The application deadline is February 23, 2025. Please submit both a resume and a cover letter to be considered.

ABOUT THE OPPORTUNITY

The Ford Foundation’s Nairobi office seeks a dynamic, innovative Program Officer to be

a part of a team that is driving and shaping the foundation’s ongoing social justice work in East Africa. With six decades in the East African region, the Nairobi office’s current strategy focuses on civic engagement and governance in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. Under this strategy we invest in the threads that hold democracies together: basic freedoms, both in the digital domain and our daily lives; supporting an autonomous civil society and open government and building the resilience of social justice actors. We sustain a commitment to gender and disability justice and acknowledge the need to support new generations of leadership in a youthful continent. Our investments span institutions, individuals and ideas-resourcing a diverse set of actors committed to ending inequality through advancing social justice.

Reporting to the Regional Director, the Program Officer will develop and manage a grantmaking portfolio that helps advance the impact of Ford’s work in the region and includes a mix of grantees reflective of the needs of the change ecosystem. They will lead on the design of learning and convening for their grantees in partnership with the office team and broader Foundation. They will also contribute to thought leadership and strengthening resources for the work through engagement with other donors. The role involves collaborative interaction with colleagues across the Foundation including peer Program Officers and contributing to other Ford programming and strategic thinking.

HOW YOU WILL CONTRIBUTE

The Program Officer is responsible for the development and implementation of a grant portfolio and ensuring all related activities (grant making, convenings, thought leadership, capacity strengthening, external relations) are designed to deliver on the East African office’s goals and strategies, the objectives of International Programs, and the broader Ford Foundation. This will be developed and implemented with oversight from the Regional Director, and in collaboration with colleagues across the Foundation’s regional and New York offices. In particular, the Program Officer will work in close collaboration with the Civic Engagement and Governance-International team and will sync strategies with the Tech and Society team.

The Program Officer will assess and analyze the landscape of actors and ideas as well as existing strategies and grantmaking and identify how to shape a portfolio that adds value, advances catalytic interventions, encourages creativity, and engages the potential to scale for greater influence. This portfolio will complement peer program officer’s grantmaking in East Africa and in Civic Engagement and Governance-International teams and strategies by other grantmaking teams in the foundation where relevant.

More specifically as part of a multi-disciplinary team, the Program Officer will:

• Work independently and collaboratively across the program to further develop grantmaking strategies and to manage, monitor and coordinate a grants portfolio. This includes long-term grant planning, engaging in annual planning and working to agreed grantmaking schedules, identifying prospective grantees, reviewing and responding to proposals and developing strategic rationales for funding, conducting organizational assessments including financial and narrative reviews, undertaking periodic reviews of progress with grantees and actively engaging in learning, monitoring and evaluation.

• Design and support convening, collaboration, networking and knowledge production to enable cohort learning with grantees in their portfolio, the office and other actors in the Ford Foundation and broader ecosystems.

• Contribute to the ongoing development and implementation of team strategies, working to fulfill the Foundation’s East Africa Office and the international program goals.

• Develop program activities in a team-oriented way, that are aligned with global and regional strategy goals and designed to achieve significant and scalable impact.

• Pro-actively scan emerging analysis from research, policy, community and popular knowledge production and action, and draw on these to ensure that grantmaking and other programmatic approaches are relevant and meet evolving strategic questions and needs.

• Build relationships with other donors to increase philanthropic coordination and contributions to the field.

• Represent the Foundation and its work to external audiences including sector leaders, governments, media, academia, private sector, philanthropic and civic leaders through meetings, updates, speeches, briefings and interviews, with guidance from the Regional Director.

• Promote and participate in maintaining an open and collaborative work environment, team building and team effectiveness, modeling these skills for the team.

• Serve as a mentor to Program Associate and/or Program Assistant, with possible line management of the Program Assistant.

WHAT YOU WILL BRING

The ideal candidate will be well-versed in social justice questions as applies to democracy, human rights and the advancement of civic space in East Africa (Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania), with an interest in how this connects to broader Africa regional, South-South and/or global questions of justice and transformation. They will have knowledge and experience of the evolving issues around digital governance and growing an ecosystem of technology in the public interest. They will have experience in collaborating across sectors - in particular civil society, government and/or the private sector, to address inequality. They will understand broadly the roles that technical expertise, policy advocacy, litigation, community mobilizing, research, narrative shifts, and philanthropy play in advancing equity and justice, and effective ways of engaging government in this work. They will have insight into contemporary questions around gender and disability justice, and the dynamics of age, and how these are integrated into effective strategy. They will be an agile thinker, open to new ideas, rigorous in their analysis and collaborative in their approach. They will also have the capacity to build and sustain generative, effective relationships both internally and in an external ecosystem of influence and ideas with highly diverse players and significant complexity.

The following additional qualifications are essential:

• A minimum of 8 years of formal working experience leading the design and implementation of strategies addressing root causes and promoting effective action among various actors involved in governance, democracy and advancing social justice is essential.

• Demonstrated subject-matter expertise in human rights, civic space and governance, social justice, digital governance, and strong generalist understanding of contemporary social justice questions in East Africa and globally is essential.

• Deep understanding how multiple axes of inequality (including gender, disability and/or age) affect justice and governance questions is essential, experience of integrating these into programming and grantmaking is desirable.

• High level of creative strategic thinking, with the ability to engage the evidence base and apply critical analysis to understanding root causes and effective change approaches on social justice questions.

• Excellent communications skills - strong active listening skills, constructive verbal and written skills, strong public presentation skills.

• Fluent written and verbal communication skills in English is essential.

• Deep understanding of the East African regional geopolitical context, histories and cultures and excellent networks with diverse East African social justice actors are essential.

• Strong comfort with periods of ambiguity, and constructive participation in on-going organizational growth and development.

• Ability to use and adapt to new technology to enable work in a global organization including online information management systems and communication technologies.

• Willingness and ability to work on a flexible schedule, including occasional travel within the region and internationally.

• Ways of working and engaging that aligns with the Foundation’s mission, core values and commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.

• Master’s degree in related field of study or baccalaureate degree and equivalent experience

HELPFUL BUT NOT REQUIRED

• Working knowledge of Kiswahili

• Familiar with the legal frameworks, human rights, and policies pertinent to the East African region

PHYSICAL DEMANDS

This position is primarily a sedentary role. However, the person in this position may need to occasionally move about inside the office to liaise with internal staff, access files, office machinery and a copy machine/printer.

The Ford Foundation is committed to providing access, equal opportunity and reasonable accommodation for individuals with disabilities in employment, its programs, and operations. As part of this commitment, the Foundation will ensure that persons with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodations. If a reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application process, please contact, talentacquisitionhr@fordfoundation.org

SALARY: Compensation is based on experience and on the Foundation’s commitment to internal equity.

LOCATION: Nairobi, Kenya. We operate in a hybrid model and require staff to be in the office three days per week.

EMPLOYMENT TYPE: This position is offered on a fixed-term basis for an anticipated period of 8 years; the initial term is 3 years.

WORKING AT FORD

• Commitment to creating diverse teams where everyone feels represented and respected and to embedding equity and inclusion practices across our work and philanthropy at large

• A hybrid working model and flexible work arrangement policies offer colleagues the opportunity to engage in meaningful ways and the space to maintain a healthy work-life balance

• Professional development and ample opportunities to build your expertise and expand your network

• Comprehensive benefits package designed for your well-being and work-life needs, including medical, dental, and vision benefits effective on your first day

• Generous time off, including personal, vacation, sick, extended holiday time off, and wellness days

• Generous parental leave policy, including birth, surrogacy, adoptive, foster parents, and resources for backup child and elder care that support our colleagues’ ability to attend to family responsibilities

• Comprehensive retirement benefits options (with employee and employer contributions of up to 13%), allowing you to invest in your financial future with confidence

Learn more about what it’s like to work at the Ford Foundation.

Equal employment opportunity and having a diverse staff are fundamental principles at The Ford Foundation, where employment and promotional opportunities are based upon individual capabilities and qualifications without regard to race, color, religion, gender, pregnancy, sexual orientation/affectional preference, age, national origin, marital status, citizenship, disability, veteran status or any other protected characteristic as established under law. The Ford Foundation does not discriminate against formerly incarcerated individuals.