Program Officer – Jewish Life & Learning
Location: New York City (in-person with travel)
Reports to: Director of North American Grantmaking

At a consequential moment in Jewish history, Maimonides Fund (MF) is expanding our grantmaking and programmatic work in service of our mission in North America and Israel. Through strategic investments and targeted initiatives, including SAPIR: Ideas for a Thriving Jewish Future, we support serious ideas, strengthen institutions, and help advance durable impact across North American Jewish communal life and for the State and People of Israel.

The Opportunity
MF seeks to hire a Program Officer to help to build the future of Jewish life and learning in North America, becoming an expert in grantmaking, nonprofit finance, and changemaking, while working with MF staff, philanthropic partners, field experts, practitioners, and thought leaders to identify innovative ideas and interventions to advance this work.

Our Program Officers are issue-area specialists who have substantial responsibility for growing and sustaining portfolios of grants in our various focus areas. Program Officers contribute to developing our philanthropic strategy and actively participate in grantmaking by seeking, developing, recommending, and administering grants in their program areas. Program Officers are expected to build networks and partnerships around issues central to our mission; develop expertise in their program areas; communicate and advocate for systemic change; and multiply the impact of our investments and influence.

Grant portfolios and mandates may vary depending on the Program Officer’s expertise and background and team bandwidth, but this position will work primarily to strengthen Jewish learning and education, and the educators, clergy, and professionals dedicating their lives to transformative, joyous, and content-rich Jewish education. As a Program Officer, you will take over an existing portfolio of grants, working to deepen our existing work, while also carrying a mandate to think big about the Jewish future and how best to advise MF in its decision-making regarding future grants, programs, gatherings, and other tools in the philanthropic toolbox.

Key Responsibilities:

  • Manage a portfolio of grants, including performing due diligence, site visits, progress assessment, and evaluating current and potential grantees and partners;
  • Evaluate invited grant requests, including detailed financial statements and complex narratives;
  • Prepare research memos, proposal analyses, and policy papers in areas of program interest;
  • Work alongside colleagues in developing and executing new grantmaking strategies and in planning and executing Maimonides Fund-sponsored programs and events;
  • Maintain and expand upon a breadth of knowledge to enhance MF’s strategies, including current trends, emerging issues, evaluations, academic literature, policy interventions, and innovations;
  • Represent Maimonides Fund within the nonprofit and philanthropic communities, including local and national site visits, conferences, and events. Communicate with grantees, thinkers, field professionals, and funding colleagues on a regular basis, both seeking and providing information and recommendations necessary to support the efficacy and efficiency of MF’s philanthropy.

You have:

  • 10+ years of experience in a professional office environment;
  • An excellent working knowledge of the organized Jewish community and Israel;
  • Demonstrated experience distilling complex information to form opinions, vocalize arguments, develop recommendations, and navigate implementation;
  • Strong project management and operational experience;
  • Exceptional quantitative and qualitative analytic and financial skills, including financial review and analysis and data-informed research;
  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills; and
  • Sound professional judgment, objectivity, tact, and humility.

Other Desirable Skillsets and Experience:

No candidate will have all of these, but please indicate relevant experience in any of these areas:

  • Jewish education, formal or informal/experiential;
  • Leading teen, college student, and/or young adult programming;
  • Leading adult Jewish education programs;
  • Significant studies in, and knowledge of, Jewish text, tradition, literature, history, and/or culture;
  • Talent development and/or creating or leading professional development programs;
  • Particular industry area expertise (Jewish or otherwise);
  • Using emerging technologies, particularly AI;
  • Understanding nonprofit governance; and/or
  • Professional or volunteer experience in assessing organizational leadership, strategy, and financials.

You are:

  • Passionate about the Jewish People and the State and People of Israel;
  • Comfortable working both independently and collaboratively with a small team, as necessary;
  • Emotionally intelligent, with the ability to exercise discretion in difficult or confidential situations;
  • Flexible, creative, and able to adapt to shifting priorities in a fast-paced, evolving organization;
  • Willing to regularly travel nationally and internationally.

This is a full-time position, currently 4 days in-person in our Manhattan office and 1 day remote, with a salary range of $130,000 – $150,000 (based on experience), with an excellent benefits package and the possibility to participate in a bonus program. Reasonable relocation expenses may be available to exceptional applicants.

To apply, please send a resume and a writing sample to jobs@maimonidesfund.org, with “JL&L PO Applicant” as the subject line. Applicants will be considered on a rolling basis.

Maimonides Fund is an Equal Opportunity Employer committed to an inclusive work environment and welcomes a diverse pool of candidates for this search.