Program Officer Education

Program Officer for Education

Barberton, OH

Full-Time | Exempt

Reports to:
Executive Director

The Barberton Community Foundation (BCF) is a nonprofit organization providing funding, systems, and support to the Barberton community in order to build a stronger, more vibrant Barberton for generations to come. We invest in people, places, and systems, working alongside residents, donors, community partners, and elected officials to drive lasting change.

Our 2025–2031 Strategic Plan is organized around four pillars:
Birth-to-5 Early Learning, Downtown Revitalization, Workforce & Career Development, and Basic Needs.

BCF believes that a child’s path from a healthy start in life to a meaningful career is one continuous system - and that a community’s strength depends on how well that system works for every family. The Program Officer for Education is the person who understands that system deeply, maps where it’s working and where it’s broken in Barberton, and builds the partnerships and funding that move it forward.

This is a mid-career role for someone who can think in systems and plan for long-term change, while still being energized by the hands‑on work of building partner relationships, tracking outcomes, and making things happen on the ground. This is not a senior executive role - it is a role for an experienced professional who thinks strategically and executes with discipline.

The Program Officer for Education is BCF’s internal expert on early childhood and workforce development - the person the Executive Director turns to for analysis, the person grant partners turn to for relationship, and the person responsible for ensuring BCF’s investments in these areas (birth-5, out-of‑school time, career pathways) are well‑managed, well‑measured, and moving the needle toward defined outcomes.

• PAY: Starting at $80,000 per year, commensurate with experience
• Health, dental, vision, life, and disability insurance benefits
• 401(k) match
• 11 paid holidays
• Paid Time Off (PTO)

• Develop deep expertise in both the early childhood system (birth-to-5, childcare access, school preparedness, kindergarten readiness) and the workforce and career pathways system (employer partnerships, training providers, career navigation, post‑secondary connections)
• Understand what a high‑functioning version of the system (e.g. birth-5 early learning system, career pathways system, out-of‑school time system) looks like - the outcomes, benchmarks, and indicators that signal real progress
• Become BCF’s expert on the Barberton community context: how these evolving issues show up locally, who the key players are, where the gaps are, and where leverage exists
• Stay current on research, policy, and practice in early childhood and workforce development at the local, state, and national levels
• Bring regular analysis and insight to the Executive Director to inform BCF’s strategy and investment decisions

• Build and steward day‑to‑day relationships with early childhood providers, the school district, childcare networks, workforce boards, employers, training organizations, and career pathway partners
• Identify organizations doing strong work in BCF’s focus areas and assess their potential as grant partners or collaborators
• Facilitate connections between partners where BCF can play a convening or catalyzing role
• Represent BCF at relevant community tables, coalitions, and sector meetings as directed by the Executive Director

• Manage BCF’s Cycle 2 grantmaking for education and workforce - conducting outreach, reviewing applications, performing site visits, and synthesizing analyses
• Package completed grant applications and all supporting documentation for the Director of Community Impact, who administers applications through the grants committee - ensuring materials are organized, complete, and committee‑ready before handoff
• Monitor active education and workforce grants throughout their lifecycle - tracking milestones, reviewing reports, identifying issues early, and documenting…