Program Officer, Workforce, Patients and Access Portfolio

The Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation (STBF) is now
seeking nominations and applications for a Program Officer,
Workforce in its Patients and Access portfolio. STBF is a
private grant-making Foundation with a U.S. home office in Omaha,
Nebraska, and a global office in Kigali, Rwanda. With annual
spending in excess of $500 million, it is one of the largest
private foundations in the U.S. The Foundation has only two main
areas of grant making: 1) supporting efforts to reduce unintended
pregnancy and access to safe abortion for women in the U.S. and
around the world and 2) to enable low-income students in Nebraska
to attend and succeed in college. The Foundation currently employs
52 staff across 19 states in the U.S. and 11 staff in Kigali,
Rwanda.

The Program Officer, Workforce will draw upon their deep
experience and knowledge in abortion and contraceptive health care
clinical education and training, setting guidelines and practice
standards, and other workforce issues. They will serve as a skilled
strategic thinker, co-creator, and implementer of portfolio
workplans that serve STBF’s goals. They will bring strong
relationship-building skills to their role as a grantmaker,
developing trust-based and collaborative partnerships with
portfolio grantees. They will uphold high standards for stewarding
the Foundation’s resources, including budgeting, grant monitoring,
and compliance. Additionally, in keeping with the values of STBF,
they will collaborate across colleagues and join a diverse team of
people deeply committed to equitable practices and reducing
disparities in the workplace as well as in the field. This position
reports to a Senior Program Officer. The Program Officer is pivotal
in bolstering the reproductive health workforce, ensuring quality,
accessibility, and inclusivity in service provision. Recognizing
that a competent, diverse, robust, and healthy workforce is
critical to ensuring high quality access to abortion and
contraception, this role focuses on initiatives that build
capacity, offer training, and promote inclusivity within
reproductive health care professions.

The Program Officer will bring a deep spirit of humility,
honesty, and collaboration to the role of grant maker. Their
relationship-building skills will allow for collaborative,
responsive, conscientious, and expert thought partnership with
their grantees. They will conduct site visits to stay up to date on
portfolio grantees’ work and attend or convene meetings as
necessary to bring additional expertise to bear that informs USP’s
work. They will contribute to reports for the STBF Board and
develop or maintain relationships with other funders in the
movement.

About US Programs

US Programs (USP) manages the Foundation’s grantmaking to ensure
equitable, available, and supported access to abortion and
contraception in the United States. Our unit supports numerous
organizations in two main areas (or portfolios) of reproductive
health, access, and justice movements. The first, referred to as
Patients and Access, funds work to ensure access to abortion and
contraception through support of individuals, health centers,
clinicians, training facilities and related research. The second,
Social Change, supports organizations focused on building longer
term systems change through increasing social support for abortion,
addressing public policy advocacy, communications and messaging,
movement building, and litigation. USP is currently 16 people
strong, based in Omaha and remotely throughout the U.S., with plans
to grow steadily in the coming years to meet the evolving and
rapidly changing realities of abortion and contraception access in
the United States.

Shared Values

The Foundation is intent on safeguarding the values that drive
our culture: Mission, Respect for Donor Intent, Appetite for Risk
and Tolerance for Failure, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion,
Humility, Passion Tempered by Objectivity and Evidence, Compassion
and Love of Humanity, Honesty and Integrity, Kindness and Respect,
and Shared Accountability.

The Program Officer, Research will need to have a genuine
understanding of, and appreciation for, the significance of these
values and aspirations and how they are operationalized in the work
the Foundation undertakes. Finally, the candidate will need
to be aligned with the Foundation’s progressive values, including
unambiguous support for individual reproductive
freedom.

WHAT YOU WILL DO

1. Co-develop, implement, and manage strategies and
   goal-oriented portfolio work plans for US Programs,
   including by identifying and addressing the clinical and general
   training needs of the reproductive healthcare workforce,
   identifying gaps and opportunities to leverage clinical guidelines
   and practice standards to advance access to abortion and
   contraception, identifying gaps and opportunities to support a
   sustainable, healthy and diverse reproductive healthcare workforce,
   securing internal or external stakeholder buy-in, seeking out new
   grantees, and shepherding new and existing grants through the
   proposal and reporting processes.
2. Manage goal-oriented work plans, including by
   setting learning agendas, preparing grants for approval by Senior
   Program Officers, making budget recommendations, and communicating
   grantee progress or challenges to others.
3. Serve as a partner and relationship-builder
   with grantees, applicants, other funders, and stakeholders through
   collaborative, responsive, and conscientious thought-partnership,
   collaboration, and guidance, and through participation in site
   visits, meetings, convenings, and conferences with grantees and
   funders to stay informed and bring additional expertise to
   bear.
4. Contribute to reports for the STBF Board.
5. Steward the foundation’s resources through
   budgeting, grant monitoring, and compliance, including by routinely
   tracking and forecasting portfolio budgets in conjunction with
   Senior Program Officers; carefully and objectively monitoring
   grants, and routinely communicating with grantees to provide both
   encouragement and constructive feedback, while assessing progress
   towards project goals; and reviewing grant proposals, budgets, and
   reports for both clarity and strategic alignment.
6. With the support of Program Associates, ensure grants
   are processed correctly, reports are filed, and all
   documents are reviewed for compliance with both IRS regulations and
   USP guidelines and procedures.
7. Collaborate internally to advance collective
   work and to uphold a strong team culture, including by
   actively engaging with colleagues at all levels, offering thought
   partnership across portfolios, proactively identifying
   opportunities, and offering suggestions for improving STBF’s
   collaborative work environment. Participates in unit-wide working
   groups where appropriate, including cross-functional strategic
   initiatives, STBF’s teamwide inclusion and racial equity committee,
   race-based caucuses, ad hoc planning committees, and other
   groups.

QUALIFICATIONS OF THE IDEAL CANDIDATE

While no one candidate will embody all the qualifications
enumerated below, the ideal candidate will possess many of the
following professional and personal abilities, attributes, and
experiences:

Attributes for Success within this
Role

• Seek input from and value the uniqueness of people from
  different groups and identities. Work effectively with individuals
  of diverse cultures, interpersonal styles, abilities, motivations,
  or backgrounds. Challenge practices or policies that may be
  exclusionary. Demonstrate a proven commitment to race equity.
• Develop and maintain effective working relationships with team
  members, internal and external partners and others using strong
  interpersonal skills. Work effectively with people outside formal
  authority to accomplish goals. Practice kindness, authenticity, and
  optimism when working with others.
• Demonstrate expansive knowledge of tools, methods, and
  resources in the area of reproductive health access or social
  narrative, advocacy or policy development in the context of the
  movement systems and politics.
• Ask good questions and probe all sources for answers; see
  underlying or hidden patterns; look beyond the obvious and not stop
  at the first answers. Use rigorous logic and methods to learn,
  analyze and understand why problems occur; generate and implement
  creative, cost effective and realistic solutions.
• Look for new or alternative ideas from a wide range of sources.
  Consider future consequences and trends while considering future
  possibilities.
• Communicate effectively both in writing and verbally. Listen
  carefully and seek mutual understanding in daily interactions.
• Be comfortable in situations of conflict. Demonstrate an
  ability to say “no” when necessary and appropriate and have the
  confidence to choose the correct answer over the popular one. Show
  tolerance for ambiguity and be very comfortable with constant
  change brought on by internal and external pressures or
  expectations. Understand the value of flexibility and
  adaptability.

Background and Experience
Qualifications

• Strong knowledge and experience of the provision of abortion
  and contraceptive care.
• Demonstrated knowledge in reproductive health care clinical
  workforce issues (education, training, retention, setting
  guidelines and practice standards, etc.).
• Experience engaging directly with medical schools, professional
  organizations, and/or physicians regarding training curricula,
  clinical guidelines, and scopes of practice.
• Demonstrated knowledge in one or more of the following areas:
  abortion and contraceptive methods, health care financing, causes
  and remedies of health disparities, health care delivery systems,
  barriers to reproductive access, reproductive and/or primary care
  clinical operations, health care quality standards, healthcare
  consumer/stakeholder engagement and patient experience, state
  and/or federal programs and policies that impact reproductive
  health care, or other relevant topical expertise.
• Preferred: Bachelor’s degree in health care related field,
  political science, public health, gender studies, advocacy etc.
  OR 7+ years professional experience with increasing
  responsibility directly related to the role will be
  considered.
• Minimum 5 years of experience with the provision of abortion
  and/or contraceptive care.
• Minimum 3 years of direct experience managing other people,
  relationships, projects, or processes.
• Preferred: Experience working in an environment with colleagues
  across multiple locations.

Travel Requirements

If working remotely, travel is expected up to 20% of the time,
including coming to Omaha 3-5 times per year.

Hiring Requirements

As part of our standard hiring process for new employees,
employment will be contingent upon successful completion of a
background check.

Compensation

Compensation for the Program Officer role starts at $164,000.
The Foundation also provides comprehensive benefits.

TO APPLY

This search is being led by Cara Pearsall and Tyra Gravesande of
NPAG. Due to the pace of this
search, candidates are strongly encouraged to apply as soon as
possible. Candidates may submit their cover letter, outlining their
interest and qualifications, along with their resume via NPAG’s
website. It is
encouraged that applicants submit their application by
April 5, 2024.

Accommodations:  If you require assistance
due to a disability in the application or recruitment process,
please submit a request to [email protected].

We are committed to creating a workplace where
employees thrive both personally and professionally. This includes
not only creating a diverse team where everyone feels represented,
respected, and included, but also embedding these values across our
work and practices. All applicants who are drawn to serve our
mission will enjoy equality of opportunity and fair treatment
without regard to race, color, age, religion, pregnancy, sex,
sexual orientation, disability, gender identity, gender expression,
national origin, genetic information, veteran status, marital
status, and prior protected activity.