Senior Associate, Strategy, Impact, and Learning

ABOUT US

Democracy Fund is a foundation working to defend American democracy and challenge it to be more open and just. Created by eBay founder and philanthropist Pierre Omidyar, Democracy Fund has made more than $200 million in grants to support free and fair elections, a vibrant and diverse public square, effective and accountable government, and a just and inclusive society. In addition to grantmaking, Democracy Fund advocates for better solutions and works with partners to grow philanthropic support for our democracy. To learn more, visit www.democracyfund.org and www.democracyfundvoice.org.

POSITION SUMMARY

The Strategy, Impact and Learning (SIL) Team supports Democracy Fund’s development and evaluation of organizational and programmatic strategies across the organization. Using systems thinking and rigorous inquiry, we strive to ensure that Democracy Fund makes strategic and informed choices that achieve impact. We believe that experimentation, learning, and adaptation are key to the health and resilience of any system, whether it is our organization or the American political system. Democracy Fund is a leader in the democracy funding field and our strategies and impact inspire others to act. The SIL team leads the practice to develop these strategies and track their outcomes.

Democracy Fund is seeking a Senior Associate of Strategy, Impact, and Learning to support the foundation in becoming a best-in-class learning organization that consistently gains insight from evidence and experience, including failures and successes. As part of the SIL team, the Senior Associate will support an ongoing learning cycle that involves (a) seeking to understand our democracy as a complex social system, (b) helping to develop strategies for engaging that system, and (c) learning from evidence, including research, evaluations, and reporting, so that we can engage more effectively over time. This position will support the efforts to develop Democracy Fund’s inaugural organizational strategy and will create a knowledge management system to collect and utilize evidence of our impact in order to inform strategic decision making.

The ideal candidate is passionate about the future of American democracy, oriented towards action, and brings stellar project management skills to support cross-functional efforts to develop an organizational strategy as well as critical knowledge management systems. A love for creating simplicity on the other side of complexity and making data usable is a must. We are looking for someone who is excited to work within Democracy Fund’s Strategy, Impact, and Learning team and develop strong working relationships across departments in order to execute on key projects.

This role will report to the Associate Director of Strategy and Learning with a dotted line reporting relationship to the Director of Strategy, Impact and Learning. The position is a 2-year time-limited position.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES

STRATEGY SUPPORT

• Partner with the Associate Director, the Director of Strategy, Impact, and Learning, and other members of the strategic planning committee (made up of the Managing Director of Programs; Director of Strategy, Impact and Learning; and Senior Associate to the President) to ensure that overall organizational and subsequent program strategy planning runs smoothly.
• Manage all planning, coordination, and tasks related to the development of Democracy Fund’s inaugural organizational strategy. This includes liaising with the Office of the President, Program, and CommsNet leadership.

SYSTEMS & PROCESS MANAGEMENT

• Consultant Management: Manage contractual relationships with strategy consultants, including approving deliverables and invoices.
• Knowledge Management: Spearhead the development and manage the implementation of infrastructure for knowledge management systems and processes that codify, store, and manage data and evidence related to impact and strategy development.
• Board Communication: Support SIL in managing the development of reports and other materials about the Fund’s strategy, learning, and progress for its board of directors.

TEAM MEMBER

• Contribute to a collaborative internal team and develop strong networks among peers within Omidyar Group and the larger field.
• Work effectively with staff at all levels while balancing projects and priorities for multiple stakeholders.
• Actively work to support the success of other staff members and cultivate an organizational culture that is highly collaborative, positive, and productive.

EDUCATION, EXPERIENCE, AND SKILLS REQUIREMENTS

• An advanced degree in the social sciences plus 3-5 years work experience, or 5-7 years of work experience in the areas of organizational learning, strategy development, and/or evaluation; ideally with experience in strategy, process improvement, planning and/or consulting in a growing organization, with a familiarity of systems-aware, adaptive, and emergent strategy principles and approaches.
• Excellent organizational and project management skills, with exceptional attention to detail and an orientation toward action and follow through. Demonstrated experience leading and managing complex projects.
• Commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion in democratic systems.
• Strong verbal skills with the ability to package and present complex analysis and recommendations clearly.
• Experience designing and implementing data solutions preferred.
• Strong affinity toward relationship building.
• Excellent judgement and experience working with senior leaders.
• Deep sense of curiosity and demonstrated interest in learning, distilling lessons, and turning them into action.
• Experience working with organizations or institutions that work on democracy-related issues preferred.
• High tolerance for ambiguity, with the ability to adapt to changing priorities, strategic frameworks, and definitions of success.
• Experience facilitating participatory and collaborative events.
• Must be logical and structured in thinking and have excellent problem-solving ability.
• Strong and supportive team player.
• Commitment to learn and grow in a workplace that values diversity of multiple dimensions.
• Ability to travel periodically for project work.
• Willingness to live in the Washington D.C. area is required, though the organization will be working remotely until summer 2021.

HOW TO APPLY

Interested candidates should submit a cover letter and resume by January 30. Applications submitted without a cover letter or lacking the desired number of years of experience will not be considered. Take this as a chance to tell us about yourself and why you're interested in joining our team. No calls please.

Democracy Fund is committed to a diverse workplace, seeking voices and expertise from people from across the political spectrum. Our board, staff, advisors, and grantees include Republicans, Democrats, and Independents. Democracy Fund is an Equal Opportunity Employer, where we encourage candidates of all ages, color, ethnic background, country of origin, religion, disability status, gender, sexual orientation, and gender identity to apply.