Program Officer, Early Childhood

About Robin Hood

This year Robin Hood celebrates its 35th year of funding, supporting, and connecting New York’s most impactful community organizations at the forefront in the battle against poverty. We’re NYC’s largest local poverty-fighting philanthropy and since 1988, we’ve invested more than $3 billion to elevate and fuel the permanent escape of New Yorkers from poverty. Last year, through grantmaking with 300+ community partners, we met critical needs and created pathways to opportunities out of poverty for more than 325,000 New Yorkers, and through our strategic partnerships on child care, child poverty, jobs, and living wages, we are scaling impact at a population level for the more than 1.4 million New Yorkers living in poverty. At Robin Hood, we believe your starting point in life should not define where you end up.

Early Childhood Portfolio

Based on a body of rigorous research, Robin Hood invests in early childhood programs for children 0-5 and programs designed to optimize birth outcomes for mothers and children alike. The Early Childhood portfolio makes grants totaling about $20 to $25 million annually. These investments support diverse evidence-based interventions that drive access to equitable and quality maternal care, rich learning opportunities that foster early brain development, and high-quality child care and pre-K. We also make investments to catalyze change in governmental systems to better meet the complex needs of families with young children. The shared aim of our investments is to drive improved developmental, education and life outcomes for children and families in New York City living in poverty.

Position Overview

The program officer will operate within the Early Childhood team, focusing on two major initiatives: the Child Care Quality & Innovation Initiative, and the Fund for Early Learning. The Child Care Quality & Innovation Initiative is a $100 million public-partnership with the City of New York that seeks to make high-quality, affordable child care more accessible while improving the quality of care provided to children birth through five. The Fund for Early Learning (FUEL) is the largest philanthropic fund in the United States focusing exclusively on children aged three and younger. FUEL’s mission is to identify scalable programs that strengthen the language and social-emotional abilities of children ages 0-3 living in poverty in New York City. The program officer will report to the Director of the Child Care Quality & Innovation Initiative, working closely with the FUEL team and work together to align on child care strategy.

The Program Officer (PO) will support the execution of the initiative strategies working as a thought partner on strategy questions, while supporting the operationalization of the initiatives at large through sourcing of new grant concepts and/or managing grantmaking and partnerships. The PO will manage grants for the CCQII and FUEL initiatives and work alongside the Early Childhood team to inform continued strategy alignment between the initiatives and Robin Hood’s overall Early Childhood portfolio. In addition, the PO will lead oversight of existing grants and the development of a robust and strong pipeline of new investment opportunities; make new investment recommendations (from writing to verbal presentation) to Robin Hood’s Early Childhood Board Committee; and deploy strategies and practices to capture the learning that takes place in the plethora of forums. The PO will also be influential in finding opportunities and contributing to articles and conference abstracts to spread awareness of the initiatives.

Responsibilities

• Supporting the ongoing refinement and implementation of the CCQII and FUEL strategies through grantmaking and partnership development.
  • Work with directors to inform ways to embed community voice into overall strategy
  • Manage relationships with a variety of stakeholders, e.g. government, nonprofits, academic institutions.
• Managing a portfolio of approximately 18-20 current grants:
  • Monitoring grantee performance through analysis of outcomes data, site visits, and independent assessment of progress or setbacks in management and financial reports.
  • Making recommendations about these grants’ alignment with the organization’s theory of change and their effectiveness in addressing poverty.
  • Developing contracts and negotiating annual objectives and goals with community partners.
  • Identifying and refining methods for quantifying the impact of an organization’s services using the latest research studies, or by helping to fill research gaps where they exist.
  • Working with Robin Hood management assistance staff to assess community partners’ organizational health with respect to finance, governance, fundraising, strategy, and other areas.
  • Building relationships of trust and mutual respect with nonprofit leaders to support them in delivering on their mission.
• Exploring, identifying and funding new approaches to improve access to affordable and high-quality child care for New Yorkers who are low-income:
  • Identifying the most innovative or effective interventions and organizations in the field, keeping open opportunities for direct service, policy and research grants alike and working in concert with Robin Hood’s Policy team.
  • Rigorously evaluating potential investments based on strategic fit, potential performance, likelihood for scale, and organizational strength.
  • Developing a clear articulation of the strengths and weaknesses of a potential grant and capturing them in write-ups and presentations delivered to program staff and board committees.
• Providing fundraising support for the program directors and Robin Hood’s development and communications staff including summarizing outcomes data, drafting content for donor reports and fundraising applications, and periodically representing Robin Hood at donor events and through other development programming.
• Generating or supporting the development of conference proposals to showcase successes in the philanthropic and early childhood space.
  

Competencies

• Emotional intelligence and empathy. The ability to acknowledge achievements of others, to share credit and to welcome feedback.
• Project management. Ability to understand the array of factors affecting a decision in a complex environment, and to translate those thoughts into action quickly.
• Analytical and critical thinking. Exceptionally skilled at investigating and assessing qualitative or quantitative data, drawing useful and nuanced findings and being adept at asking questions to refine conclusions.
• Communications skills. Ability to speak and write clearly, effectively, succinctly and spontaneously, especially under time pressures. Ability to synthesize information and tell a story about what qualitative and quantitative data means for grantees and for New Yorkers living in poverty.
• Flexibility/Adaptability. Capacity to multitask, switch directions and assume new or additional assignments quickly and graciously with shifting priorities and conditions.
• Comfortable with change and ambiguity. Ability to adjust to changing circumstances, and to identify assumptions, make forecasts and make decisions, if required, with limited information.
  

Qualifications

• B.A. or B.S. with focus on early childhood development or a related field, and/or strategy development, policy development and/or administration in the public, nonprofit and government sectors and at least four years of experience required. Master’s degree preferred, but equivalent experience considered. Experience in government, social venture or the nonprofit sectors. Direct experience in early childhood, child care, or education sector preferred.
• Proven ability to engage with various audiences, especially government and public stakeholders
• Strong problem-solving skills with the ability to navigate complex policy, legal, and operational challenges
• Ability to structure and analyze qualitative and quantitative data and draw insightful conclusions, and present compelling data from multiple, diverse sources.
• Exceptional abilities in critical thinking, succinct writing and oral presentation.
• Experience with generating and analyzing financial statements, with nonprofit exposure a plus.
  

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Robin Hood is committed to promoting diversity, equity, inclusion, and representation in all aspects of its work. As New York City’s largest poverty-fighting organization, Robin Hood believes that building a diverse team is fundamental to its ability to effectively serve and strengthen organizations serving the most vulnerable communities in the city, and to influence the policies that affect them.

Robin Hood believes in the potential that diversity creates – deep and responsive relationships with its community partners; the ability to solve complex problems efficiently and effectively; and, most importantly, the ability of its diverse staff to work to its full capacity.

Robin Hood builds diversity, inclusion, and equity practices into all aspects of its work. Its practices, values, traditions, and beliefs are embedded in the inclusive culture that it creates. Operationally, its formal and informal structures support a work environment that advances the professional development of staff at all levels, allows for innovation, and grounds its work as poverty fighters.

In its workplace, diversity equals representation. Robin Hood seeks to attract and retain a staff that reflects the communities that it serves. Racial and ethnic diversity matter to it, as does diversity among other cultural identifiers (ability, educational background, generation, gender, gender expression religion, immigration status, military status, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status).

Diversity within Robin Hood's staff is enhanced by its efforts at meaningful inclusion. It ensures that team members are empowered to make decisions, offer actionable feedback, and share credit for team success. Further, Robin Hood seeks to develop its talent professionally and has created an intentional focus on mentorship and sponsorship, particularly of junior staff. Its goal is to encourage long term talent retention and engagement, while fostering a culture of innovation.

Robin Hood Guiding Principles

As an organization committed to economic mobility, our work is grounded in the following Guiding Principles:

• Diversity, equity, and inclusion
• Proximity and humanity
• Risk-taking and innovation

Our professional community reflects myriad demographic characteristics, perspectives, and backgrounds, which includes various identities that reflect diversity in gender identity and expression, race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, ability, and socioeconomic status. Our colleagues have access to opportunity and advancement, as we promote fair and equitable treatment and have encouraged participation by underrepresented groups. As a team, we promote a sense of belonging, high levels of engagement, and shared respect.

Salary and Benefits

Salary commensurate with relevant experience and qualifications. Robin Hood also offers a full and competitive benefits package that includes, medical, dental and vision insurance, generous retirement contributions, eligibility to participate in paid medical, family and parental leave programs, professional development, cell phone reimbursement, and full-time employees start with 20 days of Paid Time Off (prorated). Eligible for a performance bonus.

The salary range for this position is $90,000 - $105,000

To Apply

Please visit our website to complete an online application.

Robin Hood is an equal opportunity employer. Applicants from diverse backgrounds and identities are encouraged to apply.

Please note that Robin Hood Foundation has adopted a COVID-19 vaccination policy to safeguard the health and well-being of our employees. As a condition of employment, Robin Hood employees are required to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19, unless a reasonable accommodation is approved or as otherwise required by law.