Program Officer Jobs in Wisconsin (NOW HIRING)

Are you passionate about creating more pathways to opportunity through postsecondary education and workforce training?

Ascendium is hiring multiple Senior Program Officers to serve as lead strategy execution officers within Ascendium’s core philanthropic strategy teams: Expand Opportunity, Support Learner Success, and Connect and Align Systems. We’re seeking leaders with expertise in workforce reentry, community college transformation, state-level cross-sector systems alignment, policy, or external affairs. Senior Program Officers work alongside national partners, fund innovative solutions, and help generate the knowledge needed to improve outcomes for learners from low-income backgrounds.

Reporting to a Strategy Director, Senior Program Officers work in partnership with their strategy team to advance grantmaking goals through the careful design, management, and review of one or more strategic portfolios. They are expected to implement sophisticated philanthropic practices, including rigorous analysis of grant concepts and proposals, assembling coherent sets of grants that collectively advance a strong theory of change, and contributing new knowledge about what it takes to scale promising reforms that benefit learners from low-income backgrounds. Senior Program Officers are expected to develop and execute proactive initiatives aligned to strategic goals, including leading the design of creative and impactful grantmaking activities like requests for proposals, communities of practice, etc.

Senior Program Officers work in collaboration with the Senior Learning and Impact Officer within their strategy to identify strategic learning needs, develop and monitor learning agendas connected to strategic portfolios, distill insights from grant investments, and further refine grantmaking strategy and its effectiveness. In addition to managing active grants and initiatives, Senior Program Officers build their own expertise in the subject areas relevant to their grantmaking. These positions also provide field leadership through significant thought partnership, facilitating connections among grantees, partner organizations, and peer funders, hosting/facilitating conference sessions and strategic convenings, engaging in aligned funder networks and professional associations, and writing thought pieces to share Ascendium’s learning and perspective with key audiences.

This position requires residence in or relocation to Madison, Wisconsin, where Ascendium is headquartered. Madison-based employees have a hybrid schedule, working three days per week in the office and two days remotely, which provides the opportunity for valuable in-person collaboration. While preference will be given to candidates based in Madison, a remote hire may be considered if no qualified Madison-based candidates can be identified. This position is expected to travel six to 10 times per year to conferences, grant partner events, site visits, home weeks, and other mission-aligned convenings.

The planned salary for this position is approximately $125,000 with potential for higher compensation commensurate with experience.

Preferred Areas of Expertise

Multiple positions are available and applicants should bring expertise in at least one of the following areas:

• Reentry workforce ecosystem, including workforce training, reentry supports, and related local, regional, or national systems and organizations.
• Community college transformation at the state/system level, including guided pathways, developmental education reform, and institution-wide student success redesign.
• State-level cross-sector systems alignment, including postsecondary, workforce training, and corrections; policy design and implementation; cross-sector data infrastructure; dual enrollment; and credit mobility.
• External affairs, including state and federal policy analysis, coalition-building, strategic communications, and field engagement.

Please identify your area(s) of expertise in your cover letter.

Job Responsibilities

On a day-to-day basis, you may do the following.

• Work with a Strategy Director and colleagues to ensure grantmaking activity is effective and aligns with Ascendium’s strategy and approach.
• Lead the design, execution, and annual review of one or more strategic portfolios that align with one of Ascendium’s three core philanthropic strategies (Expand Opportunity, Support Learner Success, or Connect and Align Systems).
• Play a significant role in the development of responsive grantmaking priorities, ensuring that key learning questions are articulated that help further refine and focus the strategy.
• Work across the lifecycle of grant funding, including developing portfolio objectives, sourcing ideas and partners, assessing strategic alignment in response to ideas that emerge from the field, shepherding applicants through the grant proposal process, developing appropriate reporting and payment structures, and drafting succinct, clear, and analytic New Funding Proposals for board of directors’ review.
• Collaborate with other Senior Program Officers, Program Officers, and/or Associate Program Officers to meet grantmaking goals within strategic portfolios and responsive priorities.
• In partnership with a Senior Learning and Impact Officer, further develop and execute Ascendium’s approach to learning from our responsive grantmaking and strategic grantmaking portfolios with well-articulated theories of change and explicit learning agendas.
• Serve as a mentor to Program Officers and Associate Program Officers as assigned by a Strategy Director.
• Provide support to grant partners by facilitating connections with peer organizations and other funders and helping to elevate and amplify project outcomes through Ascendium’s strategic communications channels.
• Provide strategic support to grant partners through thought partnership, sharing best practices, and connecting them to other resources necessary to be successful.
• Lead planning and execution of Ascendium-led convenings and other events in support of strategic goals.
• Coordinate, as appropriate, with Ascendium’s Strategic Communications team around strategic portfolio and responsive priorities messaging.
• Collaborate with a Strategy Director to establish priorities for administrative budget planning.
• Develop relationships and partnerships with national and regional funders that support the successful execution of the strategy (e.g. co-funding efforts with peers).
• Represent Ascendium through presentations at national and regional conferences, and engage in networks, field working groups, and committees.

Knowledge and Skill Requirements

• Knowledge equivalent to a master’s degree in education, philanthropy, social sciences, social work, community development, economics, business, or a related field.
• Seven or more years of experience in postsecondary education, workforce training or workforce development, philanthropy, nonprofit organizations, or local, state, or federal government.
• Demonstrated commitment to advancing equitable opportunity.
• A track record of leading initiatives, strategic projects, or complex programs with multiple stakeholders.
• Ability to work cooperatively and inclusively with others to achieve shared goals.
• Effective interpersonal skills exemplified by initiative, authenticity, courtesy, diplomacy, positive attitude, and professionalism.
• Ability to develop and maintain strong working relationships with and among a diverse group of stakeholders.
• Curiosity and a desire to be a continuous learner, building individual and team capacity for deepening Ascendium’s impact as a funder.
• Comfort with ambiguity and the ability to adapt to a fast-paced, continually evolving work environment.
• Strong project management skills with demonstrated ability to execute and follow through to achieve intended results by honoring commitments, prioritizing work, and managing time and resources well.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

Ascendium offers an outstanding benefits package designed to provide employees and their families with a high degree of security. These benefits include, but are not limited to:

• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision insurance.
• Generous time off, including up to eight weeks of paid parental leave.
• Student loan repayment assistance and tuition reimbursement.
• Retirement savings plan with employer match.

Ascendium provides equal employment opportunity to all individuals regardless of their race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, creed, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by state or federal law.

H-1B sponsorship (initiation or transfer) is not available for this position.

If you would like assistance with the application process, please email Ascendium Human Resources. We invite all applicants to complete the Voluntary Affirmative Action questions when submitting application materials. The questions are found at the end of the online application process. To learn more about our commitment to Equal Employment Opportunity, please visit the Ascendium Careers webpage.

Ascendium requires criminal, employment, and education background investigations before hiring.