Jewish Life Program Director

SUMMARY

Rose Community Foundation seeks a Jewish Life Program Director to develop and implement strategies in grantmaking, initiatives, and partnership-building that advance the Foundation’s Jewish Life priorities and strategies. This portfolio supports a dynamic, inclusive, safe and joy-filled Jewish ecosystem, embracing myriad ways to be Jewish and building enduring community infrastructure to sustain it. Reporting to the Chief Impact Officer and working closely with the President & CEO, the Program Director will steward roughly $2.8 million in annual grantmaking dedicated to the Jewish community in seven-county Metro Denver/Boulder –while advising on and engaging with additional Foundation programming, resources, aligned donors and investments aiming to increase the capacity, community engagement, sustainability and security of local Jewish organizations.

The Program Director is a strategic thinker, skilled executor, and relationship builder with a passion for strengthening Jewish life in the Greater Denver/Boulder Region. The Program Director is a member of the Community Impact team, which oversees the Foundation’s discretionary grantmaking focused on economic opportunity and education, community wellbeing, health, and Jewish life.

Across our team, we value humor, curiosity, humility, self-awareness, empathy, integrity and ethics. Rose Community Foundation strives to continually evolve and has an organizational orientation towards growth and learning; we look for team members who demonstrate flexibility and a growth mindset. This individual will be a team player contributing to a positive work environment, finding professional alignment with the Foundation’s vision of a thriving Greater Denver region strengthened by its diversity and generosity, adding positively to and consistently demonstrating the Foundation’s organizational culture, and consistently upholding the Foundation’s values of inclusion, opportunity, empathy, community and collaboration.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Grantmaking
· Manage all grants and relationships within the Jewish Life portfolio, serving as the principal point of contact for grant prospects, applicants and grantees

· Review grant proposals and conduct due diligence (including analyzing strategies, budgets, and conducting site visits) to evaluate alignment with funding goals and community needs

· Serve as the lead staff person for the Jewish Life Committee, working closely with the committee chair on agenda development and meeting facilitation, presenting strategy and grant recommendations to the committee, and providing the committee with relevant learning opportunities

· Present funding recommendations and relevant context Foundation leadership, the Jewish Life Committee, and Board (as needed) via written and verbal grant summaries and analyses

· Proactively source potential grantees and partners, field inquiry calls from organizations and assess ideas against the portfolio’s strategic priorities

· Partner with the Grants Management team on the development of grant opportunities, including applications, scoring rubrics, and report forms.

Community Engagement and Partnerships
· Build and maintain trusted relationships with a wide range of stakeholders, including Jewish nonprofit organizations (grantees and non-grantees), local and national funders and partners, community leaders, and subject-matter experts and use these relationships to identify emerging needs, foster collaborations, and amplify the impact of the Foundation’s investments

· Develop and implement strategies to deepen the Foundation’s engagement with the Jewish community – across denominations, geographies, demographics, and organizational type/focus – ensuring the Foundation’s work is inclusive of the full spectrum of Jewish life

· Identify and pursue opportunities to further the Foundation’s strategic goals through methods beyond grantmaking including through convening partners, connecting organizations, offering or facilitating capacity-building and professional development opportunities for grantees, elevating community voices, and providing thought leadership.

Project and Resource Management
· In partnership with the Chief Impact Officer, President & CEO, and Jewish Life Committee, design and implement overall strategies to achieve the goals of the Jewish Life portfolio, including periodically refining funding priorities and theories of change to ensure they remain responsive to community needs and aligned with the Foundation’s strategic plan

· Lead internal and external projects or special initiatives related to Jewish Life, from concept to execution

· Oversee the Jewish Life grantmaking budget and work with the Grants Management team to plan and track the allocation of grant dollars across grant opportunities

· Serve as a key liaison between the Jewish Life program area and other Foundation departments, providing strategic direction and internal guidance around utilizing organization-wide changemaking approaches in support of Jewish Life priorities, curating plans that involve voice and leadership tools, donor engagement and impact investing, and working closely with colleagues on implementation and execution.

Evaluation and Learning
· Stay well-informed of current research, demographic data, and trends in Jewish life and in philanthropy and use this knowledge to guide strategy

· Manage and continuously improve evaluation efforts for the Jewish Life portfolio working with grantees, staff, and possibly external consultants to collect and analyze data on grant outcomes and track the progress and impact of the Foundation’s community investments.

QUALIFICATIONS, EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS

Required
· Bachelor’s or associate degree, or equivalent life and work experience

· A minimum of eight years of experience in grantmaking, nonprofit management or operations, or a closely related field

· Strong working knowledge of Jewish communal ecosystems (e.g., familiarity with Jewish organizations, traditions, and community dynamics), nonprofit sector operations, and the philanthropic landscape

· Ability to read and interpret nonprofit budgets and financial statements and comfort with quantitative and qualitative data analysis for program evaluation

· Excellent organizational, project management, and time management skills with the ability to prioritize and track against multiple deadlines and deliverables with attention to detail and accuracy

· Proven ability to work autonomously to manage a significant portfolio of work, while also collaborating effectively as part of a team

· Strong public speaking and written communication skills with the ability to craft and deliver presentations, write clear reports and summaries, and adjust messaging for different audiences (from community members to board members to peer funders)

· Technologically adept with proficiency in Microsoft 365 (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams) and the ability to quickly learn new systems and technology, including customer relationship management (CRM) databases and grants management systems

· Willingness to travel within the seven-county region for meetings and events and to occasional out-of-town conferences (the hired candidate must reside in the Denver area).

Preferred

· Experience working within Jewish communal organizations and/or philanthropic foundations in a programmatic or grantmaking capacity

· Knowledge of Greater Denver’s Jewish communities and key nonprofit organizations

· Familiarity with current trends in philanthropy and grantmaking approaches

· Awareness of national Jewish funding trends and networks; established contacts in the Jewish philanthropic field are a plus

· Experience deploying a range of grantmaking tools and approaches (grants, capacity building, convenings, collaborative funding, Program-Related Investments)

· Proficiency with designing and facilitating community engagement methods (e.g., stakeholder convenings, focus groups, surveys) to inform philanthropic strategy.

SALARY AND BENEFITS
Offered salary is commensurate with internal equity and salary ranges, local and national sector benchmarks, and candidate’s relevant qualifications, experience and skills. The Foundation offers a competitive benefits package including employer-supported health, dental, vision and life insurance; short- and long-term disability coverage, a 403(b)-retirement plan (including an annual employer contribution after one year of employment), flexible spending account, employee assistance program (EAP), generous paid time off including holidays, professional development opportunities and a matching gift program.

WORKPLACE
Fully renovated office in Denver, CO with a collaborative environment located in a building with a café, gym, secure indoor bike parking, covered employee parking and convenient access to parks and trails. We operate on a structured hybrid model where staff work in the office at least three days per week and, when feasible, have the option to work remotely up to two days per week. Please note that the Foundation expects all team members to be fully vaccinated (including boosters, if eligible) against COVID-19.