The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, based in Menlo Park, California, seeks a ProgramAssociate to support the Environment Program’s Climate Initiative strategy – Multilateral & Climate Finance portfolio.

About the Foundation

The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation invests in creative thinkers and problem solvers working to ensure that people, communities, and the planet can flourish. Together with our partners, we are harnessing society’s collective capacity to solve our toughest problems — from the existential threat of climate change to persistent and pervasive inequities, to attacks on democracy itself. A nonpartisan philanthropy, the Hewlett Foundation has made grants in the U.S. and globally for nearly six decades based on an approach that emphasizes long-term support, collaboration, and trust.

Globally, the foundation makes grants to address both longstanding and emerging challenges, like efforts to reduce the growing threat of climate change, contribute to evidence informed policy making, and reimagine the economy and society. Its U.S. efforts prioritize strengthening democracy, advancing K-12 education for all students, and supporting community-led conservation. In the San Francisco Bay Area, it makes grants to support meaningful artistic experiences in local communities. The foundation’s grantmaking also invests in strengthening the effectiveness of our grantees, and of philanthropy itself. The Hewlett Foundation’s assets are approximately $13.9 billion, with total annual awards of grants exceeding $600 million in recent years.

The foundation has approximately 130 employees, in programmatic, operational, and investment roles, located in the San Francisco Bay Area. Across the organization, our employees are challenged with meaningful work, have the resources for ongoing professional development and learning, and contribute to a collegial and engaging environment where they can thrive. We are committed to fostering a culture of inclusion as part of our guiding principles and encourage individuals with diverse backgrounds and experiences to apply.

About the Environment Program

The Environment Program focuses on climate change and clean energy, as well as Western conservation. We are committed to clearly identifying our goals and measuring progress toward them. Our team is made up of 13 program staff, plus additional staff from the communications, grants management, and legal departments. Additional information about the Program is available here, and the Climate Initiative portfolio here.

About the Position

The Program Associate reports to the Program Officer overseeing the multilateral and climate finance grantmaking portfolio. This role will administer grants, manage the portfolio’s budget, sustain relationships with key partners and stakeholders, and contribute to strategy development, implementation, and evaluation.

The Program Associate will work directly with the program’s grantees and manage all administrative aspects of the grantmaking process, including communications regarding proposals, budgets, and grant reports. The Program Associate may also research issues, programs, and organizations related to the portfolio and to the Program’s climate initiative strategies.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

The Program Associate’s duties will include, but not be limited to:

Grants Administration and Contracts (75%)

1. Manage a high volume of grants through the full grant lifecycle, from the proposal application process to grant reporting, payment processing, and closing of grants.
2. Manage, track, and forecast the portfolio’s annual grants budget and cash disbursement schedule.
3. Organize, compose, and manage communications with current and potential grantees.
4. Participate in meetings between Program Officers and grantees, providing strategic support and thought partnership.
5. Act as liaison between the portfolio and the foundation’s Grants Management and Legal departments for relevant program grant processing, including those related to scheduling reports and payments, grantee tax information (domestic and foreign), and the resolution of legal issues.
6. Stay up to date on legal and communications compliance issues that the grant portfolio presents and continue to develop expertise in managing complex compliance issues.
7. Work with the Program Officer to effectively prioritize workload, implementing processes to help triage deliverables to meet internal and external deadlines.
8. Prepare consulting agreements and serve as the point of contact for consultants, including in the tracking and processing of invoices.

Programmatic Support (25%)

1. Travel to, and participate in, select US and international climate events, conferences, convenings, and grantee visits in support of the portfolio’s needs. (Possibility of 1-2 trips/year.)
2. Support the Program Officer in analyzing the grantee portfolio on a regular basis and supporting portfolio development.
3. Participate in teamwideprojects, such as team retreatpreparation, grantee convenings, and assisting with new staff onboarding, as needed.
4. Support the foundation and the Environment team's projects, such as team retreat preparation, team’s commitments to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Qualifications

We know some strong candidates may not have all the qualifications listed below. Pleaseconsider applying if you have most of the following:

1. 2-5 years of experience providing complex administrative support.
2. Excellent administrative and project management skills and experience, including the ability to plan and manage projects both independently and with colleagues.
3. Experience in budget management.
4. Experience with grant processing and grant databases.
5. Ability to meet tight, sometimes simultaneous deadlines with a keen ability to prioritize and partner with others to meet common goals.
6. Ability to work as a contributing member of a team to deliver philanthropic services in a clear, efficient, collegial manner.
7. Strong oral and written communication skills.
8. Experience in MS Office: Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, and Adobe/Foxit; experience with Salesforce is a plus.
9. Experience in web-based document management tools and practices; willingness to learn new software tools and use them for program support.
10. Proficiency with problem-solving, analysis, and applying an appropriate level of judgment.
11. Commitment to protecting the environment and combating climate change.
12. Demonstrated ability to work across cultural contexts and a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
13. Demonstrated commitment to collaboration, mutual respect, and contributing to a positive team culture.
14. Bachelor’s or Associate’s degree desired.
15. International work experience desired.
16. Prior experience or demonstrated interest in global/multilateral climate policy, climate finance, or sustainable finance is a plus.

Physical Demands/Work Environment

The physical demands described are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this position. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individua...