Manager, Programs (Next Generation

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Manager, Programs (Next Generation)

The Peter G. Peterson Foundation ("Foundation") is working to secure a healthy, growing economy by addressing America’s long-term fiscal and economic challenges. The Foundation partners with leading decision-makers in government, policy, academia, media, business and issue/constituent groups to build support for solutions to put America on a sustainable fiscal and economic path. As a non-partisan organization, the Foundation engages in grant‑making, partnerships and research to educate and involve Americans from a variety of perspectives.

The Programs Team develops and implements strategic programs and initiatives, collaborating across the organization and with external partners and grantee organizations to advance the Foundation’s mission in both traditional and emerging areas of engagement. The team manages grant‑making portfolios and identifies, funds and scales new ideas and approaches to achieve organizational goals. The Programs team also oversees two major programmatic portfolios:
Next Gen Leaders and Effective Democracy.

• The Next Gen Leaders portfolio carries this work into the future through the Up to Us Leadership Network, the nation’s leading talent pipeline for fiscal leadership. By equipping college students with advocacy, policy, and leadership skills, the Network prepares the next generation with the tools and community to address the nation’s long‑term fiscal challenges.
• The Effective Democracy portfolio strengthens policy making and institutions by supporting secure, transparent, and trustworthy election administration and equipping elected leaders with the knowledge, skills, relationships, and political space needed for collaborative, solutions‑oriented policy making.

Reporting to the Director, Programs, and working in coordination with the Senior Manager, Programs, the Manager supports program implementation for the Next Gen portfolio and drives operational excellence. This role is responsible for maintaining key systems day‑to‑day, managing program delivery across select grantees, and maintaining our CRM system. The Manager collaborates with cross‑functional teams and represents the Next Gen program in selected external settings.

This role is cross‑functional and interdisciplinary, involving a blend of grants, partnerships, and internal efforts.

Key responsibilities include:

• Support the management of key grantee and vendor relationships and day‑to‑day operations with a detailed focus on tracking program objectives, deliverables, and progress across the Up to Us Leadership Network external partners and internal Foundation teams.
• Collaborate across Peterson Departments (Communications, M&E, Policy, Legal, Grant Operations, Finance).
• Support the coordination of grantee collaboration and working group activities.
• Evaluate programmatic outcomes, including managing assessments, renewals, and learning processes.
• Establish and maintain excellent rapport with grantees.

• Communications
  :
  Support the management of the communications plan, including ensuring the website is up‑to‑date and in‑line with overall strategy.
• Metrics and Evaluation
  :
  As needed and relevant, support the development of impact matrices and measurement plans; track data collection processes and KPI achievement.
• CRM
  :
  Ensure CRM utilization and maintenance standards and support ongoing development of the system, as needed.
• Program Events
  :
  Support the planning and execution of program events, conferences and convenings.
• Grant and Vendor Contracts
  :
  Support grant compliance materials and facilitate the approval process.
• Legal
  :
  Support collaboration with legal team on participant information collection and disclosures, trademarks and other issues.
• Time Management
  :
  Ensure deadlines are met and project timelines established.

• Contribute to strategic planning for programs, track internal brainstorming,…