Senior Program Officer, Youth Initiative

About the role

The Senior Program Officer (SPO), Youth Initiatives, is a strategic leader and portfolio manager responsible for advancing the Foundation’s integrated Youth strategy. The strategy seeks to improve economic mobility for young people ages 15–24 who have experienced adversity, with an emphasis on education-to-career pathways, employment, stable housing, and mental health supports. Reporting to the Director, Youth Initiatives, the SPO informs strategy development and leads implementation across assigned geographies and portfolios; manages a multi-year, multimillion-dollar grantmaking portfolio; supervises and develops Program Officers and Program Associates; and collaborates closely with peer SPOs, the Strategy, Learning and Evaluation Department (SLED), and other cross-functional teams. Externally, the SPO works with grantees, public- and private-sector partners, and other funders to achieve leverage goals and scale impact. As the Youth Initiatives subject-matter expert in workforce development and private-sector engagement, the SPO provides content leadership in employer engagement, workforce development, and career pathways. The role helps identify, assess, and support models that connect young people facing adversity to skills, employment, retention, and wage progression. The ideal candidate also brings experience in at least one additional core area: youth development, education-to-career pathways, housing stability, or mental health supports. The SPO serves as an internal and external champion for integrated work across Youth geographies and systems, ensuring grantmaking advances a cohesive strategy focused on economic mobility, stable housing, and well-being. Success in the role requires operational discipline, data-informed learning, transparent collaboration, a solutions-oriented mindset, curiosity, candid and constructive communication, strengths-based leadership, and shared ownership of outcomes.

Responsibilities

• Strategic Initiative Planning and Implementation: Lead implementation of the Board-approved integrated Youth strategy in Atlanta and New Orleans, aligned with economic mobility goals and supporting housing and mental health priorities.
• In close coordination with SLED, translate the Youth