About Sustainable Cities Fund ("SCF")

The Sustainable Cities Fund, a project of New Venture Fund, was established to provide financial support, technical assistance, and guidance for place-based programs and projects that create economic opportunity for all, improve lives, and help stop the climate crisis. The Fund operates as a strategic regrantor, which means we work directly with cities, local partners, and other subnationals to ensure that our funders' programs and projects have a greater impact. We currently support the implementation of the Bloomberg American Sustainable Cities Initiative, America Is All In coalition, and Local Infrastructure Hub Cohorts program. We help our grantees access the resources they need to raise their ambitions, share learnings, and make progress toward building a sustainable, healthy, equitable future.

What makes us unique is our place-based approach. We believe in building strong relationships on the ground, remaining flexible, and learning as we go to help cities and local organizations tackle their toughest challenges. We provide both financial resources and hands-on support, so our grantees can navigate complex networks of funding and secure resources to achieve their goals. Our team is composed of experts in policy, government, community organizing, finance, law, data analysis, project management, communications, and more. We draw on our experiences and deep relationships to empower cities, community-based organizations, and program partners to advance racial equity and ambitious climate action.

In our fast-paced environment, we are continually influenced by external forces that impact our internal processes and structure. As such, we are a team of adaptable and agile individuals who work to collaboratively navigate these changes to ensure we support our partners, grantees, and place-based communities in their vital work. At SCF, flexibility and collaboration are key to our success.

Position Summary

SCF is a strategic grant fund that supports cities and their partners as they work together to advance equitable climate action at local, regional, national, and international scales.

SCF is seeking a Program Officer to lead grantmaking and program facilitation for the Culture & Climate Initiative (“CCI”), a grant program that will help cultural institutions meet environmental sustainability goals. CCI will work with key partners to administer the program and will fund projects at non-profit cultural institutions located in Bloomberg American Sustainable Cities that drive energy and emissions reductions and model green policy in action.

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Successful candidates will ideally possess:

• Experience working with or for non-profit cultural institutions on capital project planning, design and construction, including strategies to identify and access project funding from multiple sources, engage with partners to advance project goals, and deliver on complex projects on time and within budget;
• Experience with grants management processes that ensure authorization and compliance with funding requirements, timely payment of grants and funding, and granted-related reporting for internal and external constituencies;
• Demonstrated interest and/or experience with sustainability projects, particularly projects focused on energy efficiency and resilience;
• Demonstrated ability to summarize complex issues and data for presentation and action;
• Exceptional written and oral presentation skills with the ability to effectively interface with various project stakeholders.

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The role’s primary responsibilities include:

1. Program Administration - Working with program partners to develop and implement strategies with cultural institutions to plan for and initiate work in climate action in alignment with their missions and their cities’ climate priorities;
2. Grantmaking and Contracting - Overseeing the grantmaking and contracting process, including interfacing with grantees and potential applicants, reviewing proposals and scopes of work, conducting due diligence, and managing and monitoring the full portfolio of program investments;
3. Relationship Management - Managing relationships with a broad range of partners including program partners, cultural institutions, and other stakeholders, including the program funder;
4. Impact & Reporting - Administering data collection, project reports, and impact frameworks to track and monitor program progress and impact.

This is a full-time position with up to 20% travel required. This position reports to the Deputy Director of Government Affairs and will supervise a Program Manager.

Responsibilities and Tasks

Program Administration

• Serve, with other team members, as a thought partner to advance CCI with program stakeholders and the program funder.
• Oversee the overall implementation of CCI, facilitating partnerships, program management, and grant administration.

Grantmaking and Contracting

• Lead efforts to support program partners and grantees on all aspects of the grantmaking process and vendors in all aspects of the contracting process.

Grantee & Stakeholder Relationship Management

• Engage directly in program activities working with program stakeholders, including performing due diligence on grant applicants, inviting and/or refining proposals, and making recommendations on prospective grants.

Impact & Reporting

• Work closely with the Deputy Director of Evaluation & Impact to develop evaluation and impact frameworks for programs and grantmaking.
• Monitor an active grants portfolio through review of written materials, conversations by telephone, and in-person site visits.
• Collect and analyze regular reports and dashboard from program partners.
• Observe and synthesize grantee work to identify emerging opportunities for programmatic work, policy opportunities, and fund investments.

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Education, Experience, Knowledge, Skills, and Ability

Ideally, the Program Officer will have a strong background in working across multiple sectors including non-profit organizations, local government, and/or philanthropy, and 8+ years of experience preferably with a mix of these core experiences and skills to support their ability to thrive in this role, including:

• Experience with the non-profit cultural sector facilitating capital projects, and experience with sustainability and climate action.
• Experience developing strategies and running complex programs in grant-making, and/or public/private project management.
• Experience testing, piloting, developing, and facilitating new initiatives or strategies in close partnership with diverse stakeholders.
• Understanding of the role philanthropic funds can play in supporting the non-profit cultural sector with facilities projects, operations, policy initiatives, and public engagement.
• Highly collaborative work style with outstanding relationship-building skills, experience contributing to a positive organizational culture, and the ability to operate as a thought partner to program managers, grantee partners, funding partners, and other stakeholders.
• Proven project and team management abilities to ensure priorities are clearly understood by internal and external stakeholders and that grant-making programs advance on time and on budget.
• Strong emotional intelligence.
• Entrepreneurial spirit filled with inventiveness and flexibility with the desire and ability to help build something innovative from the ground up.

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Compensation and Benefits

Salary range

‍$150,000-155,000

Benefits: Comprehensive benefits package that includes 100% employer-paid health, dental, and vision insurance for employees (and their families). Employees are able to enroll in 401k retirement plan and are eligible for a 3% automatic contribution and up to a 3% employer match on 401k contributions. Employees will receive 200 hours of vacation time, 80 hours of health leave, up to 2 days of casual leave, and 20 hours of volunteer leave annually. Employees will also receive 13 paid holidays throughout the calendar year. Employees are eligible for 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave after 90 days of employment.

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Location

‍This position is remote, with NYC preferred.

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Hiring Statement

The Sustainable Cities Fund is a project of New Venture Fund (NVF), a 501(c)(3) public charity that incubates new and innovative public-interest projects and grant-making programs. NVF is committed to attracting, developing and retaining exceptional people, and to creating a work environment that is dynamic, rewarding and enables each of us to realize our potential. NVF’s work environment is safe and open to all employees and partners, respecting the full spectrum of race, color, religious creed, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, political affiliation, ancestry, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, and all other classifications protected by law in the locality and/or state in which you are working.

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E-Verify

NVF participates in E-Verify and will provide the federal government with employees’ Form I-9 information to confirm authorization to work in the United States. Job candidates and employees authorized to work may not be discriminated against on the basis of national origin or citizenship status.