Program Officer Criminal Justice Reform

The deadline to apply for this position is November 26, 2023.

The Navigation Fund is seeking a Program Officer to oversee our work in criminal justice reform, with sole responsibility for sourcing, evaluating, recommending, and managing proposals and grants. Beyond grantmaking, you will define and adapt the program’s strategy, keeping pace with relevant trends, legislative changes, and best practices within the cause area, all while ensuring alignment with board directives and providing comprehensive updates to key internal stakeholders. As a subject matter expert, your guidance will influence the foundation's internal strategies and promote its overarching mission. 

The ideal candidate is an experienced professional with a strong understanding of the criminal justice reform field. While we don’t require that you’ve given grants before (though if you have, that’s a plus), we expect you'll have a large network and a strategic vision of what should be funded in the criminal justice reform field. In particular, you should be passionate about programs that support those affected by the prison system and their families, and see value in having multiple theories of change and holistic approach, with impact as the main focus. 

Who We Are

Our mission is to advance bold solutions to the world's most urgent problems. Founded in 2023, we’re assembling a small team to give away tens of millions in grants each year. Our giving areas include safe artificial intelligence (AI), climate, criminal justice reform, open science, and farm animal welfare. We are in the process of building our team and expect to launch our full grant program in spring of 2024.

What You’ll Do

The Program Officer will oversee the development and execution of grantmaking strategies in our criminal justice reform program with a budget of $5–$10M each year, ensuring that the program’s direction and activities are aligned with the mission and goals of the foundation. You will serve as a team of one, working alongside Program Officers of our four other cause areas and two Operations staff. With time, there may be opportunities to hire one or a few staff members depending on the need of your program.

Grantmaking 

• Source and investigate promising grant opportunities to accelerate progress in criminal justice reform.
• Negotiate, implement, and manage a portfolio of grants aimed toward fulfillment of defined strategic goals. 
• Review letters of inquiry and grant proposals and provide clear, concise, and insightful written analyses and recommendations for funding.
• Monitor progress on approved grants and strategies and periodically report the effectiveness of individual grants and overall funding.

Program Development and Strategy

• Set the program’s strategy, direction, and objectives based on your analysis of the criminal justice reform space and in alignment with the board. 
• Investigate new ideas and continue to build and update the program strategy as conditions evolve. This involves monitoring trends, best practices, government actions, and legislation pertaining to criminal justice reform.
• Provide strategy updates, summary reports, presentations, and regular updates to key stakeholders, including leadership, the board, and our funders.
• Participate in the planning and budgeting process and manage the program budget.

Partnership Development 

• Establish and maintain relationships and partnerships with current and prospective grantees, community partners, funders, and other leaders in the field.
• Represent the foundation at appropriate external meetings, conferences, and site visits.
• Support external communications efforts, including compiling information to demonstrate program impact and drafting website content, blog posts, sponsor reports, memos. etc.
• Invite, review, and respond to inquiries and proposals, offering consultative advice and to potential grantees, researchers, and others in the field.

Leadership 

• Serve as a subject matter expert and thought leader for your field, and as an internal advisor to TNF’s leadership.
• Advance the foundation’s culture, plans, and processes.

Who You Are

To be successful in this role, you’ll need to have:

• A professional degree and minimum of 4 years of related work experience with non-profits, criminal justice reform, or program management.
• An entrepreneurial spirit, with experience building a team, department, or project from the ground up. 
• A deep understanding of current and emerging issues in criminal justice reform. You should be aware of the current players in your field and already have relationships with several of them.
• An appetite for working independently, with the ability to autonomously lead your program area. We’re looking for someone who is results-driven with the ability to think innovatively, take initiative, manage risk, prioritize, and meet deadlines. 
• Experience using strong research and analysis to make decisions, with an eagerness to avoid bureaucracy, embodying a focus on impact and efficiency in decision-making.
• Strong attention to detail, excellent organizational and project management skills, and a commitment to quality.
• Excellent verbal and written communication.
• Superior interpersonal skills and demonstrated ability to develop and maintain effective working relationships with a range of individuals and working styles, including grantees, advisors, partner philanthropists, staff, and board members.
• A demonstrated commitment to sustaining an equitable and positive work environment.
• Strong technology skills, with a passion for technology and the ability to quickly master new systems. Experience with G-Suite and Asana is a plus.
• An understanding of the nonprofit sector, and, ideally, knowledge of private foundation grantmaking and best practices.

What Else You Should Know

This position is full-time, fully remote, and requires some travel. We expect you will travel at least 2–4 times per year for team retreats or conferences in your program area, however, you have the option to travel more (for example, for additional conferences or meetings with stakeholders) if you believe it will aid you in achieving your goals.

The full-time salary range for the Program Officer, Criminal Justice Reform is between $200,000 to $220,000, with exact salary depending on experience.

We offer excellent benefits to ensure you have what you need to thrive in your role. This includes: 

• Excellent health, dental, and vision insurance benefits for you and your family, fully sponsored by us.
• Generous leave for personal time in addition to parental, family, medical, and bereavement leave.
• Life insurance and a retirement plan with an unconditional employer contribution.
• Flexible work schedule and location, in an environment of trust and autonomy.
• Reimbursements for professional development and business needs (such as Internet and phone).

We are an equal opportunity employer and are invested in fostering a culture where everyone can thrive. We are committed to equity and inclusion, and we make a particular effort to recruit candidates from underrepresented communities. We are an equal opportunity employer and are invested in fostering a culture where everyone can thrive. We are committed to equity and inclusion, and we make a particular effort to recruit candidates from underrepresented communities. We encourage women, people of color, LGBTQIA individuals, people with disabilities, members of ethnic minorities, foreign-born residents, older members of society, and others from minority communities and diverse backgrounds to apply.

The deadline to apply for this position is November 26, 2023.

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