Program Associate, Catholic Sisters​/Global

The Program Associate (PA) plays a critical administrative and project management role in coordinating the Initiative's grantmaking activities. The associate will provide support for key operational areas of the team, including project management/tracking, communications, and knowledge sharing, coordination of meetings, contribution to project reports, research, budgeting, and grant process management. This position will also assist the team with general administration functions such as coordinating convenings, site visits, and scheduling.

Reporting to the Senior Program Officer, the Program Associate will participate in project and department-wide activities, meetings, conferences, and other events. They will contribute to programming discussions and will be familiar with the Foundation's approaches, possessing significant writing skills and an excellent ability to multitask.

This role serves to advance the Foundation's mission of impacting those experiencing disadvantage, specifically by strengthening Catholic sisters' education, formation, and elderly care in Africa, and supporting their advocacy and human development services to improve the lives of children, youth, and families living in disadvantaged situations. The Initiative supports sisters and communities to thrive and achieve self-sufficiency through collaboration and strengthening partnerships with stakeholders across Africa, including Kenya, Uganda, Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania, Ghana, Nigeria, and other regions, ensuring sisters have the tools and platforms needed to make a lasting impact in their communities.

• Monitor grant progress to ensure timely approvals.
• Track and manage grant budgets and coordinate grant processes with Grants Management (pre‑grant inquiry and grant modifications, etc.).
• Support mapping of progress reports.
• Regularly update program officers on the status of grant application documents and funded projects.
• Participate in work groups within the department and across the organization, documenting site accomplishments and site‑specific reports.
• Maintain internal tracking databases in Giving Data, Excel spreadsheets, etc.
• Collaborate with program officers and grant applicants to develop and submit grant proposals in accordance with approved strategies; support processing of budget and grant modifications.
• Lead in providing administrative support to applicants.
• Own the grants payout process, ensuring grants are paid according to the timeline and process.
• Review, analyze, and prepare grantee progress reports and payments for approval.
• Support the effective and timely delivery of information and technical assistance to grantees and other key partners.
• Participate in team‑based strategy development.

• Maintain collaborative relationships with grantee partners, peer funders, and external stakeholders regarding grant‑making and reporting processes, as well as organizing external events.
• Work with grants management to ensure compliance with internal audit, grant tracking procedures, and grant‑making processes (such as grant reporting, payment, and reporting schedules, Giving Data entry).
• Provide advice to the Senior Program Officer (SPO) and Program Officer (PO) on proposals in process; communicate with applicants to address administrative questions regarding their application, budget, and project measurement table.
• Provide support for key operational and administrative areas of the team, including project tracking, coordination of meetings, vendor/consultant contract agreements, and contribution to project reports, grant oversight, and planning.

• Provide support to the team with convenings and site‑visits by taking the lead on preparing materials, booklets, correspondence, information management, and travel arrangements.
• Support the SPO by taking the lead on organizing meeting logistics, securing the meeting site, arranging materials and technical needs, and catering orders. Additionally, provide logistics support to the meeting facilitator/coordinator as required and participate in team discussions regarding speakers, agenda items, and themes.
• Coordinate program‑related events…