies, political landscape, and emerging practices.
• Learn and provide leadership in the professional field through speaking engagements, writing, and use of social media.
• As appropriate, be comfortable representing the Foundation through speaking opportunities, at public events, and through participation and engagement in climate philanthropy serving organizations.

Qualifications

While no single candidate may embody all the qualifications below, an ideal candidate will possess many of the following professional and personal abilities, attributes, and experiences.

A commitment to and subject matter expertise in climate change or a related field, as demonstrated through a strong record of achievement with minimum of five years of relevant professional experience working in the nonprofit, public, or private sector.

Commitment to, knowledge of, and experience with diversity, equity, and inclusion, including lived experience.

Ability to listen to and empathize with community challenges and a commitment to supporting the expertise of grantees, partners, and community-based leaders.

The ability to analyze complex organizational and community conditions; understand policy, political and community dynamics; knowledge of organizational development and systems change work.

Demonstrated ability to think strategically and execute strategies as part of a team, including the ability to define program objectives, evaluate progress, and independently manage projects through a complete lifecycle.

Quantitative and qualitative analytical skills necessary for designing initiatives, identifying investment opportunities, and evaluating grant proposals.

Experience using both objective data and informed opinions to evaluate the impact of an organization’s work. Experience in assessing nonprofits’ health and effectiveness through analyzing financial statements, evaluating the feasibility and strategic value of proposed programs and activities, and assessing management, leadership, and organizational capacity.

Strong project, time, and budget management skills to meet deadlines; ability to identify, plan, and execute on multiple active projects without sacrificing attention to detail.

Experience in communicating with diverse constituencies in a variety of settings. Comfort with meeting design and facilitation is a plus.

Independent initiative and a collegial spirit in sharing ideas and receiving feedback.

Experience with project management tools (e.g., Asana); and database systems (e.g., Access, Salesforce).