Director, Program Influence; Communications & Advocacy), Health

Position Overview

The Program Influence team helps advance The Rockefeller Foundation's programmatic “Big Bets” and strategic priorities by using communications, policy, and advocacy as tools for influence — translating program strategy and evidence into public narrative, policy engagement, and stakeholder mobilization that strengthen the Foundation's institutional narrative. The Director, Program Influence, Health spends roughly 85% of their time on Health program priorities and 15% on cross-program and institutional work.

The Program Influence team helps advance The Rockefeller Foundation's programmatic “Big Bets” and strategic priorities by using communications, policy, and advocacy as tools for influence — translating program strategy and evidence into public narrative, policy engagement, and stakeholder mobilization that strengthen the Foundation's institutional narrative. The Director, Program Influence, Health spends roughly 85% of their time on Health program priorities and 15% on cross-program and institutional work.

Reporting to the SVP, Program Integration, with secondary reporting lines to the SVP, Health and SVP, Strategic Communications, the Director, Program Influence operates as a hands‑on individual contributor, delivering results through close partnership with program leadership, fellow Program Influencers, and institutional colleagues in Communications.

This role is based in the Foundation's New York Office and is required to be in the office on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays.

$175,000 - $210,000. This represents the present low and high ends of the Foundation’s pay range for this position. Actual pay will vary based on various factors, including but not limited to experience.

• Develop and execute an evidence-based program influence strategy — identifying priority audiences and building outreach and engagement plans that advance program objectives, expand media engagement, and deepen public, private, and philanthropic investor interest.
• Partner with program leads to surface proof points and impact stories, and pipeline them to Communications and Policy on a standing cadence so the institutional narrative stays credible, current, and grounded in programmatic impact.
• Craft a unifying external narrative for the program that amplifies its impact and builds on the Foundation’s institutional message architecture, which the Communications team manages, translating complex program work into persuasive messaging for policymakers, partners, and philanthropic audiences.
• Lead the identification and execution of strategic convenings and tent‑pole moments, and represent the Foundation and its leadership at regional, global, and multilateral events.
• Advance the program’s ideas, solutions, and partnerships by working through institutional channels — Communications, Policy & Advocacy, Connected Leaders, and the media accelerator — rather than building parallel capacity, coordinating closely with fellow Program Influence colleagues so strategies are built together rather than in isolation.
• Partner with the Communications team to develop the program’s annual channel and content plan — priorities, formats, and platforms — and execute against it. Use audience insight and analytics to track reach, recognition, and influence, and refine the plan with Communications accordingly.
• Work within institutional editorial standards, message architecture, prioritization, voice, and visual identity across all program content and channels.
• Help shape where the Health program’s evidence base can be most persuasive with policymakers, and work with regional teams to monitor policy risk and validate impact claims before…