Organization Description

Established in 1996, the Mt. Sinai Health Care Foundation is a grant-making public charity that seeks to assist Greater Cleveland’s organizations and leaders in improving the health of the Jewish and general communities. Mt. Sinai advances its mission through approximately $7.3 million in annual grant-making across four program areas: (1) Academic Medicine and Bioscience; (2) Health of the Jewish Community; (3) Health of the Urban Community; and (4) Health Policy. 

The Mt. Sinai Health Care Foundation offers a competitive salary and benefits package, including health, vision, dental, and group term life insurance; flexible spending accounts; 403(b) with employer contribution; holidays and vacation; and opportunities for professional development.

Position Description

The Mt. Sinai Health Care Foundation is seeking a dynamic, passionate, and highly collaborative program officer, responsible for assisting Greater Cleveland’s organizations in improving community health.

Program officers are part of an interdependent professional team responsible for implementing the Foundation’s grant-making mission. The program officer will work with other Foundation staff and multiple stakeholders across sectors in devising and executing plans for strategic investments that improve health, particularly for underserved or marginalized populations.

Strong candidates will possess familiarity with best practices in community health improvement; the ability to bring together diverse stakeholders, form trusting partnerships, and work toward common goals; experience leading or managing externally facing initiatives; and a commitment to primary prevention and early intervention. Evidence of outstanding analytical and communication skills is required. Only those candidates with a deep interest in contributing to the betterment of the Greater Cleveland community will be considered.

The ideal candidate will hold a bachelor’s degree or higher and have a public health, health policy, and/or human services background. Familiarity with any or all of the Foundation’s grant-making areas is desirable. Familiarity with the work of the organized Jewish community is a plus.

Primary Responsibilities

• Counsel grant-seekers on grant requests and general information inquiries
• Assess the quality and feasibility of grant proposals, budgets, and applicants’ capacity to achieve proposed objectives
• Develop written funding recommendations and present orally to senior staff and the Board
• Facilitate in-person site visits with prospective grantee-partners and members of the Board to inform grant-making recommendations
• Provide technical assistance, where needed, to grantee-partners throughout grant implementation
• Assist with research and analysis in the development of strategic and proactive grant-making
• Assist with the convening of public, private, and philanthropic organizations and development of partnerships that set community-wide agendas and leverage cross-sector investments at-scale
• Analyze past and present grant partnerships to seek new opportunities for grant-making
• Produce reports on a variety of internally and externally facing projects
• Contribute to efforts to evaluate and continuously learn from the Foundation’s grant-making
• Remain current on emerging and critical trends in public health and health policy, philanthropy, the nonprofit sector, and Foundation program areas

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Ability to work collaboratively as part of a small, highly integrated team
• Ability to operate in a fast-paced work environment and adapt to changing timelines and priorities
• Exceptional capacity to analyze information and translate into sound, well-organized plans of action
• Superior oral and written communication skills, including the ability to translate complex concepts into simple and compelling narratives
• Strong interpersonal skills, including cultural humility; the ability to connect with people from various sectors and lived experiences; and the ability to collaborate across difference
• Effective problem-solving skills with the self-awareness to ask for help when needed
• Deep interest in making long-term, sustainable impact in the Greater Cleveland community across a broad array of issue areas
• High level of personal and professional integrity and confidentiality
• Interest in learning about and addressing the needs of the communities Mt. Sinai serves through its grant-making
• Willingness to ask difficult questions and challenge assumptions
• Good judgment and sound decision-making
• Self-motivation, creativity, and passion
• Awareness of trends in the external environment that may impact the Foundation and health philanthropy

How to Apply

Qualified candidates should submit a resume and cover letter with the subject line “Program Officer Search” to Lisa Zwolinski, [email protected]. No calls, please.