Director of Programs and Operations

Job Description

Job Title: Director of Programs and Operations

Reports to: CEO

Location: Based in Seattle, WA with some travel to Latin America

POSITION DESCRIPTION

Seattle International Foundation is seeking a strategic, organizational leader and exceptional manager to partner with the CEO and Board of Directors to advance the mission of the organization. The Director of Programs and Operations will manage grant-making functions and will provide direct supervision to staff in Seattle, as well as program staff based throughout the region. SIF currently has an office in Mexico City, and staff based in Honduras and Guatemala.

In this role, the Director will lead the execution of the organization’s strategic plan. The Director will operationalize best practices in management systems, including appropriate integration and collaboration of teams and functional areas, to ensure strong organizational performance to meet ambitious goals.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES

Organizational Leadership and Strategy:

• Collaborate with the Board, CEO and key staff to advance strategic plan and goals and ensure program areas are aligned with strategic plan.
• Implement strategic plan, integrating all aspects of the organization’s work including programs, communications, development, and finance.
• Working with the CEO, create, maintain, and/or oversee systems and processes to ensure effective management of the daily operations of program staff and an organizational structure that supports the organization’s goals.
• Facilitate Staff Team meetings and strategic planning sessions.
• Support SIF’s major partnerships in Central America.
• As needed, serve as an ambassador for SIF externally at events and/or in support of fundraising initiatives.

Grants Management:

• Manage grant life cycle, from request to close. This entails reviewing applications, tracking payments, reviewing or producing relevant reports, and monitoring impact.
• Manage the review of funding requests for completeness, eligibility, and compliance with IRS regulations.
• Conduct the due diligence that is required in the decision-making process, ensuring consistent application of statutory and internal requirements.
• Manage communications with grantees and applicants, and where appropriate, provide technical support and compliance-related information.
• Analyze systems for tracking grant data, make recommendations to improve grant-making systems that contribute to the team’s learning and evaluation efforts.
• Provide grants management support to CEO regarding grants administration process, compliance, and data analysis.
• Work with CEO and other key staff to report on the impact of grants – both internally (primarily with the Board) and externally.

Staff Management:

• Lead and manage all programmatic and operations staff and activities to effectively meet organizational and program goals, ensuring integration across all areas and programs.
• Coordinate with CEO to communicate the Foundation’s vision, priorities and goals, and ensure staff are working towards said goals and priorities.
• Develop program impact metrics consistent with relevant plans and create a system of ongoing evaluation, ensuring strong work plans and alignment between individual, team, and organizational goals and priorities.
• Supervise, coach, and collaborate with program staff to ensure programmatic and team success, as well as to support the team’s ongoing professional development and growth.

Qualifications: A combination of the experience, skills, and education listed below that provides an equivalent background to perform the work of this position.

Experience, Skills, and Education:

• 10+ years of professional experience in a fast-paced and growing nonprofit environment, as well as experience working in a leadership role.
• Demonstrated experience working collaboratively to lead the integration of a complex organization and utilizing best practices in management to ensure shared success.
• Significant experience developing and leading teams and working as an effective team member.
• Proven success leading a collaborative strategic planning process and ensuring its effective implementation.
• Strong staff management experience required, with the ability and interest to work closely with staff members to set and achieve individual and team goals.
• Strong financial management experience required; experience managing and implementing complex foundation, government and multilateral grants preferred.
• Outstanding strategic thinking skills, with a focus on results and impact.
• Superior communication skills, both oral and written; strong sense of emotional intelligence with the ability to work effectively with people at all levels of the organization to create buy-in and a sense of team work.
• Experience leading an organization through a significant time of change and growth; ability to be thoughtful, patient, supportive and nimble.
• Positive attitude, good sense of humor and interest in joining a small, but high-impact and amiable team.
• Significant experience with foreign aid, international development issues and policies, especially in Latin America.
• Significant experience and comfort traveling and working in developing countries (including Latin America) required
• Fluency in Spanish a plus, including experience communicating in and working with technical, management and financial terminology
• Bachelor’s degree required; Master’s degree preferred
• Passionate about and experience working in the major programmatic areas of SIF’s work, including the following: leadership development; women’s equality, public policy, advocacy and the importance of transparency in government; public-private partnerships; and research.
• Experience with organizing special events, trainings, and high-level forums with other donors, philanthropists, government agencies, private companies.
• Must be US citizen or have legal authority to work in US.

HOW TO APPLY: Submit a resume and cover letter in English to programs@seaif.org by Feb 22, 2016. Include your full name and the title of this position in the subject line of your email (i.e. “Jane Doe – Director of Programs and Operations”).

About the Organization

SIF supports worldwide poverty alleviation efforts through grant-making and other activities, with a strategic focus on Central America. SIF was founded in 2008 as a supporting organization to The Seattle Foundation for the purpose of increasing and enhancing international philanthropy and development efforts from the Pacific Northwest and to serve as a resource to the community. Since 2008, SIF has granted more than $17 million to 188 high impact organizations in 68 countries, including $10 million in grants to Central America.