Program Officer

Program Officer, West Africa

The deadline to apply is December 10, 2024. We encourage you to apply early if interested, as we will be reviewing applications on a rolling basis. Please submit both a resume/CV and cover letter in order to be considered.

Summary Description

The Ford Foundation’s West Africa Office seeks a dynamic, innovative Program Officer to be a part of a team that is driving and shaping the foundation’s social justice work in West Africa.

The Program Officer should be well-versed in programmatic linkages between gender-based violence and natural resources and climate change and help think through and make grants that improve the ways of working with the governments of the focal countries to advance these two strands of work and enhance engagements with civil society organizations in policy making and governance issues. They will also focus on other intersectional priority areas of the Office of West Africa: disability, youth and polarization. The ideal candidate would have a multidisciplinary and international background, strong social science research experience, and an understanding of the West African context especially Nigeria, Ghana and Senegal in that order.

The Program Officer is responsible for the development of grant portfolios and all related activities, based on the strategies and approaches defined in the Foundation’s Thematic areas and regional context. They ensure grantmaking strategies are developed to support the Foundation’s strategic development framework: building strong and impactful institutions, supporting the leadership of people and supporting impactful projects.

The Program Officer will be based at the Ford Foundation’s Lagos office and will report to the Foundation’s Regional Director. They will build relationships with colleagues in West Africa and in the Foundation’s other regional offices and the New York office.

Background

In West Africa, the focus of the Foundation is to ensure that natural resources and climate change issues are addressed in an equitable and just manner under its Natural Resources and Climate Change (NRCC) Program and that gender based violence (GBV) is tackled under its Gender Racial and Ethnic Justice (GREJ) Program with particular reference to prevention as a response. The program aims to confront the tacit culture of GBV acceptance that reflects deep patriarchal beliefs about the roles and values of women in broader society, especially women and girls in rural areas and underserved urban communities, reinforced by religious and social norms. We believe that shifting the social norms that enable GBV will result in greater impact than merely focusing on response after the fact. We are working toward a society where social and cultural norms protect women and girls from violence in their everyday lives using a multi-pronged approach involving government, civil society (particularly women and feminist movements), traditional, religious and community (TRC) leaders, and the private sector in challenging negative social norms that exacerbate violence.

Our Natural Resources and Climate Change Program aims to promote effective management of natural resources and climate resilience that is inclusive, fair, and equitable. It also seeks to identify and strengthen actors working in these spaces to improve actions that will ensure that natural resource management and climate change actions are in sync and provide optimal benefits for affected communities. Through our work, we hope to focus on the reduction of inequalities related to the control, use and transformation of forest resources and mineral and hydrocarbon resources. We also seek to strengthen communities’ self-determination, their capacity to defend their own democratic decisions vis-à-vis the state, and their rights over natural resources, to legitimate and effective processes of free, prior and informed consultation and/or consent, and to share in the benefits that flow from natural resources in their territories. In the process, we will work to build public and private institutions that enhance these different rights, and public and policy narratives that make the value of community rights commonsense as well as advancing inclusive, just, and equitable energy transitions for low-emitting, energy-poor, resource-dependent economies in the region.

Lastly, our work is also done through an intersectional lens that takes disability, youth and inclusion into consideration, in collaboration with other West Africa Program Officers and global colleagues.

Responsibilities

The Program Officer is responsible for the development and implementation of a grant portfolio and ensuring all related activities (grant making, convenings, thought leadership, civil society strengthening, government relations) are designed to deliver on the Office’s goals and strategies. They will assess and analyze the landscape of organizations and identify which actors to work with to shape agendas that would promote specific strategic outcomes and make grants to this end. The Program Officer shares lessons with Foundation colleagues worldwide; collaborates broadly with the West Africa office team; and serves as a ‘connector’ of grantees. They work with leaders in a variety of sectors on issues of common concern to leverage resources towards common goals.

More specifically as part of a multi-disciplinary team, the Program Officer will:

• Manage, monitor and coordinate a grants portfolio, including: annual grant planning, identifying and working with the Foundation’s grantees to develop proposals for grant recommendations, undertaking periodic reviews of progress with grantees, performing grantee site visits, and reviewing financial and narrative reports from grantees.
• Contribute to the ongoing development and implementation of team strategies, working to fulfill the Foundation’s West Africa Office and the international program goals.
• Develop grant making activities in a team-oriented way, that are aligned with global and local strategy goals, and designed to achieve significant and scalable impact.
• Contribute to ensuring that intersectional programming is realized across all lines of work.
• Develop and implement grantee convenings and reflections to strategize and review opportunities, challenges and advances.
• Recommend and participate in learning and evaluation activities to guide the evolution of programmatic work, promote exchange and strategic partnership.
• Represent the Foundation and its work to the government, media, academia, business, philanthropic and civic leaders through meetings, updates, speeches, briefings and interviews, with guidance from the Regional Director.
• Play a leadership role within the team, working toward and influencing team collaboration, team building and team effectiveness, modeling these skills for the team.
• Serve as a mentor and coach to Program Associate and Program Assistant.

Qualifications

• Substantial professional experience related to social justice, natural resources, climate change, gender rights or international development, with at least 6 years of experience leading social justice strategies.
• Subject-matter expertise in gender and environmental rights, and/or demonstration of strong generalist cross-cutting work in the social justice arena.
• Experience working with governments to advance policies and programs related to gender, climate and natural resources to enhance civil society.
• Exceptional leadership skills and qualities that foster collaboration, innovation and drives impactful work.
• Strong active listening skills, constructive verbal and written skills and effective public presentation skills.
• Deep understanding of the regional context and cultures.
• Demonstrated ability to be a productive member of a community of people at work, respecting differences while working toward shared goals, comfort with periods of ambiguity, constructive participation in ongoing organizational development.
• Willingness to work to a flexible schedule, including occasional travel within the region and abroad.
• Master’s degree in related field of study or baccalaureate degree and equivalent experience.

Location: Lagos, Nigeria

Target Start Date: March 2025

Salary: Based on experience and on the Foundation’s commitment to internal equity. A generous benefits package is provided.

Alignment to Culture and Values

• Commitment to the Foundation’s mission and core values of equity, openness, collaboration, trust, accountability and urgency
• Personal qualities of humility, capacity for self-reflection, and a sense of humor
• Discretion and ability to handle confidential issues
• Action-orientated and entrepreneurial self-starter who can work well independently and in teams

Benefits

• Hybrid Workplace and Flexible Work Arrangement policies
• Medical and dental benefits for employee and immediate family on first day of work
• Retirement savings account with matching company contributions of up to 13%
• Three weeks’ paid vacation in first year of work; four weeks in subsequent years
• Tuition Reimbursement
• Office closed the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day
• Professional development initiatives for growth
• Generous parental leave (maternal and paternal) during new child’s first year (born into family or adopted)