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Program Associate, Sexual Health and Rights

Remote – Contiguous US-based

Overview of AJWS

American Jewish World Service (AJWS) is the leading Jewish organization working to fight poverty and pursue justice in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. By supporting hundreds of social change organizations in 17 countries, we respond to the most pressing issues of our time—from disasters, genocide and hunger, to the persecution of women and minorities worldwide. With Jewish values and a global reach, AJWS is making a difference in millions of lives and bringing a more just and equitable world closer 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

AJWS’s Sexual Health and Rights (SHR) grantmaking department Program Associate provides largely administrative and some programmatic support for the department. The Program Associate works with the Director and Program Officers of the SHR team and coordinates with other Program Associates to ensure key organizational databases are managed and processes are adhered to so that Programs team can effectively and efficiently get grants to our partners. The Program Associate will help maintain systems to ensure that restricted grants received by the SHR department are spent down in a timely manner and get information needed to Program Officers and the Director to enable timely and strategic decision making. The Program Associate will also support the collection of budget and program data and communicate key information about AJWS’s programs for internal and external use. The Program Associate provides broader administrative and logistical support to the department and to the Programs Division, as well as works collaboratively with other divisions to support AJWS’s advocacy, communications, and fundraising efforts. Minimal travel required, about once a year.

Travel required.
Reports to the Director of Sexual Health and Rights.

Responsibilities include but are not limited to:

Team Administration (Approximate percent of time of this position: 40%)

  • Maintain overall administrative flow of the Sexual Health and Rights (SHR) portfolio (e.g. supporting the team to meet internal deadlines for grant proposals/docket, Programs division-wide processes and assignments, requests from other AJWS divisions, etc.).
  • Serve as the team’s point person for foundationConnect, the grants management database by providing oversight over the docket process, ensuring that the grants on the docket are complete and meet submission requirements, drafting write-ups as needed, troubleshooting, and coordinating with program officers and director as necessary;
  • Work in close collaboration with the Program Director in scheduling team meetings, developing agendas for them, stewarding the grants and travel budgets, and supporting additional tasks as needed to ensure effective administration, learning and team cohesion.
  • Provide administrative support to the team for the implementation of AJWS’s core grantmaking portfolio, including compliance requirements for government awards, following up on grantee reports and payments; inputting grants data, running reports, ensuring data integrity, and providing troubleshooting support to Program Officers and Director for foundationConnect; and acting as liaison for SHR team members and in-country colleagues to ensure effective use of grants management and monitoring systems.
  • Support coordination between the SHR team and 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 and systems are working effectively together.
  • Support coordination and communication between SHR team based in New York and program staff and in-country colleagues based in the region.
  • 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 in Spanish to English, as needed.
  • Assist with processing invoices and contracts as needed.

Budget Stewarding (Approximate percentage of time of this position: 40%)

The Program Associate will steward the department’s budget, in consultation with the SHR Director. Specifically, the PA will:

  • Track the SHR country grant budgets in foundationConnect (including understanding the restricted funds that the SHR team has).
  • Coordinate with other divisions and departments such as IOPS, Development, and Finance and Administration to monitor budget spending and restricted funds in partnership with the Director.
  • Create and maintain budget tools for tracking team travel expenses.
  • Assist the SHR Director in yearly grants and travel budget planning process and ongoing oversight.
  • Attend restricted fund launch meetings with staff and colleagues from other divisions in charge of spending down restricted funds and maintain compliance related documentation required by funding organizations.

Programmatic (Approximate percentage of time of this position: 15%)

  • Coordinate with relevant team members to monitor completion of documentation required such as staff timesheets, risk assessment and management plans for partners and other key collaborators as required by funders (e.g. DRL).
  • Share relevant award nomination deadlines with SHR team, and support program officers to draft nomination write-ups on an as-needed basis.
  • Help program officers draft proposal submissions for panels and workshops at conferences.
  • Help to draft, edit and review communications materials about the SHR portfolio, for both internal and external audiences (e.g. blogs, PowerPoint presentations or brief background documents about the SHR work, etc.)
  • Collaborate with team members on reflection on and refinement of thematic grantmaking strategy through coordination of, and participation in the bi-annual Outcomes Monitoring Form (OMF) reflection process.
  • Collaborate with Director to support administrative tasks related to docket process for the SHR global thematic strategy grantees, including but not limited to sending grant invitations, reviewing applications for completeness, coding the grants in Foundation Connect, and supporting follow up to get reports and close of grants as needed.
  • Provide limited administrative support to the Sex Work Donor Collaborative as needed.

External & Cross Divisional (Approximate percent of time of this position: 5%)

  • Participate in internal working groups to further AJWS initiatives in service of strengthening its organizational capacities and programmatic work, such as the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Working Group.
  • Represent AJWS and the Sexual Health and Rights team in external events, meetings, and civil society spaces relevant to the program’s strategy.

Required Qualifications:

  • Bachelor of Arts/Science or an equivalent degree OR a minimum of three years of relevant experience;
  • Some experience having worked or interned 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 databases such as 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;
  • Willingness and ability to travel internationally and/or domestically at least once per year;
  • Flexible work style with the ability to work under tight deadlines and shifting priorities;
  • Committed to AJWS’s mission and values of advancing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion across the organization.

Preferred Qualifications:

  • Oral and written fluency in Spanish and/or French;
  • Experience living and working abroad.

Additional Information:

  • Salary Range: $60,000
  • This role is full time (40 HRS), 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 US is required.

How to Apply

For immediate consideration, apply below. Applications submitted without a resume and personalized cover letter will not be considered. 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.

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.