The Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation (STBF) is a private grantmaking foundation based in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. We work towards a world in which every woman controls her reproduction and all reproductive decisions are treated with dignity and respect. Toward this end, our core mission is to prevent unintended pregnancy and ensure access to safe abortion.
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Program Officer – Global Programs
Position Title: Program Officer – Global Programs
Reports To: Senior Program Officer, focused on strategy and partnerships
Job Location: Kigali, Rwanda or Omaha, NE, US
Classification: Exempt
Background | STBF’s Global Programs (GP) strategy invests in sexual and reproductive health and rights around the world. At the core of our strategy is the central tenet that our funding will lead to permanent change: We want our funding to help build the systems, organizations, and institutions that will outlive our grantmaking, so that women and girls will continue to receive services when our funding comes to an end. In order to deliver on this ambitious strategy, the GP team is expanding thoughtfully, adding strategic and grants management capacity in key areas. Compared to the size of its grant-making, the GP team is small in staff size, though growing globally. We aim to identify opportunities for impact by questioning, piloting, reflecting, learning, and putting learned information to effective use. We are not afraid to fail or change our approach in light of new learnings. We regard our investments as partnerships, and regard our grantees as our partners.
Position Description | The primary role of the Program Officer (PO) is to work closely with the Senior Program Officer (SPO) on the ongoing refinement and implementation of the Global Program’s team strategy and manage grants within the portfolio. The PO will play a critical role in modeling the mind-sets and behaviors of a collaborative and inclusive team culture, helping to lead implementation of GP’s ambitious strategy. They will demonstrate adaptability with regard to managing and addressing the needs of different stakeholders, both internal and external. The PO will see themselves as a leader who embraces the opportunity to positively influence — through curiosity, empathy, humor and assistance — their colleagues in the development and vetting of proposals and the implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of programs.
The Ideal Candidate | This position is right for you if you are:
● A strategic thinker | You are aligned with and have a deep understanding of the GP strategy and can work to connect and align sub-strategies and any program work with it as needed. You have a constant eye on the big picture — and are OK switching course based on exposure to new information. You are able to break down a complex vision into actionable steps. You balance your bias for action with a need for reflection time to consider how to maximize the opportunity before you.
Thrive in complexity and ambiguity | You are comfortable in the grey, and can find ways to take meaningful steps forward toward clarity amidst a changing backdrop. You seek clarity and guidance when needed, yet remain solutions-oriented and self-directed. You aim to create clarity, not add to complexity.
An effective communicator | You know that individuals give and receive messages differently and, therefore, adjust your communication tactics — regarding content, technique, and tone — to land your ideas effectively in a global and remote team and with a wide-array of partners. You are committed to transparency and visibility to ensure alignment with the SPO and to support an effective, collaborative team. You remain aware of cultural context and power dynamics, thoughtfully communicating to bring others in and along — even in hard conversations. You take the time to listen actively and understand the value of diverse ideas and opinions.
Adaptable with a good sense of humor | You are able to manage up, down, and sideways with relative ease. You keep sight of the end-goal and are flexible in how that is achieved, ready to pivot as needed. You aren’t out for ownership and credit, but to facilitate a smooth and results-driven workflow to serve the mission. You see yourself in service to the mission always, and as part of a team working to realize an ambitious vision.
A leader | You are self-aware — embracing continuous learning and leveraging your ability to influence. You understand that energy — positive and negative — is contagious and consciously create collaborative, inclusive, and rich working dynamics. You look for opportunities to develop yourself, coach and mentor other team members, and provide thoughtful and appropriate management of grantees.
Responsibilities | Primary responsibilities of this position include, but are not limited to:
Strategy Implementation
Collaborate on ongoing development, management, analysis, and refinement of strategy across the Global Programs portfolio as needed
· Help grow and manage new partnerships critical to the implementation of our strategy with grantees, funders and others
· Participate in introductory and scoping calls with potential grantees to undertake due diligence learnings and landscape analyses
Grants Management
· Provide range of flexible and responsive support to prospective grantees to help shape concepts for funding
· Collaborate with and provide guidance to grantees throughout proposal development, program implementation, and the reporting process
· Assess grantee performance, program progress, and strategy alignment through written communications and in-person visits
· Represent the Foundation thoughtfully to past, present, and potential grantee partners, and in external meetings and events
Team Leader
● Exhibits a leadership mind-set; is always leading self, a project, or peers
● Supports, mentors, and cultivates the growth of junior staff
● Is an engaged, committed contributor to team initiatives, efforts, and activities
Qualifications | Skills and knowledge the candidate must possess:
Strong background (~3-5 years) working on health in low-resource settings, including sexual and reproductive health and rights and safe abortion
· Proven commitment to social justice and power shift within the global health and development field, including in philanthropy
· Excellent communicator who is responsive, thoughtful, culturally humble, and able to convey complex content in clear ways to a range of audiences
· Excellent relationship manager, with a track record of fostering and maintaining trusting relationships with a wide range of stakeholders
· Ability to think creatively, ambitiously, and nimbly “outside the box”
· Patience, flexibility, adaptability, and a sense of humor
· Strong initiative with ability to work independently with limited supervision
· Attention to detail as well as an ability to take a big-picture perspective
· Collaborative work style and eagerness to continually learn and grow
· Experience working with complex, multi-stakeholder partnerships a plus, as well as knowledge of trust-based grantmaking
· Leadership based in values of humility, integrity, and respect
· Ability to travel internationally up to 50% of the time
Education and Experience | A range of professional experiences or educational preparation will be considered. Technical expertise in SRHR programming is more important than philanthropic experience, but grantmaking familiarity is certainly a plus.
Benefits and Compensation | The annual salary range for this position is competitive and will be commensurate with experience. The Foundation offers a full and generous benefits package, including medical/dental insurance and a retirement program.
Application Process | Send cover letter and resume or CV to internationalprograms@stbfoundation.org with subject line Program Officer – Global Programs.
Applications without a cover letter will not be reviewed. References, writing samples and other information may be requested.
Applications without a cover letter will not be reviewed. References, writing samples and other information may be requested.
2. Program Officer – Advocacy
Position Title: Program Officer – Advocacy
Reports To: Senior Program Officer – Global Advocacy
Job Location: Kigali, Rwanda or Omaha, NE, US
Classification: Exempt
Background | STBF’s Global Programs (GP) strategy invests in sexual and reproductive health and rights around the world. At the core of our strategy is the central tenet that our funding will lead to permanent change: We want our funding to help build the systems, organizations, and institutions that will outlive our grantmaking, so that women and girls will continue to receive services when our funding comes to an end. In order to deliver on this ambitious strategy, the GP team is expanding thoughtfully, adding strategic and grants management capacity in key areas. Compared to the size of its grant-making, the GP team is small in staff size, though growing globally. We aim to identify opportunities for impact by questioning, piloting, reflecting, learning, and putting learned information to effective use. We are not afraid to fail or change our approach in light of new learnings. We regard our investments as partnerships and regard our grantees as our partners.
Position Description | The primary role of the Program Officer (PO) is to work closely with the Senior Program Officer (SPO) for Global Advocacy on the ongoing refinement and implementation of the global advocacy strategy and manages grants within the portfolio. The PO will report to the SPO for Global Advocacy and play a critical role in modeling the mind-sets and behaviors of a collaborative and inclusive team culture, helping to lead implementation of GP’s ambitious strategy. They will demonstrate adaptability with regard to managing and addressing the needs of different stakeholders, both internal and external. The PO will see themselves as a leader who embraces the opportunity to positively influence — through curiosity, empathy, humor and assistance — their colleagues in the development and vetting of proposals and the implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of programs.
The Ideal Candidate | This position is right for you if you are:
A strategic thinker | You are aligned with and have a deep understanding of the GP strategy and can work to connect and align sub-strategies and any program work with it as needed. You have a constant eye on the big picture — and are OK switching course based on exposure to new information. You are able to break down a complex vision into actionable steps. You balance your bias for action with a need for reflection time to consider how to maximize the opportunity before you.
Thrive in complexity and ambiguity | You are comfortable in the grey, and can find ways to take meaningful steps forward toward clarity amidst a changing backdrop. You seek clarity and guidance when needed, yet remain solutions-oriented and self-directed. You aim to create clarity, not add to complexity.
An effective communicator | You know that individuals give and receive messages differently and, therefore, adjust your communication tactics — regarding content, technique, and tone — to land your ideas effectively in a global and remote team. You are committed to transparency and visibility to ensure alignment with the SPO and other team members as needed, and to support an effective, collaborative team. You remain aware of cultural context and power dynamics, thoughtfully communicating to bring others in and along — even in hard conversations. You take the time to listen actively and understand the value of diverse ideas and opinions.
daptable with a good sense of humor | You are able to manage up, down, and sideways with relative ease. You keep sight of the end-goal and are flexible in how that is achieved, ready to pivot as needed. You aren’t out for ownership and credit, but to facilitate a smooth and results-driven workflow to serve the mission. You see yourself in service to the mission always, and as part of a team working to realize an ambitious vision.
A leader | You are self-aware — embracing continuous learning and leveraging your ability to influence. You understand that energy — positive and negative — is contagious and consciously create collaborative, inclusive, and rich working dynamics. You look for opportunities to develop yourself, coach and mentor other team members, and provide thoughtful and appropriate management of grantees.
Responsibilities | Primary responsibilities of this position include, but are not limited to:
Support Strategy Implementation
Collaborate on ongoing development, management, analysis, and refinement of strategy across the advocacy portfolio as needed
● Provide support on development of regional sub-strategies and country strategies as needed.
● Participate in introductory and scoping calls with potential grantees to undertake due diligence learnings and landscape analyses
Grants Management
Provide range of flexible and responsive support to prospective grantees to help shape concepts for funding and strengthen capacity of grantees to mobilize resources.
Collaborate with and provide guidance to grantees throughout proposal development, program implementation, and the reporting process
Assess grantee performance, program progress, and strategy alignment through written communications and in-person visits
Represent the Foundation thoughtfully to past, present, and potential grantee partners, and in external meetings and events
Team Leader
Exhibits a leadership mind-set; is always leading self, a project, or peers
● Supports, mentors, and cultivates the growth of junior staff
● Is an engaged, committed contributor to team initiatives, efforts, and activities
Qualifications | Skills and knowledge the candidate must possess:
Deep knowledge of advocacy, social change, and movement building, nationally or regionally in Africa, Asia, or Latin America, experience working in these regions and from these regions highly encouraged
Deep knowledge of advocacy, social change, and movement building, nationally or regionally in Africa, Asia, or Latin America, experience working in these regions and from these regions highly encouraged
Strong background (~5-10 years) in sexual and reproductive health and rights, with experience working on safe abortion in low-resource settings
● Proven commitment to social justice and power shift within the global health and development field, including in philanthropy
● Excellent communicator who is responsive, thoughtful, culturally humble, and able to convey complex content in clear ways to a range of audiences
● Excellent relationship manager, with a track record of fostering and maintaining trusting relationships with a wide range of stakeholders
● Ability to think creatively, ambitiously, and nimbly “outside the box”
● Patience, flexibility, adaptability, and a sense of humor
● Strong initiative with ability to work independently with limited supervision
● Attention to detail as well as an ability to take a big-picture perspective
● Collaborative work style and eagerness to continually learn and grow
● Knowledgeable of trust-based grantmaking, with experience in participatory grantmaking and creating funding approaches a strong plus
● Leadership based in values of humility, integrity, and respect
● Ability to travel internationally up to 50% of the time
Education and Experience | A range of professional experiences or educational preparation will be considered. Technical expertise in SRHR programming is more important than philanthropic experience, but grantmaking familiarity is certainly a plus.
Benefits and Compensation | The annual salary range for this position is competitive and will be commensurate with experience. The Foundation offers a full and generous benefits package, including medical/dental insurance and a retirement program.
Application Process | Send cover letter and resume or CV to internationalprograms@stbfoundation.org with subject line Program Officer – Advocacy. Applications without a cover letter will not be reviewed. References, writing samples and other information may be requested. Position finalists may be invited to interview in-person at the Foundation in Omaha, Nebraska, United States.
