Program Officer - Global Children’s Rights Program; WP

Posted on October 29, 2018

Job Summary

Wellspring Philanthropic Fund seeks a Program Officer for the Global Children’s Rights (GCR) team. The GCR Program Officer will report to the Program Director and work with the Director, the Senior Program Officer, a Program Assistant, and other Wellspring staff on a global grantmaking program to advance the rights and wellbeing of children.

The Global Children’s Rights Program promotes the realization of the rights and wellbeing of children guided by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and locally defined concepts that support these principles. The Program supports children of all genders, abilities, and orientations, with a specific emphasis on girls. The program employs the following key values and principles in grantcraft: child-centered, rights-framed, locally generated, gender-sensitive, inclusive, and evidence-based.

The GCR portfolio aims to promote children’s thriving worldwide by strengthening the field of children’s rights, as well by preventing violence against girls and boys. The program strategies include accelerating progress through power-building, community-led and youth led-work, and fostering other new ways of working to advance children’s rights. The program also aims to foster progress through learning, knowledge generation, creation of effective interventions, and evidence-building.

The team currently supports global advocacy and country-level work in East Africa and is exploring new geographies.

The Program Officer will co-manage an existing grant portfolio, and the role will consist of strategy implementation, analysis, grants management, monitoring and evaluation, and advancing the agenda through internal and external engagement with partners. It is envisioned that the new Program Officer’s role will include significant collaboration with the Senior Program Officer and the Program Assistant who currently manage the GCR grants.

Key Responsibilities

• Under the guidance of the Program Director and in collaboration with the Senior Program Officer and Program Assistant, develop, refine, and implement grantmaking priorities and strategic approaches consistent with the program’s current multi-year strategy and work plan.
• Monitor developments in the field to identify emerging needs, gaps, and opportunities in alignment with approved program strategy and how to best respond.
• Provide thought leadership to advance the portfolio.

Grantmaking

• Build relationships with current and potential grantees, including engaging at community level, national level, and global level. Maintain regular contact with grantees about programming.
• Conduct site visits internationally, including travel to remote areas.
• As needed, advise grantees on key organizational development issues such as governance, growth, fiscal planning, managing leadership and staff transitions, multi-year strategic planning, coaching, etc.
• As needed, connect grantees with opportunities, resources, and other actors in the field.
• Solicit and develop funding proposals. Conduct due diligence. Write and edit grant summaries and other materials for official approval. Determine appropriate funding levels (in compliance with Wellspring guidelines). Ensure adherence to internal grantmaking processes.
• As needed, assist grantees to craft stronger proposals.
• As needed, advise grantees on monitoring and evaluation, theories of change, foundational research, development of interventions, crafting outcomes and measurement.
• Review progress reports, conduct evaluations of grantee programs, and monitor use of grant funds.
• Utilize the grantmaking to generate knowledge and evidence and share with the field.
  • Assess the individual and collective impact of the grantees and assess how to expand the impact.
  • Support grantees in their own learning.
• Co-design a new learning process about reducing violence against girls and boys in East Africa and other geographies, among other duties. Create interconnections of local knowledge and global evidence.

Other Responsibilities

• Educate Wellspring’s donors, other staff members, and public audiences on issues related to…