Climate & Clean Energy Program Associate: Drive Impact

Posted on February 05, 2020

The Heising-Simons Foundation is a family foundation with offices in Los Altos and San Francisco. The Foundation works with its many partners to advance sustainable solutions in climate and clean energy, enable groundbreaking research in science, enhance the education of our youngest learners, and support human rights for all people. In 2019, the Foundation awarded $115 million. Since its first grant in 2007, the Foundation has awarded more than $500 million.

The Program Associate (PA) provides administrative and program-related support to the Foundation’s Climate & Clean Energy (CCE) Team. The goal of the Foundation’s CCE program is to protect people and the planet from the worst impacts of climate change by cutting pollution and accelerating the transition to a clean energy future. We aim to help make energy clean, affordable, safe, and reliable for all.

The CCE Team is currently staffed by two PAs, two Program Officers (POs), and the Program Director (PD). In 2019, the CCE Team made 60 grants totaling $22M in grant funding. This role will work in partnership with the current and outgoing PAs to provide support to the team’s PD and POs. Although the majority of this role will work with the CCE Team, the PA will also support POs in other program areas as needed.

This position is an opportunity to learn about the fields of climate and clean energy and philanthropy. Candidates are not expected to have experience in all areas listed in the job posting.

The primary responsibilities of the PA are to:

• Serve as the first point of contact for grantees and grant seekers.
• Work closely with the Grants Management team to ensure that grantmaking adheres to the Foundation’s grantmaking and contracting policies, procedures, and deadlines.
• Provide administrative support to the POs and PD, ranging from calendaring to research.

This full-time (37.5 hours per week), nonexempt (hourly) position reports to the PD of the CCE team and is based in our Los Altos, CA office, with at least two days each month in our San Francisco, CA office.

Provide grants administration support.

• Regularly update the program’s grantmaking budget.
• Invite grantees to the Foundation’s grantee portal and offer technical assistance to support the successful completion and submission of grant proposals and reports.
• Track grant start and end dates, due dates for deliverables and reports, and changes to grant timelines and scopes of work. Ensure team members and grantees are aware of upcoming deadlines.
• Keep grant files and contacts current by entering and updating grant information.
• Conduct research to inform the program’s grantmaking, including:
• Reviewing organizations’ websites for information about their mission, staff, board members, and recent projects or accomplishments.
• Reviewing organizations’ financials to conduct an initial assessment of financial stability.
• Reviewing reports, products, and press to gather background information on prospective grantees.
• Work with team members to draft, format, and proofread written materials for grants, including grant summaries, budgets, and overview memos.

Provide administrative support.

• Manage calendars and meeting requests daily and make travel and other logistical arrangements, as needed.
• Arrange and attend meetings and phone/video conferences, and plan logistics of convenings ranging from 2 to 50 attendees.
• Plan and attend grantee site visits, when team members visit grantees to learn more about their work.
• Work with team members to draft, format, and proofread materials, including memos, spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations, and other documents.
• Track and help manage the program’s workflow and deadlines.
• Support the management of contracts by monitoring expenditures and submitting invoices and authorized expenses to the Director of Finance for payment.

Support the CCE program’s strategy development, learning, and evaluation.

• Communicate the CCE program’s strategy and grantmaking guidelines to internal colleagues and in external meetings.
• Communicate the Foundation’s history, values, and…