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Program Associate, Land, Water, and Climate Justice & Civil and Political Rights

Remote – Contiguous US-Based

Overview of AJWS

American Jewish World Service (AJWS) is the leading Jewish organization working to fight poverty and defend human rights in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. We respond to pressing global issues—from humanitarian disasters, authoritarianism and the climate crisis, to the persecution of women and minorities—by supporting hundreds of social change organizations on three continents and advocating for U.S. and international policies protecting human rights. Our supporters are primarily members of the Jewish community, but our work helps people of all religions, races and ethnicities. With Jewish values and a global reach, AJWS is making a difference in millions of lives and building a more just and equitable world for all.

Overview of Team

Through grassrooted grantmaking and advocacy, the AJWS Programs Division provides financial support and builds strong partnerships with activists, organizations and social movements facing complex global challenges – from authoritarianism, to attacks on women, sex worker and LGBTQI+ rights, to the climate and humanitarian crises. The Programs Division works at the intersection of Jewish values and global issues. In a deep collaboration between our Advocacy and Jewish Engagement teams, we advocate for U.S. laws and policies that help overcome injustice and elevate support for grassrooted change in the Global South; and we also use strategic communications to amplify our grantees’ voices and those of our supporters to influence policymakers in the U.S. and around the globe. The Programs Division also houses our International Operations (IOPS) and Grants Management team, which oversees the execution of AJWS’s grantmaking policies, procedures and systems in alignment with the organization’s values of and commitment to flexible, responsive and trust-based practices. The work of the Programs Division is rooted in detailed strategies that each team designs and implements, and can be summarized as follows:

  • Civil and Political Rights: Supporting Democracy and Justice and Defending Against Authoritarianism:
    AJWS supports pro-democracy social movements seeking to push back against authoritarianism, promote democratic ideals and advance justice. We work to center the voices of those often marginalized in governance, including youth, women and ethnic, religious or other minority groups.
  • Humanitarian Response: Supporting Humanitarian Response led by Local Communities:
    AJWS prioritizes support for local, grassroots groups that work to meet the unique needs of historically marginalized communities in the wake of disasters so that they can recover fully and become more resilient to future crises.
  • Land, Water and Climate Justice: Defending the Rights to Land, Water, Forests, and Livelihoods and Advancing Climate Justice:
    AJWS supports social movements of rural, indigenous, and marginalized communities, especially women and youth, who are on the frontlines of the climate crisis and advocate for their land, water, forest, and livelihood rights to address climate change. Through funding and accompaniment, we bolster their struggles for natural resource rights and amplify their solutions for climate justice.
  • Sexual Health and Rights: Advancing the Rights of Women, Girls, Sex Workers, and LGBTQI+:
    AJWS funding and accompaniment enables movements led by adolescent girls and young women (AGYW), sex workers, and LGBTQI+ to strengthen coalitions with allied communities to jointly advocate for rights-affirming laws, services and other empowering resources so that these focus communities have improved access to rights free from discrimination, violence and abuse and can enjoy the full spectrum of opportunities in society and live in health, safety, and dignity.
  • Advocacy Department: Advocating for U.S. laws and policies that help overcome injustice and elevate support for grassrooted change in the Global South:
    AJWS advocates domestically to ensure U.S. officials and policy stakeholders hear the human rights issues and priorities of our partners in all our grantmaking portfolios. Working with the U.S. Congress, Executive branch agencies, peer advocacy NGOs and the American Jewish community and clergy, the Advocacy and Jewish engagement teams work to create an enabling U.S. foreign policy environment globally and in the communities of our grantees and partners around the world.
  • International Operations Department (IOPS) and Grants Management: Operationalizing AJWS’s values of and commitment to flexible, responsive and trust-based grantmaking practices:
    AJWS oversees all grants management functions for AJWS’s $19 million core grantmaking portfolio, as well as $3 million donor-advised funds (DAFs). Executes strategic and values-based grantmaking policies, procedures and systems that operationalize AJWS’s commitment to flexible, responsive, and trust-based practices. Ensures the integrity and efficiency of AJWS’s grantmaking systems, including its foundationConnect/Salesforce grants management database.

Position Summary

The Program Associate provides administrative and budgetary support to AJWS’s Land, Water, and Climate Justice (LWCJ) and Civil & Political Rights (CPR), and International Operations (IOPS) departments.

For LWCJ and CPR (Approximate percent of time of this position: 70% total; 35% for each) the PA/GMA assists in the preparation of meetings, coordinating logistics and taking meeting minutes for the LWCJ and CPR Depts. They work with the LWCJ and CPR Directors and Program Officers to ensure grants databases are managed and grant processes are adhered to so that the teams can efficiently get grants to partners. The PA/GMA collaborates with programs and development staff on keeping abreast of restricted funds requirements, timelines, and budget monitoring for the LWCJ and CPR Depts. The PA/GMA collects and synthesizes data and communicates key information about AJWS’s programs for internal and external use. The PA/GMA provides broader administrative and logistical support to the LWCJ and CPR Depts.

For IOPS (Approximate percent of time of this position: 30%) the PA/GMA supports the International Operations team in implementing AJWS’s core grantmaking portfolio. They work closely with thematic program teams to administer hundreds of grants and liaise with the Finance Division to ensure that payments are made in a timely manner to ensure the effective and efficient management of AJWS’s core grantmaking.

This position reports to the Director of Land, Water & Climate Justice.

Job Description:

Responsibilities include but are not limited to:

Team Administration:

  • Maintain overall administrative flow of the Land, Water & Climate Justice (LWCJ) and Civil & Political Rights (CPR) portfolios (e.g., supporting the team to meet internal deadlines for grant proposals/docket, Program Division-wide processes and assignments, requests from other AJWS divisions, etc.).
  • Serve as the team’s point person for support with foundationConnect, the grants management database.
  • Provide oversight and other assistance to Program Officers (or “POs”) and Directors in processing grants for dockets, including but not limited to:
    • Provide oversight over the docket process workflow within foundationConnect;
    • Enter proposal information into foundationConnect to support LWCJ and CPR grant processing and provide assistance in revising grant descriptions and rationales (to CPR and LWCJ Directors on cross-regional grants, and to select country teams/POs as needed).
    • Ensure that the LWCJ and CPR grants on the docket are complete and meet submission requirements; follow up with Program Officers and International Operations where necessary.
    • Assist POs in drafting the write-ups (time permitting and as requested by POs)
  • Work in close collaboration with the Program Directors in scheduling team meetings, developing agendas for them, securing interpretation, and supporting additional administrative tasks as needed.
  • Provide administrative support to the International Operations team for the implementation of AJWS’s core grantmaking portfolio, including following up on grantee reports and payments; inputting grants data, running custom reports, ensuring data integrity, and providing troubleshooting support to Program Officers and Directors for foundationConnect; and acting as liaison for program staff, in-country colleagues and finance to monitor spending of budgets and restricted funds.
  • Act as the key point person for other divisions at AJWS to ensure that requests from these divisions are responded to in a timely and efficient manner.
  • Support coordination and communication between U.S.-based program staff and in-country colleagues.
  • Coordinate logistics related to AJWS retreats and key international events such as funder conferences and advocacy spaces in which AJWS staff, in-country colleagues and/or grantee partners may participate.
  • Help translate information submitted by grantees as needed.
  • Assist with processing invoices and contracts as needed.

Budget Stewarding:

The Program Associate will steward the departments’ budgets, in consultation with the LWCJ and CPR Directors. Specifically, they will:

  • Track the LWCJ and CPR country grant budgets in foundationConnect (including restricted funds).
  • Create and maintain budget tools for tracking team travel expenses.
  • Assist Directors in yearly grants and travel budget planning process and ongoing oversight.
  • Coordinate with other divisions and departments such as IOPS, Development, and Finance and Administration to monitor budgets.
  • Attend Restricted Fund Launch Meetings and coordinate with POs and Directors to track spending of restricted funds on grants and operational expenses.

Programmatic:

  • Share relevant award nomination deadlines with the LWCJ and CPR teams, and support POs to draft nomination write-ups on an as-needed basis.
  • Track relevant conferences and speaking engagements for the LWCJ and CPR Depts.
  • Help POs draft proposal submissions for panels and workshops at conferences.
  • Help to draft, edit, and review communications materials about the LWCJ and CPR portfolios, for both internal and external audiences (e.g., blogs, PowerPoint presentations or brief background documents about the LWCJ and CPR work, etc.)
  • Collaborate with the LWCJ and CPR team members on refinement of global thematic grantmaking strategy through coordination of, and participation in the bi-annual Outcomes Monitoring Form (OMF) reflection process.

For IOPS the responsibilities include but are not limited to:

Grants Management

  • Monitor/follow up on Grantee reports as the primary contact with all Program Officers to ensure reports are received, approved, waived, or revised in a timely manner (including following up with Program Officers or Grantees on this or when reports are overdue).
  • Support the Grantee payment process, including serving as a backup payment enterer for grants payments in Convera, and entering payment completion dates into foundationConnect.
  • Process No Cost Extensions in consultation with Program Officers, including entering these into foundationConnect.
  • Monitor overdue Grant Agreements and Amendments, including following up with Program Officers and Grantees.
  • Close grants once all reports have been submitted and approved, including marking grants as “Closed” in foundationConnect.
  • Provide ongoing system administration support for troubleshooting system issues in foundationConnect.

Required qualifications:

  • Bachelor of Arts/Science or equivalent degree and 1-2 years of relevant work experience OR a minimum of three years of relevant experience;
  • Some experience having worked at a community-based organization, foundation, international development or human rights organization;
  • Highly organized, with the proven ability to work independently, and to effectively support the team coordination of in-country colleagues working across various geographies and time zones;
  • Proficiency and interest in working with budgets, databases and with Microsoft Outlook, Word and Excel, as well as aptitude to learn grants management systems such as Salesforce/foundationConnect and budgeting software such as Abila MIP;
  • Detail-oriented and well-organized, able to manage multiple complex tasks;
  • Strong interpersonal, teamwork and communication skills;
  • Excellent writing, editing, and proofreading skills;
  • Committed to AJWS’s mission and values of advancing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion across the organization;
  • Flexible work style with the ability to work under tight deadlines and shifting priorities;
  • Willingness and ability to travel internationally and/or domestically if needed at least once a year.

Preferred qualifications:

  • Proficiency in reading, writing and speaking Spanish, and/or French; Experience living and working abroad;
  • Experience working with Salesforce/foundationConnect strongly preferred;
  • Prior grants management experience strongly preferred.

Additional Information:

  • Salary range: P1/$60,000*-$73,000
  • This role is full time (40 HRS), Non-Exempt
  • This is a union position

Location:

  • Remote – Contiguous US-Based
    *This role is flexible in nature and can be performed from a home office in the contiguous United States.

Compensation and Benefits Information:

  • AJWS is committed to a salary framework that aligns with our culture and values. The compensation range reflected is in alignment with our framework and individual pay decisions will vary based on skills and experience while still allowing for growth;
  • Paid Time Off: 15-22 Federal and religious holidays off each year in addition to generous vacation and sick days;
  • Full health benefits coverage with minimal contribution by employees;
  • 403(b): 4.25% company match (safe harbor);
  • Flexible Spending Account and Commuter Benefits;
  • Workplace flexibility and generous leave policy.

Additional Considerations:

Black, Indigenous and People of Color; Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Intersex, Trans and Gender non-conforming people, women, and differently-abled people are encouraged to apply. We also encourage applications from people of diverse religious, spiritual and cultural backgrounds.

As an organization committed to promoting social justice around the world, it is essential that we incorporate a diverse, equitable and inclusive lens into all aspects of our work at AJWS. We encourage applicants with a global perspective and a commitment to values around diversity, equity, and inclusion to apply.

Authorization to work in the U.S. is required.

How to Apply:

For immediate consideration, apply below.

Applications submitted without a resume and personalized cover letter will not be considered.

Apply Online

We thank you for your interest in career opportunities with AJWS. Due to high volume, only those candidates selected for an interview will be contacted. No phone calls please.