Program - Title ; CSF

The CS Fund, a private family foundation dedicated to advancing progressive social change, is seeking the right person to join our program team. The core function of this position is to leverage expertise and relationships into grants for nonprofit organizations working to advance CS Fund’s mission.

Founded in 1981, CS Fund is dedicated to protecting human and environmental health, preserving biodiversity, preventing the commodification of life, and defending democracy. CS Fund seeks to address root causes of problems and support systemic solutions, often in issue areas not widely recognized by civil society or the general public. Our small organization of five staff strives to be a catalyst and thought leader in the fields in which we work.

CS Fund makes a total of $2 million annually
in grants in the areas of:

• Emerging Technologies: promoting precautionary and inclusive assessment, regulation, and oversight of new technologies (with a current focus on nanotechnology, synthetic biology, and geoengineering) to advance human and environmental health, cultural and biological diversity, social equity, and democratic governance.
• Food Sovereignty: promoting traditional agricultural knowledge and agroecological practices to advance socially just and sustainable food systems, with a focus on native seeds, healthy soils, and native pollinators.
• Rights and Governance: protecting the rights to free speech and assembly; making the government more transparent, effective, and accountable; ensuring national security policies respect the rule of law; building a progressive legal movement; and making global trade more democratic, just, and sustainable.

This position will primarily work with either the Emerging Technologies program or our Rights and Governance program and provide support to other programs as needed. Depending on the applicant, the hire could be made at the Program Officer or Program Director level.

• Develop, implement, and evaluate program goals and strategies.

• Solicit and evaluate grant proposals and financial documents, conduct due diligence and site visits.

• Write detailed funding recommendations and present them to the Board of Directors.

• Monitor and evaluate grantees, provide support, serve as a resource.

• Maintain knowledge of the field through research and relationships with grantees and funders.

• Engage funders; represent the CS Fund in meetings; organize workshops, webinars, and calls.

• Participate as an active member of CS Fund’s program team, providing support to other team
members and collaborating on cross-program area projects.

Bachelor’s degree plus at least 5 years of experience in philanthropy or a related nonprofit field. We will also consider applicants with at least 5 years of experience in other fields with skill sets directly applicable to the above responsibilities. In exceptional cases we will consider applicants with deep relevant experience but without formal academic training. (Relevance of applicants’ experiences must be detailed in their cover letter.)

• Passion and commitment to CS Fund’s mission and organizational values.
• Knowledge of issues pertaining to CS Fund’s program areas. (Demonstrated expertise and networks within these areas preferred, but not required.)
• Understanding of strategies and tactics used in social change (e.g. organizing, advocacy, litigation, public education, etc.) and the contexts within which they are utilized (e.g. politics, policy making, law, social movements, etc.).
• Talented and disciplined writer/researcher able to synthesize large amounts of complex information into accessible, compelling analyses.
• Strategic thinker able to develop funding strategies and assess grantees’ capacity to make change.
• Ability to analyze nonprofit financial budgets and reports and assess organizational financial health.

• Intellectually curious and committed to ongoing learning.
• High performing, keen attention to detail, consistently delivers top-quality work.
• Highly organized, excellent time management skills, juggles competing tasks effectively, meets deadlines under pressure.
• Strong people,…