Program Officer, Western Conservation

The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation seeks a collaborative and outcomes-driven Program Officer for an eight-year term to manage the Western Conservation grantmaking portfolio of the Environment Program. As a key member of the Environment Program, the Program Officer will advance the 2024-2029 Strategy for Western Conservation, and effectively build and maintain strong relationships with grantee partners, philanthropic peers, Tribal leaders, academics, policy experts, movement leaders, government officials, and other stakeholders. The Program Officer is deeply engaged in national and regional conversations about collaborative conservation and prioritizes building and nurturing networks of practitioners and funders of solutions to the biodiversity crisis.

Please do not apply if you are not able to meet the following non-negotiable criteria:

• Staff are currently expected to work from the Hewlett Foundation’s Menlo Park, California offices 2-3 times per week for a total of 10 in-office days per month (Tuesdays and Wednesdays are required). Foundation-related travel is counted as in-office.
• Candidates located outside a reliable commuting distance will need to commit to relocating within 6 months of their start date and being in-person for key onboarding activities or meetings

About the Foundation
The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation invests in creative thinkers and problem solvers working to ensure that people, communities, and the planet can flourish. Together with our partners, we are harnessing society’s collective capacity to solve our toughest problems. A nonpartisan philanthropy, the Hewlett Foundation has made grants in the U.S. and globally for nearly six decades based on an approach that emphasizes long-term support, collaboration, and trust.

Globally, we make grants to address both longstanding and emerging challenges like our efforts to advance gender equity and governance, reimagine the economy and society, and reduce the growing threat of climate change. Our U.S. efforts prioritize strengthening democracy, advancing education for all, and supporting community-led conservation. In the San Francisco Bay Area we call home, we make grants to support meaningful artistic experiences in local communities and regional foundations working on critical issues. All of our grantmaking invests in advancing racial justice and in strengthening the effectiveness of our grantees, and of philanthropy itself. The Hewlett Foundation’s assets are approximately $13.3 billion with annual grant awards totaling more than $600 million. More information about the Hewlett Foundation is available at: www.hewlett.org

Toward an interest in continual innovation and evaluation, all Program Director and Program Officer positions at the Hewlett Foundation are term limited.

About the Environment Program and the Western Conservation Strategy
At the Hewlett Foundation, we believe everyone deserves a meaningful opportunity to thrive, regardless of background or circumstances. Yet opportunity is increasingly threatened as the global climate crisis deepens. Our goal is clear: keep the global average temperature increase well below 2°C above preindustrial levels and facilitate a sustainable and equitable transition to a low-carbon economy. Our Environment Program works to achieve this objective through U.S. and global grantmaking intended to mitigate emissions and promote benefits to all stakeholders in this transition and ensure they have the necessary support and resources to contribute to a flourishing planet.

This climate mitigation agenda is complemented in the U.S. by our Western Conservation grantmaking strategy, which has been a feature of the Foundation since its inception. The focus of our conservation grantmaking is to preserve biodiversity and conserve the ecological integrity of the North American West from the coast to the Continental Divide.

In early 2024, we published a refreshed Western Conservation grantmaking strategy, informed by formal evaluations and extensive grantee and partner guidance and input. We identified four key priority conservation “pathways” that we believe are important to curbing the intersectional biodiversity and climate crises over the next five years: (a) freshwater conservation, (b) landscape-scale connectivity, (c) wildlife protection, and (d) climate responsive strategies. Under this strategy, the Foundation expects to continue to play a catalytic role in building public support for collaborative action at the landscape or watershed scale, and in strengthening the capacity of Tribes and nonprofits advancing Indigenous-led conservation.

Accomplishing this ambitious agenda requires fostering and resourcing community partnerships rooted in authentic relationships, respect, and reciprocity. We must think constantly about bridging divides. Successful candidates will exhibit a passion for relationship-building, working across cultures and differences, and coalition-building.

About the Position
The Program Officer will report to the Environment Program Director and will work collaboratively with the Program Associate, other members of the Environment Program team, and staff throughout the foundation for the duration of an eight-year term. Specific responsibilities include:

1. Lead the implementation of the Western Conservation strategy via strategic annual grantmaking. The more than $40 million annual budget includes identifying and vetting prospective grantees; conducting due diligence and making funding recommendations; overseeing all active grants; actively engaging with grant partners; tracking progress; responding to and reviewing financial and programmatic reports; and determining grant renewals.

• Manage annual grantmaking budget and up to 2-3 years’ budget forecasting.
• Carry out activities beyond grantmaking to help drive change in the strategy’s focus areas (e.g., convening, facilitating, networking, and public communications).
• Provide regular reports on program achievements and learnings via written memos and annual presentations to the Foundation Board of Directors, as well as all-staff meetings upon request; collaborate with the Program Director on how those learnings inform future direction.
• Supervise Program Associate and provide opportunities for professional growth.
• Establish and maintain ongoing and productive relationships with grantee partners, peer funders, and movement leaders. This includes partnering with grantee partners to address emerging challenges and offering experienced-informed assessments and foundation support (technical assistance, Organizational Effectiveness grants, referrals to resources, etc.) for organizational strengthening.
• Conduct ongoing research and analysis to identify emerging issues, opportunities, and challenges within the conservation movement, including potential new areas of focus for the Environment Program, particularly given a constantly evolving political context.
• Develop and implement effective monitoring and evaluation plans and oversee ongoing adaptive management of grants, activities, and strategies.
• Represent the Foundation at appropriate meetings, philanthropic conferences, and site visits as well as in all interactions with prospective and current grantee partners, spotlighting the work of grantee partners as appropriate.

The Program Officer should ideally embody the following professional qualifications and personal attributes:

2. At least 15 years of relevant professional experience. Given the size of this portfolio, grantmaking experience is strongly preferred.

• Lived experience and/or subject matter expertise across multiple issue areas including an understanding of current threats to land, water, wildlife, and Tribal and rural communities of the U.S. West.
• Familiarity with U.S. conservation policy and deep understanding of the conservation sector, including how inequity and exclusion are manifested in organizations and policy.
• Proven experience in strategic planning; staff and budget management; and ability to build and deploy coalitions for collective action.
• Relationship-building orientation, with a demonstrated ability to empathize with partners. Open-minded, collegial, and able to develop relationships based on trust, confidence, and respect. Open to considering a diverse range of viewpoints.
• Intellectual agility and the ability to analyze, think critically, and work across cultures and differences with grantee partners, government, private sector, nonprofit, Tribal, movement and community leaders.
• Clear and persuasive oral and written communications, including the ability to write complex documents quickly. Can articulate complex themes for multiple audiences/ settings (advocacy groups, philanthropic organizations, Foundation staff and Board, and government officials, etc.)
• Exceptional personal and professional integrity, judgement, and the highest work standards; brings flexibility, good humor, high energy, humility, and an unwavering commitment to Hewlett’s Guiding Principles.
• Proven track record of managing deadlines, people, and budgets.
• Unquestionable ethics and personal integrity.
• Commitment to enhancing the Environment Team’s approaches to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
• Willingness and ability to travel a minimum of 25% of the time within the North American West, and occasionally, to Washington, D.C.

Compensation and Benefits
The Hewlett Foundation is committed to providing compensation that is competitive within the philanthropic sector. We offer a generous total compensation package that emphasizes both base salary and comprehensive benefits. 

The salary range for this role is $190,000-$223,000. Offers are based on the candidate’s years of experience and our practice of maintaining salary equity within the foundation. This position is exempt and full-time. As noted above, Program Officers of the Hewlett Foundation serve for an eight-year term.