Senior Program Associate/Program Officer

Summary

Join Open Philanthropy's Abundance and Growth team as a Senior Program Associate or Program Officer. This specialist role focuses on grantmaking and research within specific areas like housing policy, energy, infrastructure, state capacity, or healthcare. You will leverage 5+ years (Senior Associate) or 7+ years (Program Officer) of relevant experience to lead grantmaking, conduct research, and communicate findings. The position involves reviewing proposals, conducting analyses, investigating grant opportunities, and engaging with grantees and experts. Open Philanthropy offers a competitive compensation package, including excellent health insurance, paid time off, family leave, and support for remote work. The ideal candidate possesses strong research, writing, and quantitative skills and is passionate about the organization's mission.

Requirements

• Bring 5 years of specialist experience in relevant fields for the Senior Program Associate position
• Bring at least 7 years of specialist experience in relevant fields for the Program Officer position

Responsibilities

• Soliciting and reviewing proposals from new potential grantees or potential renewals to existing grantees
• Doing back of the envelope calculations on grants
• Running investigations on particular grant opportunities and writing reports with your recommendations on whether to fund a grant
• Speaking to existing grantees to check in on their progress
• Having conversations with peer funders or experts in the space to stay abreast of new developments, look for opportunities to collaborate, and help solicit information about potential grantees
• Doing research on a new strategy that you might want to fund
• Writing for external consumption about our approach or to encourage further investment in AGF areas

Preferred Qualifications

• Have academic experience that is directly relevant to the role – this is not a requirement, but would contribute towards the experience requirements for both versions of this role
• Bring experience working with the federal government, and have a solid understanding of federal policymaking (Congressional, executive branch, or at the agency level). You are based in, or would be willing to move to, Washington D.C. and have a strong network there
• Have a strong network in your area(s) of specialization
• Have a high level of comfort in quantifying concepts and theories of change, and grounding quantitative estimates in the best evidence available, even if imperfect
• Write clearly about technical topics. You are experienced at writing for external audiences and can communicate our theories of change in a compelling way
• Bring strong research skills. You are able to engage with academic research, modeling, and creative problem-solving around difficult research questions
• Are excited about the potential impact this new cause area might have. We recommend reading this post before applying for the role to get a better sense of the kind of work you’d be focusing on
• Are able to overlap with US Central Time working hours for at least 5 hours per day

Benefits

• Excellent health insurance (we cover 100% of premiums within the U.S. for you and any eligible dependents) and an employer-funded Health Reimbursement Arrangement for certain other personal health expenses
• Dental, vision, and life insurance for you and your family
• Four weeks of PTO recommended per year
• Four months of fully paid family leave
• A generous and flexible expense policy — we encourage staff to expense the ergonomic equipment, software, and other services that they need to stay healthy and productive
• A continual learning policy that encourages staff to spend time on professional development with related expenses covered
• Support for remote work — we’ll cover a remote workspace outside your home if you need one, or connect you with an Open Phil coworking hub in your city