Movement Strategy Center Seeks a Program Officer, Community Events & Capacity
Full-Time
Remote, United States
Salary Range: $85,000-$115,000 Annually
About Movement Strategy Center (MSC)
Movement Strategy Center has been a social and environmental justice incubator since 2001. Serving as a movement hub housing both visionaries and emergent networks, and providing core intermediary functions to advance ecosystem-wide impact, MSC resources a robust and maturing ecosystem of leaders, networks, and projects; and offers core infrastructure support through fiscal sponsorship and philanthropic services.
In recent years, MSC’s in-house incubation efforts have focused on cross-sector movement building to cultivate the power necessary to accelerate a Just Transition from a world of domination, extraction, and violence — where the few live at the expense of the many — to a world of interdependence, liberation and resilience, where the many govern for the benefit of all. MSC centers Black, Indigenous, and People of Color intergenerational systems leaders and networks that are committed to transformation and boldly leaning into the future and whose communities are most impacted by extraction, domination, and violence.
As a movement support organization that weaves, builds, and amplifies power to accelerate a Just Transition through our fiscal sponsorship, philanthropic services, and capacity building offerings, MSC understands that transformative movements change the way we think, our structures and systems, the way we live, and even who we are. Because the issues and problems we face are interconnected, our systemic solutions and movements must be interconnected as well. The way we achieve our goals and with whom are just as important as our outcomes.
Position Overview
The Program Officer is a critical role that supports MSC’s Grants and Capacity Building programs across our five focus areas pillars (intersecting social, economic, environment, and political areas) that are essential tenants in the work bringing forward a just transition.
- Advancing Health
- Arts & Cultural Strategy
- Climate & Environmental Justice
- Economy & Deep Democracy
- Transformative Movement Building & Infrastructure
The MSC Program team’s ethos is to deepen relationships with grant partners beyond funding. We recognize that systems change work needs relational, emergent and non-linear approaches, which center people. Therefore, we prioritize our interdependence, and work diligently to transform inequitable power dynamics and direct flow of resources towards justice. We are constantly striving to learn and practice inclusive and reciprocal processes that honor ethical, respectful, community-rooted vision and leadership and embody genuine commitment towards a beloved community of collective care and collaboration that practices living today the future we are building together.
Our work aims to nurture transformative pathways for social and environmental justice to bring forward a just transition. Through grantmaking, community connection and collaboration, and capacity building, MSC seeks to:
Strengthen Community Capacity and Leadership
- Community spaces for learning, shared strategy, thought weaving and innovation, coaching, and peer learning to frontline leaders——supporting sustainable, community-governed systems rooted in self-determination.
Shift Narratives and Uplift Community Voice
- Storytelling, cultural organizing, and community research, honor lived experience, and elevate ancestral knowledge to influence public and philanthropic discourse.
This role plays a key role in supporting the design of community spaces, grantee supports and experiences, and ensuring equity centered grantmaking. This role also works closely with the other members of MSC’s programmatic, operations, and finance teams. This role reports to the Senior Director of Grants and Capacity Building.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities:
Grantee Experience, Capacity Building & Thought Leadership (40%)
- Grantee and Partner Relationship Building
- build and sustain authentic, ongoing relationships with community partners, rooted in humility, deep listening, and reciprocal learning.
- hold and support grantee calls and outreach to gather information to support grantee experience, community co-design, and program learning
- support grantee relationships, including identifying needs, supporting focus area engagement strategies, grantee peer-engagement sessions, and ensuring responses are timely and on budget
- semi-annual (to quarterly) support calls with 100+ grantees to deeply understand current needs, trends, incredible community moments and impact
- Community Rooted Grantee Support & Capacity
- hold and support in researching, compiling, drafting, and disseminating grantee resources, newsletters, and toolkits across MSC programs (e.g. monthly newsletter and resource database, cohort programming…)
- research, synthesis, and aggregation of information on/for grantees and philanthropic services pillars and initiatives
- Support program strategy and vision implementation across Philanthropic Focus Areas
- co-steward a program strategy rooted in restorative, regenerative, and trust-based philanthropic principles
- identify leverage points for shifting systems, narratives, and resource flows toward community self-determination
Movement Building Community Event Design & Planning (25%)
- Convening liberatory spaces
- Convene partners in ways that honor cultural practices, collective care, accessibility, and liberatory facilitation. Hold space for conflict transformation, repair, and generative dialogue when needed.
- Co-design/Facilitate convenings that honor cultural practices, encourage generative dialogue, and center those most affected by systemic inequities.
- Identify and support opportunities for collaborative governance, joint problem-solving, and cross-sector learning.
- Field building, Ecosystem Engagement & Network Weaver
- Identify and support bridging MSC programs to support the ecosystem.
- Serve as a connector, advocate, and champion for grantee partners, supporting diverse approaches to amplify their work, and elevating systemic insights to internal and external stakeholders.
- Attend community events and movement gatherings to strengthen alignment with on-the-ground realities.
Equity Centered Program Administration & Implementation (25%)
- Portfolio Stewardship
- support grant partner processes with low burden, high trust, and deep respect for grantee autonomy.
- tracking and submitting program activities (e.g. amendments, contracts, stipends, and/or awards)
- co-design, support and operationalize reporting and tracking which facilitate portfolio learnings through story, reflection, and shared sense-making.
- collect feedback, written and/or verbal grantee responses and award reports
- Systems administration
- Maintain Foundant, Netsuite, bill.com, Google documentation (reporting, award renewals and amendments)
MSC & Cross-team engagement (10%)
- Partner across MSC teams (operations, compliance, communications, finance, leadership) to embody just and trust-based values internally.
- Contribute to internal processes that embody transparency, equity, and shared power.
- Contribute to the continuous learning, reflections and feedback, using findings to inform improvement, planning, and future investment.
- Strategically think about how to evolve grantmaking strategies to move the work of MSC and support movements forward.
Location & Compensation
Location
Remote: must be located in the United States
Expected hours of work
Standard days and hours of work are Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Daily schedule is flexible within the proximity of this time frame, and will be decided with the Sr. Director.
Position Type and Compensation
- 100% FTE, exempt position.
- The position is fully remote with some travel required.
- Annual gross pay: $105k – $115k (candidates based in the bay area)
- Regional Range:
- National $85k – $95k
- Moderate $95k – $105k
- High $105k – $115k
- Regional Range:
- MSC’s 100% FTE benefits package includes:
- 20 days vacation leave per year;
- 13 standard holidays and 2 personal days per year;
- 12 sick days per year;
- 1 week paid MSC family and medical leave after one year of service; an additional week of paid leave for each additional year of service, up to 4 weeks;
- Medical, vision, dental for employees and dependents ;
- Access to a 403b retirement plan.
Travel
Some travel expected.
Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job.
Knowledge & Experience
- First-hand experience as an organizer or philanthropic disruptor is highly desirable.
- Experience building and maintaining quality relationships across communities and constituencies, with diverse stakeholders and allies.
- A minimum of 7 years experience working and/or actively volunteering in nonprofit, community-based, advocacy, public sector or direct service fields
- A minimum of 5 years leader, community, or organizational capacity building. Facilitation experience, being comfortable with conflict, and effective in resolving tension points.
- A minimum of 3 years experience in a leadership role managing program design/implementation
- A minimum of 3 years experience in event design and implementation, leading and executing impactful cross-sector community events
- Recognize relationships as the cornerstone of movement work.
- Demonstrates commitment to social and environmental justice movements, transformative systemic change, and the building of community power
- Expertise in two of MSC’s five focus areas, strong preference for experience in Climate & Environmental Justice, Health, and Arts.
- Passionate about building the capacity of individuals, organizations, networks and sectors towards transformational, strategic and sustainable goals
Skills & Technical Abilities
- Strong tech literacy skills, proficiency in Bill.com, Netsuite, Asana and other project management tools, Google Suite including Google Sites and utilizing online work productivity tools
- Ability to articulate and orient work with a nuanced and intersectional understanding of power, privilege, and oppression.
- Ability to work independently and in teams, while managing multiple projects with competing timelines
- Fast learner and able to integrate, strong analytical and critical thinking skills, strong oral and written communication skills; ability to present clearly and effectively
- Ability and willingness to adapt to systems, processes, and matrix management
- Passionate about supporting organizational management and development
- Value systems-based design, operational excellence and a network-based ecosystem
- Proactive and data-inspired innovator with strong strategic advising skills
Application Instructions
Only candidates who meet the above-stated qualifications will be considered. To apply, complete the application requirements. No phone calls please.
Equal Employment Opportunity
Movement Strategy Center is an equal opportunity employer. We strongly encourage and seek applications from women, people of color, and bilingual and bicultural individuals, as well as members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities. Applicants shall not be discriminated against because of race, religion, sex, national origin, ethnicity, age, disability, political affiliation, sexual orientation, gender identity, color, marital status, or medical condition including acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) and AIDS-related conditions.
Applicants with Disabilities
Reasonable accommodation will be made so that qualified disabled applicants may participate in the application process. Please advise in writing of special needs at the time of application.
