Program Officer, Adults & Household Supports

About Robin Hood

Founded in 1988, Robin Hood finds, fuels, and creates the most impactful and scalable solutions lifting families out of poverty in New York City. The largest poverty fighting organization in New York City, Robin Hood partners with top nonprofits in New York City and invests in legal services, housing, meals, workforce development training, education programs, and other vital services that give New Yorkers in need the tools they need to build better lives. The programs it funds are often the first of their kind and serve as demonstration models to identify what works before being replicated in other cities. Because its Board of Directors covers 100% of all administrative, fundraising, and evaluation costs, every dollar donated goes directly to organizations helping New Yorkers in need.

While Robin Hood’s primary focus is on New York, its impact extends far beyond the borders of the city. Its pioneering, metrics-based approach has become the gold standard for charities around the nation as Robin Hood works to understand and evaluate the impact of its partners to ensure that its philanthropic dollars are utilized to maximum impact. Robin Hood also supports its community partners and their leaders with financial and strategic support and management assistance that allows those organizations to maximize their impact.

Building on our 30 years of experience, Robin Hood is expanding our impact with an explicit focus on lifting families sustainably and measurably out of poverty through supporting the most effective community partners; influencing public policy; raising our thought leadership profile; importing and exporting effective ideas and strategies nationally; and building new collaborations with strategic partners. As New York City emerges from the worst of the global pandemic, we are focused on getting families back on their feet; getting kids back on track; and getting New Yorkers back to work.

Robin Hood also understands that if we are to support families living in poverty and find permanent pathways out of poverty and towards financial independence, we must become an effective partner with government, especially at the City and State levels. We do this by leveraging the expertise of those who are closest to the challenges of poverty, including community members, community-based organizations, and others with specialized skills and knowledge. We also aim to collaborate with New York City government to fund program and policy innovations that hold the promise of expanding economic opportunity in New York City – providing nimble “risk capital” for high-potential strategies. In this way, we seek to leverage our philanthropic investments by finding ways to advance the highest-impact strategies at scale.

Given its long-standing reputation among influencers and support of over 200 New York City non-profit organizations, Robin Hood has the unique ability to be a catalyzing force for households experiencing poverty, bringing distinct constituencies together to develop and spread the most effective strategies to advance economic mobility in New York City and beyond.

Adults & Household Supports Portfolio

The Adults & Household Supports portfolio manages approximately $23 million in annual investments to address a wide variety of issues affecting adults living in poverty. The portfolio’s work has two core components: preventing and remedying the shocks that thrust New Yorkers into poverty and building the skills, careers and assets that enable economic progress. Current investment areas include workforce development, legal services, immigration supports, healthcare, housing, and food security, among others.

Over the next three years, the portfolio is looking to respond to the ramifications of Covid-19 while also building pilot programs that can enable intra- and inter-generational economic mobility. In general, the portfolio works with the city’s best performing nonprofits and government agencies and is equally open to testing new models or investing in programs with a track record of success. We also work with a variety of investment types, including grants, loans, or other impact investments. Some of our biggest successes have helped bring replicable ideas into practice and then to scale – all with a lens toward equity and reaching the most marginalized of our neighbors.

Position Overview

With the guidance of the Managing Director, Adults and Household Supports, the Program Officer will oversee a portfolio of current grants, serve as a resource and thought partner for our community partners, and operate as a catalyst for identifying potential new investment opportunities. Program officers also articulate a clear and persuasive rationale for funding new and ongoing programs. This is accomplished by thoroughly understanding the landscape, the need and the evidence on what works, while also conducting comprehensive reviews of performance data and nonprofit organizational health.

The Program Officer will inherit a portfolio of approximately $7 million in current Robin Hood grants and will help select a range of topics to pursue for future grant-making based on their current expertise and that of the other members of the Adults & Household Supports team. These new areas would potentially include rebuilding the job training sector in the aftermath of Covid-19, investing in sector-based workforce training, improving job quality, increasing the efficiency of the city’s emergency food network, and expanding access to government benefits and civil legal services.

Responsibilities

Key responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

• Managing a portfolio of approximately 18-20 current grants (50 percent of time):
  • Monitoring grantee performance through analysis of outcomes data, site visits, and independent assessment of progress or setbacks in management and financial reports.
  • Making recommendations about these grants’ alignment with the organization’s theory of change and their effectiveness in addressing poverty.
  • Developing contracts and negotiating annual objectives and goals with community partners.
  • Identifying and refining methods for quantifying the impact of an organization’s services using the latest research studies, or by helping to fill research gaps where they exist.
  • Working with Robin Hood management assistance staff to assess community partners’ organizational health with respect to finance, governance, fundraising, strategy, and other areas.
  • Building relationships of trust and mutual respect with nonprofit leaders to support them in delivering on their mission.

• Exploring, identifying and funding new approaches to lift New Yorkers out of poverty (30 percent of time):
  • Identifying the most pressing needs for the communities served by the Adults & Household Supports portfolio, including through direct input from community members.
  • Identifying the most innovative or effective interventions and organizations in the field, keeping open opportunities for direct service, policy and research grants alike and working in concert with Robin Hood’s Policy team.
  • Rigorously evaluating potential investments based on strategic fit, potential performance, likelihood for scale, and organizational strength.
  • Developing a clear articulation of the strengths and weaknesses of a potential grant and capturing them in write-ups and presentations delivered to program staff and board committees.

• Representing Robin Hood at external forums and conferences and acting as liaison to other philanthropies and government agencies (10 percent of time).
• Supporting Robin Hood’s development and communications staff by providing program knowledge in support of Robin Hood organizational efforts to donors, at events, and through other development programming (10 percent of time).

Qualifications

• A. and at least four years of experience required. Master’s degree preferred, but equivalent experience considered.
• Brings experience in government, social venture or the nonprofit sectors. Direct experience or interest in workforce development, adult education, or social services sector preferred.
• Personal or professional experience with low-income communities and New York City preferred.
• Skilled at analyzing data, drawing nuanced findings and asking questions to refine conclusions.
• Comfortable with reviewing and assessing social science research.
• Able to identify assumptions, make forecasts and make decisions, if required, with limited information.
• Able to speak and write clearly, especially under time pressure.
• Excellent organizational, planning and time-management skills. Capacity to multi-task, take initiative, and assume new or additional work quickly and graciously.
• Welcomes feedback and is committed to learning and growing.
• Able to work collaboratively across the organization and acknowledge achievements of others.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Robin Hood is committed to promoting diversity, equity, inclusion, and representation in all aspects of its work. As New York City’s largest poverty-fighting organization, Robin Hood believes that building a diverse team is fundamental to its ability to effectively serve and strengthen organizations serving the most vulnerable communities in the city, and to influence the policies that affect them.

Robin Hood believes in the potential that diversity creates – deep and responsive relationships with its community partners; the ability to solve complex problems efficiently and effectively; and, most importantly, the ability of its diverse staff to work to its full capacity.

Robin Hood builds diversity, inclusion, and equity practices into all aspects of its work. Its practices, values, traditions, and beliefs are embedded in the inclusive culture that it creates. Operationally, its formal and informal structures support a work environment that advances the professional development of staff at all levels, allows for innovation, and grounds its work as poverty fighters.

In its workplace, diversity equals representation. Robin Hood seeks to attract and retain a staff that reflects the communities that it serves. Racial and ethnic diversity matter to it, as does diversity among other cultural identifiers (ability, educational background, generation, gender, gender expression religion, immigration status, military status, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status).

Diversity within Robin Hood's staff is enhanced by its efforts at meaningful inclusion. It ensures that team members are empowered to make decisions, offer actionable feedback, and share credit for team success. Further, Robin Hood seeks to develop its talent professionally and has created an intentional focus on mentorship and sponsorship, particularly of junior staff. its goal is to encourage long term talent retention and engagement, while fostering a culture of innovation.

Robin Hood Guiding Principles

As an organization committed to economic mobility, our work is grounded in the following Guiding Principles:

• Diversity, equity, and inclusion
• Proximity and humanity
• Risk-taking and innovation          

Our professional community reflects myriad demographic characteristics, perspectives, and backgrounds, which includes various identities that reflect diversity in gender identity and expression, race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, ability, and socioeconomic status.  Our colleagues have access to opportunity and advancement, as we promote fair and equitable treatment and have encouraged participation by underrepresented groups. As a team, we promote a sense of belonging, high levels of engagement, and shared respect.

• Robin Hood puts people first.
• Robin Hood is unafraid to take action and create solutions.
• Robin Hood is data driven and heart led.
• Robin Hood works the coat check.

Salary and Benefits

Robin Hood offers a highly competitive and comprehensive salary and package of employee benefits and encourages strong work-life balance. This position is located in New York City.

To Apply

Please visit our website to complete our online application.

Robin Hood is an equal opportunity employer. Applicants from diverse backgrounds and identities are encouraged to apply.

Please note that Robin Hood Foundation has adopted a COVID-19 vaccination policy to safeguard the health and well-being of our employees. As a condition of employment, Robin Hood employees are required to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19, unless a reasonable accommodation is approved or as otherwise required by law.