Program Officer
During 2024-25, CJRF is undertaking a series of experimental grantmaking initiatives, which will deploy grants totaling more than US$2.5M around the globe, using several different participatory grantmaking methodologies. CJRF seeks to employ an organized, collaborative, insightful, and flexible Program Officer to support the initiatives, including:
the design and execution of successful multi-stakeholder processes;
administration of grants made via the initiatives;
harvesting lessons from the participatory grantmaking experience;
supporting exchange of lessons among participants in the various initiatives; and
facilitating integration of priorities and lessons learned into CJRF Board decisions and grantmaking systems.
If a US-based applicant is selected for this role, they most likely will be hired as an employee of New Venture Fund, CJRF’s fiscal sponsor. If an applicant outside of the US is selected, this position will most likely be filled through aProfessional Employment Organization. A salary/benefits offer will be developed at the time of selection, commensurate with market rates in the applicant’s location and their salary history.
A key part of CJRF’s strategy development will be a series of experimental grantmaking initiatives during 2024-25, which will deploy grants totaling more than US$2.5M around the globe, using several different participatory grantmaking methodologies. These initiatives will provide both substantive input to CJRF strategy development and serve as pilots for the design of new CJRF participatory grantmaking systems for use in 2025-28. CJRF seeks to employ an organized, collaborative, insightful, and flexible Program Officer to: support the design and execution of successful multi-stakeholder processes; facilitate the administration of grants made via these processes; harvest lessons from the pilot initiatives and grantmaking experience; support exchange of lessons among participants in the various initiatives; and facilitate integration of priorities and lessons learned into Board decisions and emerging CJRF systems.
Workshop Co-development
The new Program Officer will support a series of 4-6 participatory grantmaking workshops planned by CJRF in 2024-25. For each workshop, the Program Officer will work collaboratively with CJRF staff, board members, consultants, past grantee partners, and other participants to ensure strong workshop design, execution, and follow-up. Workshops are part of a pilot program that will test several methods for participatory strategy development and grant decision-making. Events are anticipated in East Africa, Arctic North America, Bangladesh, and on Zoom. The Program Officer will attend the first 1-2 workshops in a support capacity, but will hold progressively greater responsibility for leading workshop co-development over time.
Grantmaking
CJRF anticipates that the above workshops will ultimately lead to 4-5 grantmaking rounds during 2024-25. The P.O. will be responsible for designing and facilitating appropriate post-workshop processes, as needed, for participant involvement in final grant decisions. They will also ensure CJRF Board Members stay informed of grantmaking processes and are engaged appropriately. With support from CJRF’s Program Assistant, the P.O. will work with identified grantees to finalize due diligence and administer the grants. By mid-2025, they should be supporting a portfolio of between eight and fifteen active grants.
Lesson-learning and Strategic Integration
CJRF has begun to develop a lesson-learning framework intended to enable our staff and board to:
Capture workshop participants’ priorities and preferences on strategic questions under deliberation by CJRF’s board.
Assess the successes and challenges associated with each participatory grantmaking method tested through the workshops and associated activities.
Explore whether and how each participatory methodology supports development of a portfolio that reflects the Fund’s vision and commitment to intersectionality.
Working with Board and staff members, the new P.O. will further develop this learning framework, use it to document workshop process and outputs, support other staff to apply the framework across their work, and ensure lessons are effectively captured and integrated into ongoing strategy development. The P.O. will lead on designing and holding several “learning stocktake” events (virtual and potentially in person) for reflection on the participatory grantmaking pilots by CJRF staff, board members, grantmaking participants, and new grantee partners. In the second quarter of 2025, they will play a central role in co-designing and implementing board retreat sessions that synthesize lessons learned and integrate them into a Fund Strategy for 2025-28. They will work closely with CJRF’s Director and Communications Associate to communicate progress and lessons learned to external audiences.
Core Team Engagement
Attend, co-plan, and actively participate in weekly CJRF team meetings, a weekly check-in with the Fund Director, and periodic meetings with relevant Board task teams (all virtual via Zoom)
Attend bi-monthly Board meetings (Zoom), semi-annual Board retreats (in-person), and roughly semi-annual CJRF staff retreats (in-person).
Maintain shared files, documents, and communications systems, including via MS Office, Dropbox, Whatsapp, Zoom, and Google Docs.
Contribute written pieces as requested to CJRF’s website, blog, social media, and newsletter
Provide periodic support to the CJRF Director on outreach and relationship management, including (but not limited to): preparation of promotional materials, proposal writing, and report writing.
Fulfill other duties as requested by the Director.
Like all CJRF staff, the program officer will work remotely and may be located anywhere. They will collaborate regularly with Board members and colleagues in a wide range of time zones, including (but not at all limited to) frequent contact with GMT+3, GMT+6, GMT+10, GMT-5, GMT-9.
International travel estimated at 4-6 weeks of time during the first year of work. This will include an in-person on-boarding meeting with other CJRF within six weeks of hiring and a Board retreat in August 2024.
Experience with participatory grantmaking or other participatory decision-making processes
Participatory workshop design and facilitation expertise, including skills in creative approaches to facilitation of multi-stakeholder, multi-cultural groups.
Understanding of socio-ecological issues, including climate justice, intersectionality and political ecology.
Demonstrated commitment to addressing intersectional forms of oppression
Experience living/working in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and/or an Indigenous community
At least seven years of relevant work experience
Strong written and oral communications skills
Strong organizational skills, including in the context of grantmaking or other project management
Experience implementing participatory learning methodologies, such as Emergent Learning, Participatory Action Research, or progressive approaches to monitoring, evaluation, and learning
Experience with decolonial approaches to learning.
Demonstrated experience working effectively as part of a team, across multiple time zones, and with colleagues of diverse backgrounds and perspectives;
Proven self-starter;
Experience using Microsoft Office software, including Outlook, Excel, PowerPoint, and Word.
Experience using WhatsApp and Zoom. Experience with additional tools and platforms preferred (Concur, Canva, Creative Cloud, Salesforce, and Trello all could be useful)
Fluency in English. Second language preferred (French, Spanish, Bangla, Swahili, Inuit languages all would be especially useful)
US Salary Range: $70,000-$150,000 per year
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