Job description

About the Role:

Echidna Giving is seeking a Program Officer to join the Echidna Giving team and take ownership of our Early Childhood Development and Education strategy in East Africa. The Program Officer will be part of a broader team working on ECDE in multiple regions, whose work is coordinated by a team lead. The Program Officer will also engage with other colleagues working in the same region on different thematic focus areas (namely foundational learning and adolescent life skills). They will be responsible for shaping, with approval from the board, our Early Childhood Development and Education grantmaking strategy in East Africa, identifying grantees that align with this strategy, and supporting and overseeing the grant portfolio. The role will entail broader work in service of accelerating progress for grantees and the wider field. By staying current in ECDE research and maintaining awareness of country dynamics, the Program Officer will identify opportunities to accelerate locally-led systems change, offer input to other funders looking to support ECDE in the region, and serve as a global resource on ECDE best practices. S/he will help grantees to expand their impact by offering connections, visibility, and broader support. The Program Officer will oversee an initial grantee portfolio of approximately 15 organizations that they will grow to 20-30 organizations over time.

We are flexible on where the Program Officer is geographically based, but candidates based in East Africa (Kenya, Uganda, or Tanzania) will have the easiest time staying current in their networks, understanding the context, and supporting a grant portfolio without extensive travel. The Program Officer will spend several months in the first year in the Bay Area and travel internationally with the team as part of onboarding. On an ongoing basis, they should expect to spend 4-6 weeks annually in the Bay Area and 8-12 weeks in the countries where our grantees work, adding up to 20-40% travel, depending on whether or not the staff member is based in one of our target geographies.

We are seeking candidates with expertise in at least two of the following three areas:

1. technical expertise in early childhood development and education
2. strong networks in East Africa (e.g., with local civil society/NGO organizations and/or government)
3. experience and networks in philanthropy

Experience or expertise in gender or girl rights would be a significant added benefit.

Responsibilities:

Develop and Execute Grantmaking Strategy (70%):

• Develop an East Africa-specific Early Childhood Development and Education-focused strategy, building towards systems change.
• Administer and support an existing portfolio of approximately 15 grants.
• Help identify the highest leverage opportunities for advancing Echidna Giving's goals, shaping the way the strategy gets implemented and contextualized.
• Expand the grant portfolio by identifying new grantees aligned with Echidna Giving's Early Childhood Education strategy, with an emphasis on identifying organizations based in East Africa and led by leaders from East Africa.
• Review and provide feedback on grant proposals, including assessing programs, outcome metrics, budgets, and leadership capabilities.
• Write funding recommendations and other materials for the Board.
• Represent funding recommendations to the Board during quarterly meetings.
• Act as the primary point of contact for Echidna Giving grantees. Support their work beyond the grant dollars, brokering connections with funders, policymakers, and other organizations in order to amplify their voice and impact.
• Provide support and feedback to fellow Programs Officers on your unique areas of expertise.

External Relationship-building and Leadership (30%):

• Develop and maintain strong and trusted relationships with grantees, funders, researchers, policymakers, and other key actors in the ECDE, education, and/or gender equality space.
• Identify and support creative solutions to enable the success of individual grantees and the portfolio as a whole through collaborative working relationships.
• Identify and support creative solutions to build and enable strong leadership on ECDE in East Africa.
• Represent Echidna Giving in key settings that help to support our strategy and goals, e.g., at conferences and meetings, in donor collaboratives, etc.
• Collaborate with colleagues and consultants at Echidna Giving to help iterate and improve on our internal practices in ways that align with our principles and strategic aims.
• Stay on top of current research, issues and trends in education and gender equity.
• Stay abreast of East Africa policy priorities, initiatives, and opportunities for accelerated systems change.

Qualifications:

• We are looking for candidates who have over 12 years of professional experience, including at least 5 years in positions that demand ownership of independent decision-making.
• Knowledge and expertise in the education sector, specifically early childhood education, with a commitment to gender equity in education.
• Experience or expertise in any of the following areas is a plus: gender transformative education programming, leadership, and organizational development.
• Strong understanding of and networks in the philanthropic sector.
• Strong understanding of the political economy in education in East Africa (Kenya, Uganda, and/or Tanzania).
• Strong networks and relationships with education actors in East Africa (Kenya, Uganda, and/or Tanzania).
• Experience in the nongovernmental, governmental, and/or philanthropic sectors with an understanding of how nongovernmental organizations operate.
• Ability to gather and synthesize information from a variety of sources, identify what is most important to consider and prioritize, and use it to make timely and confident decisions.
• Ability to understand and critically analyze evidence and research methods.
• Ability to see the "big picture” and translate ideas into practical actions.
• Ability to clearly and consistently communicate, in English, both verbally and in writing with diverse audiences and in a transparent, timely, and respectful manner.
• Commitment to Echidna Giving's principles and overarching mission.
• As a representative, reflect well on and in a manner that is consistent with Echidna Giving's culture and values.
• Curiosity, interest, and ability to collaborate with people with different perspectives and styles, open to listening to and adapting based on feedback, as well as proven dedication to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion.
• Excellent organizational skills and ability to be a self-starter who operates effectively independently, with a demonstrated track record of consistently meeting deadlines.
• Candidates who are flexible, mature, and have a sense of humor will have the greatest success at Echidna Giving.
• Work collaboratively, building relationships, trust, and credibility with members of a team, Board, management, and external stakeholders.