Program Officer, State Housing Advocacy Policy and Innovation

The Semi-monthly (per pay period) compensation for this position in FY24 is:

$5,078.66 per pay period

Location: San Francisco, CA Department: Community Impact Type: Limited-Term, Full-Time, Exempt
Min. Experience: Mid-level

Organizational Result:

All people living in the San Francisco Bay Area are economically secure, rooted in vibrant communities and engaged in civic life.

We Value:

Anti-racism, Boldness, Equity, Racial Justice, and being Rooted in Community

The following sections are designed based on the Results Based Leadership for Racial Equity Framework that the Foundation uses to accomplish our work. As a learning organization we expect staff to incorporate learning into their core work in addition to the tasks related to the functional position. All staff should expect to devote time to learning activities related to our values and skillset development. People managers should expect to spend a significant amount of time coaching, developing, and managing people with the balance of the time for all staff spent on relationship building internally and externally and achievement of outcome goals of role and foundation.

Position Summary:

The Program Officer, State Housing Advocacy contributes to the strategy and leads implementation of the Foundation’s statewide housing-related grantmaking. The Program Officer works closely with the Policy team to support and grow the Foundation’s broader policy advocacy efforts. This position actively participates in and may lead project teams and cross-departmental work, including working closely with staff across the organization to ensure progress toward SFF’s Three-Year Impact Plan. Program Officers act as a bridge from senior management for translating higher-level strategies and goals into operating plans that drive the business. The manager may be accountable for performance and to front line employees or project teams for guidance, motivation, and support. Program Officers may act as people managers, project managers or program managers. Program Officers are responsible for maintaining external relationships with vendors, partners and community as needed.

Boundaries

As part of the Policy and Innovation Division, the Program Officer will contribute subject-matter expertise that advances affordable housing policy and systems change efforts for tenant protections, homelessness prevention, affordable housing preservation, and production. Our region has been experiencing a housing crisis over the past decade, and we can use our diverse roles as policy advocate, grant maker, convenor, capacity builder, data provider, investor, and systems engineers to ensure that there is an equitable recovery for all throughout our region.

This position is part of a high-performing 14-person Division within the Community Impact Department and will be required to collaborate across diverse teams, including cross-departmental working groups.

Authority

Reporting to the Vice President of Policy and Innovation (VPPI), the Program Officer manages a grantmaking portfolio that develops and maintains meaningful grantee-centered relationships with community partners.

The ideal professional is open, flexible, and comfortable contributing content-expertise and knowledge as a thought partner on strategy and managing a grantee portfolio, while also managing the details of our internal grantmaking process, and their own schedule and administration.

Role

The Program Officer is responsible for strategy development and planning, portfolio management, grantmaking and fundraising.

• Ensures strategic coordination, integration, and alignment across grantmaking portfolios (30%), particularly between the Policy and Innovation Division, Programs Division, and Philanthropy and Gift Planning Department.

• Housing Expertise (15%). Deepens in-house equitable housing knowledge, skill, and expertise at SFF through your subject-matter expertise, research, network, and thought leadership. partners. Leverage expertise to advise and lead engagement on local and state policy advocacy initiatives.

• Builds relationships (25%) with local, regional, and state housing advocacy organizations. Lead grantmaking relationships with community partners and build relationships with many stakeholders across the field.

• Partnership Design, Development, and Implementation (20%). Leads proactive efforts for change, including partnership development efforts with other funders, private and public sector leaders, and grantees. Partner with the Officer of Corporate and Institutional Partnerships to fundraise from other foundations to leverage additional grantmaking resources for community impact.

• Learning and Evaluation (10%). Determines benchmarks, indicators of success, and methodology to track and assess the progress toward outcomes associated with the Policy and Innovation Division strategies, and the effectiveness of grants and progress reports. Use qualitative and quantitative data to inform recommendations and decision-making.

Success in this role will expand the capacity of equity-focused statewide housing advocacy organizations and will build a coordinated statewide housing advocacy infrastructure.

Tasks

Strategic Grantmaking

• Conducts strategic grantmaking related to housing impacts, and investment in policy change and systems change efforts at the local, regional, and state levels.

• Manages a robust grantmaking portfolio, including developing a grantmaking strategy in collaboration with internal colleagues and external partners.

• Work with grantees on applications/reports, work with grants admin staff to manage grantmaking budget, navigate online systems to process and track grants, develop relationships with community orgs and grantees

• Evaluates merits of written grant proposals, conduct due diligence, lead site visits, review research, and present grant recommendations to the Board of Trustees, as appropriate.

Project Management

• Develops strong processes and procedures to ensure grantmaking timelines across the division are consistent, equitable, efficient, and deepen relationships with community.

• Develops and leads advocacy and grantmaking processes related to local and state policy initiatives, including c4 grantmaking strategy development and campaign engagement.

High-Impact Convenings and Events

• Identifies, facilitates, and manages internal and external opportunities to bring various stakeholders together to further the equitable housing agenda.

• Contributes to convenings to support field learning, alignment, and power-building.

• Works with the SFF Marketing and Communications Department so that convenings position SFF as a resource for those interested in addressing critical issues affecting individuals and communities, gather input on a specific strategy or body of work, garner support for a cause or activity, and/or educate and learn.

Capacity-building in the Organization and Sector

• Partners with the Vice President of Policy and Innovation to lead capacity-building and coordination efforts to bolster the Foundation’s policy and lobbying efforts

• Identifies capacity caps and provides resources, referral advice, and technical assistance to grantee partners, agencies, and/or collaboratives.

• Partners with Philanthropy and Gift Planning (PGP) staff to leverage expertise and advise SFF donors looking for recommendations in areas of Community Wealth Building, and Indigenous Communities. Includes being regular point of contact for ad hoc PGP/donor requests based on content expertise.

Competencies & Qualifications

• 5+ years of transferable position or industry experience

• Grantmaking, grant writing and fundraising

• Project Management

• Equity centered with lived experience or experience working with marginalized communities.

• Ability to provide capacity building and technical assistance to nonprofit partners.

• Ability to innovate upon strategies to increase effectiveness and impact.

• Outstanding organizational, programmatic, and financial management experience, including the ability to move work from concept to implementation and completion.

• Ability to represent the foundation well in public settings, with donors and with philanthropic, private, and public sector stakeholders.

• Strong analytical, active listening, oral, and written communication skills, and the ability to work collaboratively in and across teams.

• Deep understanding of the Bay Area, its history, and the realities of the region’s residents - through intellectual, professional, and lived experience – particularly with a clear racial equity lens.

• Demonstrated abilities to build successful relationships with local leaders and organizations; engage people from diverse backgrounds; and synthesize and articulate (orally and in writing) a wide breadth of information to internal and external stakeholders.

• Committed to building resilient organizations and providing technical assistance.

• Intermediate to advanced computer/software skills, including Microsoft 365 (Outlook, Word, PowerPoint, Excel, & Teams) and zoom.

• Ability to learn, navigate and manage online platforms, including Fluxx, Qlik sense, Smartsheet, Salesforce, Blackbaud, and Power Plan

We are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive, and authentic workplace, so if you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t align exactly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyway. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.

Compensation: The San Francisco Foundation offers a very competitive total compensation package including base compensation in alignment with our organizational budget size and rich medical and fringe benefits offerings. This position pays $5,078.66 per pay period. You may read more about our compensation philosophy and benefits on the career page.

Remote Work Policy: The Foundation has adopted a long-term hybrid in-person and remote work policy. Dedicated to its employee health and safety, The Foundation will continue to make decisions in accordance with San Francisco County and California mandates. Employees must reside or plan to relocate within the San Francisco Bay Area.

Requesting Accommodations: The Foundation is committed to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals. As part of this commitment, The Foundation will ensure that persons with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodations. If reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and/or to receive other benefits and privileges of employment, please contact hr@sff.org.

The San Francisco Foundation is an equal opportunity employer and encourages people of diverse backgrounds to apply.