Grantmaking Excellence Officer

ABOUT THE OPPORTUNITY

The Grantmaking Excellence Officer sits within the Office of Strategy and Learning and reports to the Deputy Vice President of Strategy and Impact. The position holds two primary responsibilities: promoting and sustaining good grantmaking policies and practices within the Ford Foundation and supporting institutional strengthening for cohorts of Ford’s grantees. 

The Officer helps develop content and facilitates learning for Ford’s FunderMentals program, which supports program staff (directors, officers, and other program team members) throughout the life cycle of their grantmaking roles while overseeing the evolution of institutional practices and policies. In all of their work, they help the foundation balance ambition and risk, providing enabling conditions for mission-driven work within the institution and across the fields in which we work.  

For institutional strengthening, the Officer builds out a robust set of external technical assistance and capacity building offerings for the US and Global South. They work closely with program staff to identify grantee needs, ensure quality, and assess/adjust offerings as needed.

HOW YOU WILL CONTRIBUTE

As the Grantmaking Excellence Officer, you will perform the following and/or similar activities: 

• Curriculum & Onboarding: Develop and co-facilitate grantmaking curricula and onboarding sessions to ground new and existing staff in institutional policies and practices

• Process Optimization: Conduct ongoing reviews of grantmaking processes and policies, making recommendations to improve overall excellence, partner engagement, and grantee experience

• Policy Leadership: Advise the Program Leadership Team on grantmaking policy and collaborate with Operations to ensure changes are effectively institutionalized

• Institutional Strengthening: Lead grantee and internal team support in critical organizational areas, including security, compliance, financial resilience, and leadership development

• Program Design Support: Assist program teams in diagnosing challenges facing grantee networks and designing specific programs to meet those identified needs

• Grantee Feedback Loop: Manage the Grantee Perception Report process, from preparation to data reflection, and lead the commitment to improving the grantee experience

• Data-Driven Insights: Partner with the Data Governance Manager to synthesize and analyze grantmaking data, identifying actionable opportunities for practice improvement

• Cross-Functional Alignment: Coordinate with Legal, IT, and Grants Management to ensure all curricula and policies align with broader institutional and operational priorities

• Global Philanthropic Influence: Engage with international philanthropic leaders to advocate for and advise on the adoption of multi-year, flexible funding and institutional strengthening models

• Thought Leadership & Communication: Produce internal and external communications—including conference presentations—that highlight how social justice principles are embodied in grantmaking

WHAT YOU WILL NEED

• At least 6 years of professional working experience in philanthropy/grantmaking and a strong background in social justice issues in the US and the Global South

• At least 6 years of experience in institutional strengthening and organizational development as a service provider, grantmaker, or through leading an organization through growth and change. 

• Proficiency in key issues of institutional strengthening: especially security, grants compliance, financial resilience, and/or leadership.   

• Deep familiarity with philanthropy and grantmaking practices, including multiyear flexible funding, equitable grantee partner-funder partnership, clear and candid communication and planning.

• Strong background and experience in facilitating learning for adults 

• Deep understanding of the regional context and cultures, including geopolitical landscape, in which Ford works

• Knowledge of the landscape of technical assistance providers in the US and in the Global South so that they can identify. 

• Data analysis experience with both qualitative and quantitative methods

• Ability to travel domestically and internationally

• Exceptional leadership presence – internally and externally<