Senior Program Officer of Grantmaking

Health Resources in Action, Inc. (HRiA), a national nonprofit public health consulting organization with headquarters based in Boston, Massachusetts, has a mission to help people live healthier lives and build healthier communities through prevention, health promotion, policy, and research. HRiA works with a diverse group of clients across the country to address some of the most critical public health issues using innovative and evidence-based approaches to improve population health. Our clients include philanthropic entities, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, state and local health departments, and hospitals.

Since its founding in 1957, HRiA has been at the forefront of public health, leading the way to promote healthier and more vibrant communities. Our work recognizes the impact of social, economic, and racial factors on health outcomes. HRiA is also a member of the National Network of Public Health Institutes with over forty affiliates located across the country.

Summary:

Health Resources in Action (HRiA) is seeking a highly talented and experienced Grantmaking Senior Program Officer to join a vibrant and growing public health consulting organization and support a portfolio comprised of the Massachusetts Community Health and Healthy Aging Funds (the Funds) as well as other funding programs focused on community and population health.

The overall roles and responsibilities of this position include recruitment of applicants, expanding engagement, grantmaking support, and co-creating and implementing capacity-building and training programs for awardees of the Funds. Specific to the broader Community Health Grantmaking portfolio, responsibilities include supporting the management of larger grantmaking initiatives, and leading small to medium-sized grantmaking projects.

The Senior Program Officer will report to the Managing Director of Racial Equity Grantmaking and work collaboratively with the Funds team made up of Program Officers, a Program Associate, and other colleagues focused on grantmaking and evaluation. This position will sit within the Community Health Grantmaking department at Health Resources in Action.

Duties and Responsibilities:

The Massachusetts Community Health & Healthy Aging Funds (The Funds) and other Community Health grantmaking projects explicitly focus on reducing health inequities in communities across Massachusetts by addressing their root causes, specifically institutional and structural racism, as well as the social determinants of health. The Funds are both a grantmaking and capacity-building program that provides financial resources and support to communities addressing racial and health inequities across the Commonwealth.

The Funds are guided by the following three principles:

1. The Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) account for significant variation in health outcomes.
2. Policies, systems, and social/physical environments are historically based in structural and institutional racism and other forms of oppression.
3. Structural and institutional racism and other forms of oppression need to be understood and disrupted to eliminate inequities in population health outcomes and the social determinants of health.

In January 2017, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) completed a landmark revision of the Determination of Need (DoN) regulation which led to the creation of the Funds. Resources for the Community Health and Healthy Aging Funds are from hospitals, long-term care facilities, and other healthcare entities that are required to contribute. Overall, there are three distinct funding streams, Policies, Systems & Environmental change (PSE), Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP) and Healthy Aging. The Funds’ vision: the MA CHHA Funds, through contributions to equitable systems across sectors and the explicit prioritization of people of color and older adults, envisions Massachusetts communities that are transformed so that all residents have an equitable opportunity to have the highest quality of life possible.

The Senior Program Officer will focus their activities on the Funds’ awardees, with a particular emphasis on the PSE funding stream, including a range of grantmaking, programmatic, and project oversight, and capacity building support for the Funds. This position will have oversight of the following responsibilities relative to the Funds:

• Participate in the overall planning and implementation of Funds-related activities, team, and evaluation meetings.
• Provide support and feedback for landscape analyses for outreach and engagement activities.
• Identify, recruit, and engage potential applicants during grantmaking cycles.
• Manage reviewer activities, including coordinating communications with internal and external reviewers, facilitating review meetings, and recommending cohorts of awardees to decision-making bodies.
• Manage the award approval and declination process.
• Develop?deep ongoing relationships?with awardees, including facilitating check-ins and site visits.
• Serve as first point-of-contact for questions and requests from awardees as needed and manage ongoing communications with them.
• Manage and lead the Funds communication plan with key Funds’ staff.
• Serve as grantee champion, identifying opportunities to uplift awardee work and highlight achievements.
• Provide technical assistance and ongoing capacity building for awardees.
• Identify high-level needs among awardees, and address through trainings, networking with other awardees or organizations, and funding opportunities as needed.
• Support analyses of progress reports, no-cost extensions, and budget re-allocation requests.
• Develop and disseminate written materials highlighting the impact of the Funds.
• Support the overall operations of the Funds.

Within Community Health Grantmaking and the broader organization, the position will have the following responsibilities:

• Lead small- to -medium-sized grantmaking projects including supporting the wide range of grantmaking activities as requested by the client, from strategy and development, to drafting Requests for Proposals in collaboration with project teams, overseeing application submissions, leading review processes, and making recommendations to decision-making bodies.
• Foster strong relationships externally and internally, including participation in HRiA organizational committees and staff meetings.
• Liaise with funders and assist with new business development efforts as needed.
• Work collaboratively with program teams to integrate grantmaking best practices.
• Propose ideas/improvements in project processes and systems through participation in program planning meetings.

This is a full-time, exempt position. The salary range for this position is $70,000-$86,000 and is commensurate with experience. Health Resources in Action offers an attractive benefits package including employer-funded medical, dental, vision, disability and life insurance, and employer contributions to a tax-deferred annuity. Additionally, employees enjoy flexible work schedules and other policies that promote work/life balance, vacation starting at four weeks, thirteen paid holidays, plus office closure time for the last week of December. While HRiA operates as a national and virtually operating organization, there will be a preference for candidates residing in Massachusetts.

Candidate Qualifications:

• A commitment to addressing racial and health equity, including structural racism and other systemic drivers of health equity.
• A commitment to diversity of thought, backgrounds, and perspectives.
• At least five years of experience in foundation or philanthropic, community organizing or racial equity non-profit work.
• Facilitative experience, including of team and review meetings, and shepherding a group through consensus processes.
• Organized, detail-oriented and able to meet deadlines.
• Demonstrated ability to prioritize and coordinate multiple tasks and events simultaneously.
• High level of professionalism and self-motivation, with a demonstrated ability to commit to and follow through on projects.
• Strong written, verbal, and interpersonal skills, including communicating by videoconference, phone, and/or in person (when needed) with community members and organizational partners.
• Able to work independently and as a part of a team.
• Ability to operate in a fast-paced environment with evolving endpoints, while delivering high quality work.
• Experience in event and meeting planning, coordination, and logistical support.
• Excellent problem solving, organizational, critical thinking, and interpersonal skills.
• Resourceful self-starter with a proven ability to perform under tight deadlines.
• Flexibility and a sense of humor.
• Experience working in diverse and multicultural settings.

This description is intended to indicate the kinds of work duties that will be required in this position. It is not intended to limit, or in any way modify, the ability of any supervisor to assign, direct, and contract work of staff under their supervision. The use of a particular illustration describing duties shall not be held to exclude other duties, not mentioned, that are of a similar level or difficulty.