Madison, Wisconsin, United States · Hybrid
Are you passionate about creating more pathways to opportunity through postsecondary education and workforce training? Ascendium is hiring multiple Senior Program Officers to serve as lead strategy execution officers wit…
Skills: Grantmaking, Strategic Portfolio Management, Philanthropic Practices, Project Management, Stakeholder Engagement
Madison, Wisconsin, United States • Hybrid
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Lead the design and execution of strategic grantmaking portfolios to improve outcomes for learners from low-income backgrounds. Collaborate with partners and internal teams to fund innovative solutions and generate knowledge in postsecondary education and workforce training.
Requires seven or more years of experience in postsecondary education, philanthropy, or government, with knowledge equivalent to a master's degree. Candidates must demonstrate a track record of leading complex initiatives and a commitment to advancing equitable opportunity.
Are you passionate about creating more pathways to opportunity through postsecondary education and workforce training?
Ascendium is hiring multiple Senior Program Officers to serve as lead strategy execution officers within Ascendium’s core philanthropic strategy teams: Expand Opportunity, Support Learner Success, and Connect and Align Systems. We’re seeking leaders with expertise in workforce reentry, community college transformation, state-level cross-sector systems alignment, policy, or external affairs. Senior Program Officers work alongside national partners, fund innovative solutions, and help generate the knowledge needed to improve outcomes for learners from low-income backgrounds.
Reporting to a Strategy Director, Senior Program Officers work in partnership with their strategy team to advance grantmaking goals through the careful design, management, and review of one or more strategic portfolios. They are expected to implement sophisticated philanthropic practices, including rigorous analysis of grant concepts and proposals, assembling coherent sets of grants that collectively advance a strong theory of change, and contributing new knowledge about what it takes to scale promising reforms that benefit learners from low-income backgrounds. Senior Program Officers are expected to develop and execute proactive initiatives aligned to strategic goals, including leading the design of creative and impactful grantmaking activities like requests for proposals, communities of practice, etc.
Senior Program Officers work in collaboration with the Senior Learning and Impact Officer within their strategy to identify strategic learning needs, develop and monitor learning agendas connected to strategic portfolios, distill insights from grant investments, and further refine grantmaking strategy and its effectiveness. In addition to managing active grants and initiatives, Senior Program Officers build their own expertise in the subject areas relevant to their grantmaking. These positions also provide field leadership through significant thought partnership, facilitating connections among grantees, partner organizations, and peer funders, hosting/facilitating conference sessions and strategic convenings, engaging in aligned funder networks and professional associations, and writing thought pieces to share Ascendium’s learning and perspective with key audiences.
This position requires residence in or relocation to Madison, Wisconsin, where Ascendium is headquartered. Madison-based employees have a hybrid schedule, working three days per week in the office and two days remotely, which provides the opportunity for valuable in-person collaboration. While preference will be given to candidates based in Madison, a remote hire may be considered if no qualified Madison-based candidates can be identified. This position is expected to travel six to 10 times per year to conferences, grant partner events, site visits, home weeks, and other mission-aligned convenings.
The planned salary for this position is approximately $125,000 with potential for higher compensation commensurate with experience.
Preferred Areas of Expertise
Multiple positions are available and applicants should bring expertise in at least one of the following areas:
Please identify your area(s) of expertise in your cover letter.
Job Responsibilities
On a day-to-day basis, you may do the following.
Knowledge and Skill Requirements
Ascendium offers an outstanding benefits package designed to provide employees and their families with a high degree of security. These benefits include, but are not limited to:
Ascendium provides equal employment opportunity to all individuals regardless of their race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, creed, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by state or federal law.
H-1B sponsorship (initiation or transfer) is not available for this position.
If you would like assistance with the application process, please email Ascendium Human Resources. We invite all applicants to complete the Voluntary Affirmative Action questions when submitting application materials. The questions are found at the end of the online application process. To learn more about our commitment to Equal Employment Opportunity, please visit the Ascendium Careers webpage.
Ascendium requires criminal, employment, and education background investigations before hiring.
Elevating Opportunity
Ascendium is committed to making education and training after high school a reality for learners from low-income backgrounds. Through our national education philanthropy, we fund systemic change to ensure learners from low-income backgrounds have a path to upward mobility available to them. As a student and employee success solutions provider, we support colleges and employers in promoting academic achievement, long-term financial wellness, and student loan repayment success. In our role as an education impact investor, we invest in education-focused companies that create and develop innovations to improve learner outcomes. As a federal student loan guarantor, we help borrowers avoid defaulting on their student loan or get their student loan back in good standing if they've already defaulted. For the past five years, we’ve been named a Top Workplace, both nationally and in the Madison, Wisconsin, area. We’re proud of these designations as they speak to the culture we’ve created — one where employees feel connected to our organization and believe in our goal of elevating opportunity through postsecondary education and workforce training.
Offices: 38 Buttonwood Ct, Madison, Wisconsin 53718, US · 9998 Crosspoint Blvd, Suite 310, Indianapolis, Indiana 46256, US
Elevating Opportunity
Ascendium is committed to making education and training after high school a reality for learners from low-income backgrounds. Through our national education philanthropy, we fund systemic change to ensure learners from low-income backgrounds have a path to upward mobility available to them. As a student and employee success solutions provider, we support colleges and employers in promoting academic achievement, long-term financial wellness, and student loan repayment success. In our role as an education impact investor, we invest in education-focused companies that create and develop innovations to improve learner outcomes. As a federal student loan guarantor, we help borrowers avoid defaulting on their student loan or get their student loan back in good standing if they've already defaulted. For the past five years, we’ve been named a Top Workplace, both nationally and in the Madison, Wisconsin, area. We’re proud of these designations as they speak to the culture we’ve created — one where employees feel connected to our organization and believe in our goal of elevating opportunity through postsecondary education and workforce training.
Offices: 38 Buttonwood Ct, Madison, Wisconsin 53718, US · 9998 Crosspoint Blvd, Suite 310, Indianapolis, Indiana 46256, US
