Program Officer, Institutional Grants

Inside Philanthropy; Claymont (DE); Remote; USD 135,000 - 171,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Annual leave 33 days

Parental leave 20 weeks

Professional development funding

Pension contribution 5%

Health, dental, vision

Job summary

Tarbell is seeking a Program Officer for Institutional Grants to steward a portfolio of AI journalism grants, from seed funding to multi-year support, with ownership over opportunities and funding decisions.

You will help distribute over $10M by 2027, shaping program design, and overseeing live grants, while collaborating with a cross-functional team to align with our mission to support AI reporting capacity in newsrooms globally.

Qualifications

• Journalism background or deep knowledge of AI safety and governance.
• Ability to reason about difficult funding decisions and communicate clearly.
• Experience in grantmaking or philanthropic funding would be valuable.

Responsibilities

• Evaluate funding opportunities and determine appropriate funding level and grant type.
• Identify and fund important AI journalism projects across priority areas.
• Manage relationships with grantees including check-ins and renewals.
• Design evaluation processes for grants of different sizes and scopes.
• Grow the team and support career progression within the program.

Job description

The opportunity

We’re hiring a Program Officer for Institutional Grants, the program that funds outlets directly to build lasting AI reporting capacity. We launched it in 2026, and it is on track to become Tarbell’s largest program. Our vision is that it enables every major newsroom globally to have an expert AI team.

Most funders of AI reporting are either specialists in AI who fund journalism occasionally, or specialists in journalism who fund AI coverage occasionally. We want to be the funder that knows both, and the people making our grants are what make that possible.

We take a portfolio approach. Our grants range from $50,000 seed grants for founders developing a new outlet to multi‑year grants of $1M+ to establish a whole AI desk, and cover investigative units, new verticals and formats, limited series, and grants that help existing journalism reach further. We fund both established newsrooms and independent media: newsletters, podcasts and video shows run by individual journalists or small teams. We expect some grants to have far more impact than others, and we want to learn quickly which ones.

You’ll help Tarbell distribute more than $10M by the end of 2027. You’ll report to the Program Director, Grants, and be one of the first grantmakers on the team, with real ownership over which opportunities we pursue, what we recommend funding, and how the program is built.

What you’ll do

• Evaluate funding opportunities. For each prospective grant you’ll assess the team’s track record and capacity to deliver, interrogate the budget and staffing plan, and form a view on the counterfactual: would this journalism happen anyway, and at this quality? You’ll recommend a funding level and grant type, not just a yes or no, and make the strongest case against your own recommendation.
• Active grantmaking. You’ll identify the most important AI journalism projects that need to exist, and make them happen. That means mapping where coverage falls short against our priority areas, scoping projects, and sourcing them through a mix of open calls, targeted calls on a single priority area, invited proposals from select outlets, and direct outreach to editors and founders.
• Manage live grants. You’ll own relationships with grantees after a grant is made: check‑ins, problem‑solving when a project slips, and an honest assessment at renewal.
• Shape the program. You’ll help design how we evaluate grants of very different sizes, including a faster process for small and time‑sensitive grants, and contribute to regular reviews of our priority areas, proposing what we should add, change or drop. You’ll work closely with the Program Manager, Reporting Grants who will lead on awarding funding for specific stories so the two programs complement each other.
• Grow the team. As the team grows, you’ll begin managing a Program Associate. “Hire the best, then invest” is a core operating value at Tarbell, and there is a route from this role to lead the entire Institutional Grants program for strong performers.
• Help build Tarbell. As a small team, we all step in where we’re needed. You’ll occasionally take on work outside this description, and we’ll make sure it helps you grow.

In your first 6 months, success looks like:

• You’ve written funding recommendations on at least four opportunities, and at least two grants have been made on the strength of your work.
• You’ve sourced at least one opportunity proactively, by identifying a gap in coverage and finding the outlet or journalists to fill it.
• You’ve helped the Program Director identify the specializations the team may need as it grows, for example institutional versus independent media, or particular geographies.

Who we’re looking for

We’re most interested in people with a journalism background or deep knowledge of AI safety and governance. We’ll also consider people with impact‑focused grantmaking experience in other fields. What matters most is whether you can reason well about a difficult funding decision and communicate it clearly.

You’ll be a great fit if you:

• Have substantial experience in journalism, or in AI safety and governance, and are keen to build depth in the other.
• Have a track record of making consequential calls on incomplete evidence, and can tell a case that is well argued from one that is merely well presented.
• Know what separates impactful journalism from journalism that merely looks good, and can explain why.
• Can hold your own with executive editors, media founders and newsroom leaders discussing six‑ and seven‑figure commitments.
• Write funding recommendations that are concise, honest about uncertainty, and persuasive without overselling.
• Care about to support journalism that helps society navigate the development and deployment of advanced AI.

It’s a bonus if you:

• Have worked inside a newsroom in a role involving budgets, staffing or commissioning.
• Understand the economics of independent media, or of philanthropically funded journalism.
• Have coached or managed others.

Compensation and benefits

• Starting salary per location, with your offer based on your experience:
  • US remote $135,000-151,000
  • Washington DC $142,000-158,000
  • New York City $147,000-164,000
  • San Francisco $153,000-171,000
  • UK remote £82,000-£92,000
  • London £91,000-£102,000
• 33 days of annual leave in total
• 20 weeks of paid parental leave
• $2,000 per year in professional development funding
• Up to 5% employer contribution towards a standard pension/401(k)
• For employees based in the US: Gold health, dental, and vision plans, with 95% of employee premiums paid for by Tarbell
• Flexible working hours; productive, collaborative offices in London

We allow remote work for candidates located in the US or UK. We prefer candidates based in London, Washington D.C. New York, or the San Francisco Bay Area. London-based candidates will be expected to work from our office two days a week. As we open offices in other locations, the same expectation will apply there.

Our hiring process

Interested candidates should by November 15, 2026 at 11:59pm PT.

1. Application: under 30 minutes
2. Paid work test
3. Structured interview
4. Reference checks
5. Paid work trial: 1-2 days

We acknowledge every application and aim to get back to candidates within 10 business days of the application deadline. Our ideal start date is January 2027.

Tarbell is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. We do not discriminate against qualified employees or applicants based upon race, religion, color, national origin, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, sexual preference, marital status, gender identity, gender expression, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by federal or state law or local ordinance.