Program
Officer
(Minnesota)
JOB POSTING
Please note we are no longer accepted applications as of July 26, 2023.
Download this information as a PDF
Please note we are no longer accepted applications as of July 26, 2023.
Title: Program Officer
Reports To: President
Percent Time: 100%
Status: Full time, exempt, full benefits
Salary: $75,000–$85,000 based on experience
Jerome Foundation is hiring a Minnesota-based Program Officer to join our small but growing team. This position works collaboratively with the Jerome staff and leadership to advance the Foundation’s mission, grantmaking, strategies, and initiatives in support of early career generative artists in Minnesota and New York City, with racial equity, diversity, innovation, creative risk-taking and humility as the guiding values. We encourage you to learn more about the Jerome Foundation and our values at https://www.jeromefdn.org/what-we-do and https://www.jeromefdn.org/our-commitment-equity.
We are looking for a Program Officer who is passionate about artists to work independently and collectively on a range of grant programs serving early career artists, both individual artists as well as arts organizations. The Program Officer represents the Jerome Foundation and serves as an advocate for, and connection to, individual artists and arts leaders, continually building and deepening their knowledge across multiple arts fields to foster relationships with artists and across arts ecosystems.
Organization Information
Jerome Foundation, founded in 1964 by artist and philanthropist Jerome Hill, supports early career artists in the creation, development and production of new original work. Our geographic funding focus is the state of Minnesota and the five boroughs of New York City. We focus our grantmaking through grants and fellowships to individual artists, grants to arts organizations, and broad field-building initiatives that support early career artists.
This is an important moment of transition at the Foundation. Eleanor Savage was named as president and CEO in April 2023, charged with furthering the organization’s commitment to innovative and flexible grantmaking programs for early career artists and arts ecosystems that focus on racial equity and the role artists and culture bearers play in societal change. The Foundation’s leadership, staff and board members are responsive and dynamic in their work with and advocacy for early career artists, guided by the values of equity, diversity, risk and innovation and humility.
The Foundation awards approximately $4 million in grants each year. In 2020, the Board of Directors agreed to increase this grants budget by an additional $8M over four years.
The Foundation currently has a full-time staff of 3, including a President, a NYC Program Officer and a Finance and Operation Manager. Additional contract staff include a contracted Accountant and a Controller. We are now hiring a MN Program Officer and a Grants and Program Administrator.
For more information about the Foundation, see its Annual Report for the most recent fiscal year, and learn more about its programs, grantees, Staff, Board and Members.
Our Culture
The Jerome members, board and staff is made up of artists, arts and cultural leaders, and community members who are deeply committed to developing an inclusive and collaborative organizational culture and practices that promote equity and accessibility. All staff members contribute to a nurturing and supportive culture, internally and externally, as well as to the strategic direction of our work and the daily programmatic and administrative responsibilities. We foster a culture of belonging in service to artists and arts organizations. We are responsive, respectful, understanding of change and difference, and open to critical discourse and learning.
Position Summary
The Program Officer is a primary point of contact and connection with Jerome’s grantmaking constituents and is responsible for: communicating with artists and arts organizations; assisting with the facilitation and logistics for artist-centered processes to reach decisions about grant applications and recommend grants to the Jerome Board for final approval; participating in philanthropic community meetings; conducting site visits with grantees; attending performances/exhibitions; documenting meetings and preparing materials for Board of Director meetings, among other responsibilities.
This position requires a community-minded focus and strong communication and engagement skills for interacting directly with diverse communities of artists and arts leaders; confidence and experience in public speaking and making public presentations; an eye for precision and detail; administrative skills and active listening experience. Specific grant program assignments vary depending on organizational needs.
The Program Officer job is an exempt position, including a mix of Monday through Friday office hours and event/meeting attendance on evenings and weekends. This schedule has some flexibility but requires staff to prioritize based on program timelines and deadlines. There will be specific times (including staff meetings, grant panel meetings, quarterly Board meetings, etc.) that will require mandatory attendance. There is occasional travel within state, as well as to New York City.
Responsibilities
Program Officers work as a team on all grant programs and services. This includes, but is not limited to the following programmatic and administrative activities that represent about 80% of this position’s time:
Additionally, Program Officers are expected to perform the following, off-site, as well Foundation-related and field-wide activities, accounting for 20% of their position’s time:
The Jerome Foundation is an equal opportunity employer and diversity is a core value. We encourage candidates of all backgrounds to apply.
The above list of responsibilities is not intended to encompass all functions of the position, rather, they are a general framework of the requirements of the position. Job incumbents may be required to perform other functions not specifically addressed in this description.
Requirements
Interested candidates should note that Jerome employees are not eligible to apply for direct or indirect Jerome grants.
Benefits
We value our employees and care about their well-being as part of the overall health of the organization. Benefits include:
Application Details
Applications will be accepted until the position is filled.
Immediately
All applications should be submitted electronically through Submittable.
The application will ask for a cover letter (see details below), the names of 3 references that the Foundation can contact (including both an email and a phone number for those contacts), and a CV and bio. Additional “yes/no”-style questions around employment eligibility and potential conflicts of interest are also included.
In the cover letter (which has a recommended maximum of 500 words), please explain why a full-time, exempt position at the Jerome Foundation is of interest. Please describe the ways you currently engage with, and your experience with, artists and the arts, and how this position might advance your longer-term professional goals and your interest in a new role. Highlight experiences you have had that are relevant to the requirements for this position. Provide specific examples of ways you have aligned with/worked to further Jerome’s values of equity, risk/innovation, diversity and humility.
The Foundation will interview a limited number of candidates. Interviewed candidates will be asked to supply additional information at the time they are scheduled for the interview.
All candidates will receive notification when their materials are received, and additional notification when the position has been filled. Candidates should not make additional inquiries once their materials have been received.