Position Announcement: Senior Program Officer, Policy & Advocacy

Position Announcement:
Senior Program Officer, Policy & Advocacy

San Francisco and/or Sacramento, CA

Title: Senior Program Officer, Policy & Advocacy

Status: Full-Time

FLSA Status: Exempt

Work Location: San Francisco and/or Sacramento, CA

Date Submitted: August 2026

Sobrato Philanthropies’Thriving Communities strategy aims to uplift low-wage and housing-insecure residents and families. To achieve this vision, SP will deploy grants and other philanthropic tools in the Silicon Valley region, at the state level in California, and nationally across critical issue areas impacting communities, including Economic Mobility, Educational Equity, and Housing Security. Climate Action is the newest issue area in 2027, and our grantmaking portfolio will be small relative to the others.

The Senior Program Officer will contribute to the implementation of SP's strategic approach to policy and advocacy grantmaking and influence, focusing primarily on California state policy. A key member of SP's Policy & Advocacy team, this role will lead strategy development and refinement, grantmaking, grantee engagement and progress monitoring, field engagement and collaborations with peer foundations and other partners, and evaluation and learning activities.

The Senior Program Officer will bring experience in diligence, shaping, and managing a grant portfolio and demonstrate deep knowledge of policy and advocacy approaches to advance community-centered systemic change.

The Senior Program Officer will lead policy and advocacy grants and activities in Economic Mobility (totaling approximately $6M-$7M in 2027), with three priorities:
1) increasing access to worker ownership as a wealth-building strategy,
2) getting cash to residents to help them meet their financial needs, and
3) strengthening the social safety net for our most vulnerable communities. A secondary responsibility will be launching a small Climate Action portfolio, drawing on the team’s learning to date. While they do not need to have equal expertise on all topics, the Senior Program Officer will understand the state and national policy environment, assess the impact of this landscape on our strategy, engage with well-informed and connected experts, and navigate dynamics that may be unique to specific topics.

50% of Time

• Lead strategy development, refinement, and grantmaking for our statewide and national policy and advocacy grants in Economic Mobility. Launch initial, smaller Climate Action portfolio.
• Identify and research organizations that would be well-aligned with our priorities, evaluate grant proposals, conduct due diligence and financial analysis using our rubrics, determine priority funding areas, draft agreements with key metrics, and present grant recommendations.
• Grow and deepen ongoing collaboration with grantees through check-ins, site visits, technical assistance, and thought partnership, among other tools.
• Collaborate with Program Officers and Senior Program Officers at SP to align strategies and grantmaking across geographies (Silicon Valley region, California, and nationally).
• Develop and implement virtual and in-person grantee learning and convening opportunities.
• Stay abreast of new, significant, and relevant developments in policy, research, and practice.
• Proactively surface critical insights, trends, needs, and gaps on policy, systemic change, and organizational capacity building from our grantees and the field to inform SP’s grantmaking strategy and practice. Bring findings back to grantees to strengthen their capacity.
• Regularly monitor state policy in California and track policy and funding wins for Economic Mobility primarily and Climate Action as needed. Provide updates to the team and lead discussions about the impact on communities and grantmaking implications.
• Strategically align portfolio investments with the Thriving Communities strategy and provide key data and metrics to support outcome analyses and impact narrative.

30% of Time

• Identify policy priorities for Economic Mobility on an annual basis and…