Program Officer Opportunity in Menlo Park, Apply Today to Drive Positive Change
Program Officer Opportunity in Menlo Park, Apply Today to Drive Positive Change
Ignite positive change as a Program Officer with the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation’s U.S. Democracy Program. Based in the innovation hub of Menlo Park, California, this opportunity calls for a collaborative and outcomes-driven professional to join our mission. As a key member of the U.S.
Democracy Program, you will actively contribute to grantmaking within the program’s Strategy for Trustworthy Elections.
Building and maintaining robust relationships with grantees, you’ll be pivotal in monitoring progress and engaging in strategic planning for this vital strategy.
Dive deep into national conversations shaping the future of U.S. democracy and prioritize the development of networks among practitioners and funders of election systems.
Program Officer Opportunity in Menlo Park, Apply Today to Drive Positive Change
If you’re passionate about making a difference and being at the forefront of positive societal impact, seize this opportunity to contribute to the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation’s commitment to fostering a vibrant democracy.
About the US Democracy Program and the Strategy for Trustworthy Elections
The Hewlett Foundation’s U.S. Democracy Program makes grants to strengthen America’s electoral and governing institutions, and to support a healthy democratic culture.
We believe that public trust across the ideological spectrum in U.S. elections is a critical foundation to U.S. Democracy, and support efforts to build that trust in the short- and long-terms.
The ultimate goal of the Foundation’s democracy work has, from the outset, been to mitigate the corrosive effects of polarization on U.S. politics.
Our early approach focused on political elites, especially elected officials.
We aimed to abate polarization by creating conditions in which elected officials could more easily compromise across party lines, reasoning that precisely because the American public was less divided and entrenched, it would support and follow their lead.
After the 2020 election, we realized that the precipitous loss of confidence in election outcomes among Americans presented an immediate problem that needs to be addressed in the near term.
After all, we will not get to “the long run” if a wide swath of the public stops believing that election results are legitimate.
In early 2021 we rolled out a fresh strategic framework built around two new strategies.
a Trustworthy Elections strategy that aims to rebuild public confidence in election outcomes and a National Governing Institutions strategy that continues some of our work to shore up Congress.
while adding efforts to create a more capable executive branch.
About the Position
The Program Officer will report to the Director and work collaboratively with members of the US Democracy Program team and others throughout the foundation.
Specific responsibilities include:
- In the context of USDP plans overall, lead the ongoing development of the long-term strategy, evaluation, and grantmaking for Trustworthy Elections.
- Continually learning about, and tracking, trends, and evolutions in the field.
- Establishing and maintaining ongoing, and productive relationships with grantees and peer funders.
- Organizing foundation-sponsored meetings of grantees and field experts.
- Developing reports and briefing papers that contribute to the foundation’s understanding of new approaches, best practices, and program issues.
- Representing the foundation at appropriate meetings, conferences, and site visits as well as in all interactions with prospective and current grantees.
- Partnering to develop strategy, grantmaking, and evaluation plans with the Director, other U.S. Democracy team members, and Hewlett colleagues working across programs .
- as well as Communications, Effective Philanthropy; Finance and Accounting; Grantmaking, Learning, and Operations.
Qualifications, Skills, and Personal Attributes
- Demonstrated commitment to learning and collaboration, and to working in authentic partnership; an unwavering commitment to Hewlett’s Guiding Principles .
- Passion for improving democracy; has demonstrated deep personal commitments through public service or nonprofit work and brings knowledge of the challenges and opportunities within the field supporting U.S. democracy.
- Relationship orientation, with experience partnering productively across the political and ideological spectrum.
- Persuasive communication skills: can articulate complex themes for multiple audiences/settings (academia, think tanks, career, and elected officials, etc.)
- Strong analytic mindset, with experience processing and organizing complex information in a highly dynamic environment. Is able to present ideas in a pragmatic, compelling manner while also being rigorous and striving to wrestle challenging issues.
- Experience with strategy development to include goal setting, initiative development, resource allocation, and implementation through project management with multi-disciplinary teams.
- Exceptional personal and professional integrity, judgment, and the highest work standards; brings flexibility, good humor, high energy, and humility
Compensation and Benefits
The Hewlett Foundation is committed to providing compensation that is competitive within the philanthropic sector.
We offer a generous total compensation package that emphasizes both base salary and comprehensive benefits.
The salary range for this role is $195,000-$223,000. Offers are based on the candidate’s years of experience and our practice of maintaining salary equity within the foundation.
This position is exempt and full-time. Program officers of the Hewlett Foundation serve for an eight-year term
Physical Demands/Work Environment
The physical demands described are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this position.
Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform these essential functions.
The position is based in Menlo Park, California.
Staff are currently expected to work from the Hewlett Foundation offices at least 2-3 times per week, when they are not traveling.
While performing the duties of this position, the employee is required to spend extended periods of time at a computer. Travel will vary, but employee should expect to travel up to 25 percent of the time.
The Foundation requires all staff, vendors, and visitors accessing the office to be fully vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 (including boosters when eligible).
