SCE is a 3-year-old social investment organization that operates as a private foundation, connecting talent and innovation with market forces to drive social change. Our grantees are nonprofits, but the work we do crosses boundaries between the public, private, and social sectors. We recently emerged from our initial development phase and have established our first grantmaking program area, Digital Learning. This initiative focuses on transforming children's use of digital media into learning time, helping kids acquire and practice traditional and 21st century skills. We are simultaneously pursuing several other areas of strategic grantmaking.
We seek a Program Director to lead SCE's day-to-day activities, direct our expanding Digital Learning work, and collaborate with the Board to design, build, and operationalize new grantmaking programs. This is an opportunity to be a leader at the vanguard of education, technology, and social innovation. The Program Director will report directly to the Chair.
Responsibilities include:
- Strategic Leadership
- Manage the evolution of SCE's pioneering Digital Learning program
- Oversee and implement strategy development for new grantmaking programs
- Lead SCE's ongoing organizational development and growth
- Collaborate with Trustees to set organizational priorities, strategies, and tactics
- Program Leadership
- Manage and execute SCE's proactive grantmaking process, from sector research to partner identification to grantee selection
- Lead the provision of technical and advisory assistance to grantees, and act as counselor and connector to other organizations in our fields of interest as part of SCE's unique "exchange" philanthropy model
- Act as primary relationship-builder for SCE among peers, grantees, and colleagues
- Oversee and perform SCE's research, knowledge management, and grants management functions
- Operational Leadership
- Work in conjunction with Operations Manager to direct Human Resources, Legal, IT, and day-to-day administrative function
- Lead hiring and supervision of SCE program staff and interns
- Marketing and Communication
- Work closely with Chair to manage all branding and communication, including social media, website, press releases, speeches, press interviews
- Represent SCE to the public, media, and the communities where we make grants
The ideal candidate possesses the following qualities:
- Respectful and ethical; motivated to be a positive force for social change
- An energetic self-starter able to work independently as well as within a team; entrepreneurship or start-up experience a plus
- Tolerance for ambiguity in a nascent field and the ability to help develop strategy
- Strong research and analytic skills; an ability to cull insights from large bodies of knowledge and develop readable briefs and recommendations
- Strong interpersonal communication and collaboration skills
- Intellectually curious, willing to learn and explore new fields
- A strong interest in innovation; a tendency to think unconventionally while maintaining an understanding and respect for traditional methods and approaches
- Creative; comfortable with visual thinking and design
- A balance of idealism, skepticism, critical thinking, and vision
- A sense of humor
This full-time position is based in the City of Chicago, but our trustees, grantees, and partners span the country. The candidate needs to be willing to travel. Salary commensurate with experience.