Program Director, Workforce Training and Services

The William Penn Foundation, founded by Otto and Phoebe Haas in 1945, is a leading American philanthropy located in Philadelphia with over $3.7 billion in assets and a $155 million annual grant budget. Our approach to grantmaking is focused on one central idea: let’s help make more lives better by connecting more people to more opportunities and more resources. We aim to do this work in the Philadelphia region particularly for groups of people who have often been shut out of opportunity in the past because of disinvestment, discrimination, or systemic inequities.

The Foundation makes grants in five programs, primarily focused in Philadelphia and its surrounding counties:

• Arts and Culture – Increase access to diverse, inclusive arts and culture experiences.
• Children and Families – Expand access to programs and resources that support the healthy development and academic success of young children, ages 0-8.
• Environment and Public Space – Increase access to the benefits of natural areas, public spaces, and community assets while decreasing harmful impacts on the environment.
• Democracy and Civic Initiatives – Expand engagement in democratic processes and collaborative efforts that make the city and region responsive to the needs of residents.
• Workforce Training and Services – Support Philadelphia residents to successfully prepare for, secure, and retain family sustaining employment.

In pursuing our program goals and objectives, we will be guided by the following values:

• Prioritize opportunities for communities that have been most affected by economic inequity, discrimination based on race, gender, or sexual orientation, and other forms of injustice.
• Elevate community voice.
• Value partnership, collaboration, and transparency.
• Minimize and respond to the impacts of climate change.
• Leverage our leadership to advance important citywide and regional initiatives and to respond to changing needs of the city and region.
• Share our learning locally and nationally.

Further information on the principles that define these values is available on the Foundation’s website: https://williampennfoundation.org/funding/understand-our-grantmaking 

Position Summary

The Program Director, Workforce Training and Services will be responsible for oversight of the Foundation’s newest grantmaking program, focused on reducing barriers to accessing and completing workforce training and employment retention. The program is focused on program and policy change that can help more people to engage with high quality training programs, complete those programs, and secure meaningful long-term employment in the fields for which they have been prepared.

Reporting to the Chief Philanthropy Officer, the Program Director serves as the intellectual and operational leader of the Workforce program. The Program Director will develop and execute a coherent grantmaking strategy, build and sustain a portfolio of high-impact grants, and represent the program to the Foundation’s Board of Trustees, grantees, peer funders, professional associations, and the broader community.

The Program Director is expected to manage work successfully in the domains described below, while ensuring connections to the Foundation’s overall mission working in collaborative fashion with fellow Program Directors, Program Officers, other members of the management team, and staff throughout the organization.

This staff member is joining the team at an exciting time for the Foundation, when economic mobility in the Philadelphia region has garnered increasing attention from multiple stakeholders across government, nonprofits, and philanthropy. The Program Director, the first for our Workforce program, will have the opportunity to advance this critical work as the Foundation concludes the second year of our 10-year grantmaking strategy.

At this time, the Workforce program currently has an annual grantmaking budget of $5 million per year and 33 active grantee organizations. In addition, the two most recent Requests for Proposals (RFPs) the Foundation released in this program area have been supported in collaboration with peer funders. The Program Director will, through a combination of developing and managing RFPs, strategic individual grantmaking, and close collaboration with peer funders and the grantee community, manage grantmaking and related activities to achieve the following objective: By 2035, 10,000 individuals with high barriers to employment will complete workforce training and 85% will still be employed 12 months post-training.

In addition, the Program Director will develop deep knowledge of the organizations and communities they serve and support; manage relationships with internal and external stakeholders; and serve as an internal and external subject matter expert on issues related workforce training in the Philadelphia region.

Position Responsibilities

Planning and Laying the Groundwork for Grant Development

• Develop annual plans, budget projections, outreach strategies, and other activities that will advance the program objective.
• Manage and monitor the program’s RFP calendar and multiyear grant budget projections to ensure RFPs are scheduled and resourced sufficiently to advance progress toward the objective.
• Collaborate with communications staff on outreach and dissemination plan for each RFP.

Grant Review and Development

• Conduct proposal review and adhere to decision-making processes for two RFPs annually.
• Prepare written and presentation materials for senior staff and Board review.
• Adhere to internal and external deadlines.
• Prepare written grant recommendations for consideration by Board of Trustees and present at Board meetings.

Ongoing Grantee and Sector Connection

• Serve as the central spokesperson for the program.
• Design and implement “learning communities” of grantees, which meet multiple times per year.
• Develop and maintain professional relationships with key stakeholders who work on relevant issues. 
• Ensure consistent and clear communication with grantees and other stakeholders.

Philanthropic Coordination

• Seek out philanthropic collaborators to identify joint efforts to strengthen workforce training in the Philadelphia region.
• Stay informed about funding opportunities in the region and nationally that are aligned with program objectives.

Ongoing Learning

• Continue to build expertise in the field of workforce training and services.
• Participate in individual, sector, and philanthropic meetings.
• Share learnings, insights, new approaches, and key connections with the broader program team, as needed.

Monitoring, Evaluation, Leadership

• Engage in semi-annual and annual review of progress with the Senior Learning and Organizational Improvement Officer and Chief Philanthropy Officer.
• Develop presentations and facilitate meetings for the Board Council annually. 
• Develop and manage an external Program Advisory Committee, which will meet twice per year and advise on program stratey.
• Elevate important grantee, sector, and contextual information to Executive Director, Chief Philanthropy Officer, Board Chair, and other senior leaders.

Required Competencies and Qualities

• Ability to effectively utilize knowledge, talent, skills, networks, and other Foundation resources, including grant funding, to accelerate impact for the program objective and local sector.  
• Ability to comprehend and synthesize challenging materials, conduct thorough due diligence, and make recommendations. 
• Superior writing skills; ability to distill complex topics into effective, impactful written materials for expert and lay audiences.
• Excellent verbal communication skills; ability to deliver engaging presentations clearly and concisely while remaining on message; honest yet tactful communication with individuals and groups in various roles and with different experiences within the Foundation and in community.
• Expert planning, problem-solving, and critical thinking skills, including comfort and experience asking and answering challenging questions.
• Attention to detail, effective time management on multiple timeframes and priorities. 
• Ability to incorporate and emphasize grantee perspectives in written and verbal communications, internal reporting, convenings and learning communities, and public presentations.
• Strong commitment to the organization’s and program’s mission and goals, content knowledge and experience in the program field, positive work ethic and people/community-centered orientation.
• Strong interpersonal skills; demonstrated ability to collaborate, communicate, and achieve measurable results with others.
• Track record of having built strong and sustainable relationships and engagement with colleagues in your organization and with external stakeholders.
• Open, accessible communicator. Express curiosity for learning. 
• Adaptive, flexible to change and committed to continuous improvement.
• Active and empathetic listener.
• Commitment to equity and inclusion in everyday practice and approaches to grantmaking.

Required Education, Training, and Experience

• A minimum of 15 years of relevant work experience in workforce training and development.
• Experience delivering or providing oversight for workforce training programs serving diverse urban populations.
• Successful work with Boards of Directors and senior executive management.
• An understanding of emerging trends, policies, research, advocacy, and developing partnerships in the workforce training and development field.
• Robust existing professional networks leading improvements in workforce training across the country.
• Experience working with 501(c)3 nonprofit organizations and diverse funding sources.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office including Outlook, Word, PowerPoint, and Excel, and virtual meeting technology (Zoom, Teams, etc.).

Preferred Skills

• Knowledge of and experience with Philadelphia’s local workforce training and development sector. 
• Familiarity with philanthropy.

Physical Demands/Work Environment

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to walk, bend, sit, talk, lift, hear, and/or use hands and arms to operate general office equipment (computer, telephone, file cabinets, copier, fax machine and printer) using ordinary ambulatory skills. The employee may occasionally lift and/or move up to ten (10) pounds. The noise level in the work environment is usually low to moderate. Personal computer usage requires good hand-eye coordination, arm, hand, and finger dexterity, including ability to grasp, and visual acuity to use a keyboard and operate equipment.

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

The William Penn Foundation is an equal opportunity employer and considers applications without regard to race, color, religion, creed, age, gender, marital status, or sexual orientation. All who believe they meet the stated qualifications are invited to apply.

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