Program Officer, Media

Position Overview

The Stanley Foundation seeks a program officer to join its Policy Programming Department. The chosen candidate will work with the foundation’s leadership team and staff to plan, implement, and assess the impact of the foundation’s media programming in pursuit of our mission, vision, and organizational goals. The Stanley Foundation’s media programming is driven by its contributions to the defined policy goals in each of the three areas of policy programming and the strategic goals of the foundation. Currently policy programming is focused on three issue areas: climate change, genocide prevention, and nuclear security. Working in collaboration with partner organizations and the Stanley Foundation’s strong program delivery team, the program officer with responsibility for media programming is well-networked, trend-savvy, and impact-oriented.

The ideal candidate will have:

Media intelligence that allows him/her to understand how to develop programming for journalists, editors, and others in media who are likely to have an interest in our policy issue area work.
A “connector” aptitude, including knowing how to forge connections and build relationships with journalists, collaborators, and other partners.
The ability to conceptualize and implement programming activities geared to media that will advance the foundation’s policy change goals.

About the Stanley Foundation

The Stanley Foundation advances multilateral action to create fair, just, and lasting solutions to critical issues of peace and security. Our work is built on a belief that greater international cooperation will improve global governance and enhance global citizenship. We value its Midwestern roots and family heritage as well as our role as a nonpartisan, private operating foundation. We do not make grants but rather carry out our own programming.

Foundation policy programming relies heavily on policy dialogues (involving US and foreign government officials, influential scholars, journalists, and nongovernmental experts). It also includes policy analysis and a wide variety of communication and advocacy activities to develop and build support for specific policy initiatives. Much of our programming activity is done collaboratively. More about the foundation and our work can be found at www.stanleyfoundation.org.

Full Job Description

The program officer will centralize the foundation’s efforts to engage media to advance its policy change goals and broad mission. The program officer will drive the conceptualization and implementation of the foundation’s media programming activities aimed at engaging journalists, editors, and others in media about the profound threats of genocide, climate change, and nuclear terrorism and how they need to be addressed through improved international policy and multilateral action. The program officer will work in close collaboration with the director of policy programming strategy and the policy programming team, as well as the director of communications, to develop the foundation’s strategy for its media programming and to evaluate the relative success of that work. The program officer will work in collaboration with all departments in the Stanley Foundation to deliver high-impact programming directed at media engagement.

Key Responsibilities

Planning: The program officer will contribute to the shared intelligence, experience, creativity, and insights of foundation staff to understand the media environment and identify opportunities where the foundation’s media engagement efforts can contribute to its policy impact in alignment with its strategic plan. The program officer will collaborate with the director of communications and other relevant staff to develop and implement communication strategies as required. The program officer will monitor media trends and developments, and will attend relevant conferences and meetings as a representative of the Stanley Foundation and its mission.
Program Management: The program officer will work across foundation issue areas and departments, and with other organizations. to conceptualize and implement programming activities that will contribute to the defined policy goals in each of the three areas of policy programming and the strategic goals of the foundation. The program officer will be responsible for achieving intended programming results, including quality of work, agreed-upon schedules, costs, staffing, follow-up reports, and other implementation steps. This will include presence at numerous events annually, run by the Stanley Foundation, its partners, or others.
Learning: The program officer will participate in the learning and evaluation process in all policy programming areas. This includes incorporating lessons learned from activity-specific evaluations, as well as adjusting media programming to reflect feedback from midterm and end-of-cycle evaluations.
Networking and Relationship Cultivation: Because collaboration with other organizations is a key element of the Stanley Foundation’s work, the program officer will cultivate and maintain strong and supportive ties with key organizational partners. As part of an institution with a strong vision for positive change, the program officer will display the determination and excitement of the mission through daily engaged and positive relationships with peers in and beyond the organization.
Thought Leadership: At the request of the Communications Department, the program officer will make contributions of original content and author ideas for the foundation’s website and publications (primarily Courier magazine and e-newsletter the latest).
Team Leadership: The program officer will collaborate with a variety of foundation staff and outside partners to achieve programmatic and organizational goals.
Team Contribution: As a member of the policy programming team, the program officer will serve as a peer support to issue area teams, offering transferable and complementary insights from their own planning and implementation. This includes contributions to cross-team learning for assessing broader organizational impact. The program officer will be responsible to all internal reporting mechanisms and procedures and will utilize excellent communication and collaboration skills as part of the Stanley Foundation team.

Qualifications

The ideal candidate will be broadly trained in media, communications, and/or journalism with a minimum of a bachelor’s degree. In addition, a strong candidate should possess:

Experience in conceptualization, design, and/or implementation of media outreach strategies, including through the use of trainings, dialogues, and other convenings or gatherings.

Project- or program-management experience, including proven capacity to set realistic goals and meet project-related deadlines and schedules.

Strong organizational and communication skills.

Advanced analytical and writing skills.

Demonstrated collaborative skills on behalf of shared goals in a team setting.

The ability to maintain poise under pressure.

Clear ability to connect larger ideas with the practical realities of their accomplishment.

Initiative and the ability to work with minimal supervision.

Dynamic networking and relationship cultivation and maintenance skills.

Additional desirable traits include:

Experience working in journalism or with media on international policy issues.

Some fluency in international policy work or policy advocacy, and a working understanding of how policy change is created.

Foreign language skills.

International travel/living experience.

Facilitation skills.

The program officer reports to the director of policy programming strategy. The position requires frequent travel. Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States. The Stanley Foundation offers competitive salaries and a full benefits package.

Location

This position is located at the foundation headquarters in Muscatine, Iowa, a community of 23,000 people on the Mississippi River. The area offers affordable housing, good schools, and a variety of recreational opportunities. Within commuting distance of Muscatine are Iowa City (population 70,000)—home of the University of Iowa—and the Quad Cities area—four communities spanning the Mississippi River, home of John Deere’s world headquarters, with a combined population of about 400,000. While on-site work in Muscatine is mandatory, the Stanley Foundation has telecommuting options.

How to apply

Application Directions

Please send a letter of interest, résumé, references, and a writing sample to:

Mr. Dana Pittman

Human Resources Administrator

The Stanley Foundation

209 Iowa Avenue

Muscatine, IA 52761

Phone: 563-264-1500

Fax: 563-264-0864

E-mail: stanley@stanleyfoundation.org

Deadline for application: This position will remain open until filled.

An Equal Opportunity Employer M/F/D/V