Communications Program Officer, Media Partnerships

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), located in Princeton, N.J., is a leading national philanthropy dedicated to taking bold leaps to transform health in our lifetime. To get there, we must work to dismantle structural racism and other barriers to health. Since 1972, we have focused on developing and promoting innovations in health and healthcare to improve the lives of millions.

Through funding, convening, advocacy, and evidence-building, we work side-by-side with communities, practitioners, and institutions to achieve health equity faster and pave the way, together, to a future where health is no longer a privilege, but a right.

At RWJF, we work toward three Generational Goals to transform health in our lifetime:
Economic Inclusion for Family Wellbeing, Equitable and Accountable Public Health and Healthcare Systems, and Healthy and Equitable Community Conditions.

We take seriously our responsibilities, and we pledge to work in ways that reflect our Guiding Principles. These are rooted in equity and influence everything we do ity, diversity, inclusion, and collaboration enable our staff’s wide range of experiences, passions, and perspectives to strengthen our ability to address our nation’s most pressing health issues and support a culture of belonging. Part of this work includes actively shaping an inclusive organization where all staff members thrive as we build and use our capabilities, voice, and power to advance health equity.

RWJF offers a collaborative, collegial, and creative work environment. With a career at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, you will make a difference.

Reporting to the director, Communications Grantmaking, the communications program officer (PO), Media Partnerships is responsible for the development, implementation and management of initiatives that advance the Foundation’s strategic goals. The PO will synthesize information, build relationships with external partners, and apply equity principles to ensure equitable grantmaking processes. They will collaborate with various departments including Research, Evaluation and Learning, Communications, Policy, New Jersey, Law, and Finance to assess the impact of grantmaking and contribute to strategic and operational improvements.

RWJF has redesigned its Communications Department around three integrated teams:
Voice Strategy sets direction, the Communications Studio brings that strategy to life, and Operations provides the infrastructure that enables the work. The PO role sits within the Voice Strategy team.

As with staff at all levels of RWJF, the communications program officer is expected to demonstrate a passionate commitment to equity and to the Foundation’s mission and Guiding Principles.

RWJF is an institution in transformation. We are redefining our long-term outcomes with communities at the center and reexamining foundational questions about how and where we work.

Successful candidates will bring a track record of navigating organizations under transformation: creating clarity while new structures settle, earning trust across teams absorbing change, holding standards when the ground is shifting, and helping institutions tell the truth about themselves as they pursue their mission with confidence.

• Embed equity into communications grantmaking by ensuring investments reflect RWJF’s health equity priorities, elevate field-informed perspectives, and reach audiences across diverse contexts.
• Build and strengthen a network of grantees and partners that enables coordinated messaging, shared priorities, and amplification of field-driven narratives aligned to RWJF’s goals.
• Shape and deploy communications investments by identifying and prioritizing opportunities that advance Voice Strategy,…