Program Officer - American Cities Program

About the Foundation

The Kresge Foundation is one of the top 20 private philanthropic foundations in the United States and the only one focused exclusively on expanding opportunities for people with low income in American cities. With an endowment of approximately $4 billion and a staff of over 100 employees, the foundation deploys grants and social investments across arts and culture, education, environment, health, human services and community development. The foundation’s state-of-the-art headquarters maintains an array of energy-efficient, water-conserving and health-promoting systems. The foundation also operates an office in Detroit’s Midtown district.

About the Position

The American Cities Program Officer is responsible for the implementation of a strategy to develop a future where currently under-resourced cities and neighborhoods across the country offer a high quality of life; provide easy-to-access pathways to wealth and economic mobility; celebrate unique cultures; and reflect the power, priorities, and preferences of their residents. The team leads the Foundation's long-standing efforts in cities such as Fresno, Memphis, and New Orleans, and its work is informed by the Foundation's place-based work in Detroit, the approaches of Kresge's discipline-based programs, and the insights of community partners.

The Program Officer will manage a portion of the team's portfolio of grants and social change efforts; represent the American Cities team and the Kresge Foundation; collaborate with partners at national and local levels; design and implement grantmaking initiatives; and lead select bodies of work associated with the program's strategic priorities.

Primary Responsibilities

Grant Making

• Develop and manage place-based grantmaking strategies including work at the neighborhood, city, regional/county, and associated state levels.
• Develop grantmaking initiatives (i.e., external requests for proposals including RFP development, publication, proposal review and evaluation criteria).
• Structure, recommend, and manage a portfolio of grants related to multi-city initiatives, national community development, and thought leadership and convenings on cities.

External Relations

• Build and manage relationships with local nonprofits, government and community partners and assess opportunities for impact and collaboration with local funding partners through research, site visits and stakeholder meetings.
• Provide grantee and city partners with connections to other cities, communities of practice, and other non-financial resources.
• Represent the foundation publicly, sharing program approaches and grant making outcomes.

Organizational Development

• Act as a thought partner and identify opportunities for collaborative strategy development and grantmaking with other Kresge grantmaking program teams.
• Support the team's use of program-related investment (PRI) and innovative capital tools to achieve program objectives.
• Foster internal collaboration through working groups dedicated to cities, promoting co-learning, exchanging information, and implementing shared accountability structures.
• Contribute to and apply working knowledge of subject matter and field expertise to the development of the team's grantmaking strategy.
• Stay current with effective and equitable strategies in the urban development field.
• Maintain and develop a breadth of knowledge around emerging trends and innovations.

Qualifications

• A minimum of five years of work experience in government, management consulting, cross-sector collaboration, nonprofit management, or philanthropy related to community/economic development, urban development, public policy, or urban planning
• Working knowledge of or education in urban planning and development, or community and economic development.
• Bachelor's degree required; master's degree or equivalent experience preferred.
• Experience managing projects from conception to completion.
• Experience gathering and/or analyzing data, conducting qualitative or quantitative research, creating takeaways and executive summaries, and developing associated recommendations.
• Demonstrated potential to lead and influence diverse groups of collaborators.
• Demonstrated ability to effectively develop and manage strong and productive working relationships with internal and external partners.
• Strong interpersonal skills, including the ability to successfully interact and work across teams, functions, and sectors.
• Strong communication skills, both written and verbal, including the ability to present to various groups or stakeholders.
• Demonstrated commitment to championing issues of inclusion and equity.
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively with diverse communities, including those across race, class, gender, sexual orientation, and ethnicity.

This position is full-time. The starting salary for this position begins at $140,545.00 per year. Individual offers will be based on the candidate's years of experience and our practice of upholding salary equity within the foundation.

Please attach a cover letter for consideration for this position. The cover letter should address your specific interest in the position and outline skills and experience that directly relate to this position.

This position is located in Detroit, Michigan and currently has a hybrid schedule. Tuesday and Wednesday are the standard in-office days, however, there may be times when you will have to adjust the days based on work needs.

This position requires occasional travel for foundation activities, events and professional development activities.

Some of the benefits include:

• Health, dental, vision and life insurance
• Paid time off
• Half day Fridays
• 401k with employer matching
• Tuition reimbursement
• Life, accident and disability insurance
• Comprehensive relocation package for qualified candidates

Kresge is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. We do not discriminate based upon race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability or other applicable legally protected characteristics.

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