Vice President, Program Strategy and Impact

Vice President, Program Strategy and Impact

Reports to: Executive Director

Location: New York City [Remote, Hybrid]

Schedule: Full-time, Monday - Friday

Status: Exempt

Who We Are.

WhyHunger believes a world without hunger is possible. We provide critical resources to support grassroots movements and fuel community solutions rooted in social, environmental, racial and economic justice. We are working to end hunger and advance the human right to nutritious food in the U.S. and around the world.

The Opportunity.

WhyHunger seeks a visionary and seasoned leader with a proven record of strategy and impact to direct the organization’s global and domestic programs. The Vice President, Program Strategy and Impact (VP) is a senior position in a growing organization, who shares the organization’s commitment to systemic approaches to ending hunger rooted in social justice, anti-racism, grassroots solutions. This role will work in partnership with staff across the programs, development, finance and communications departments to implement a shared vision and strategy consistent with WhyHunger’s mission and theory of change.

The VP leads WhyHunger’s programmatic work and is responsible for leading the creation and execution of programmatic strategy including developing new programs, advancing advocacy, overseeing research and evaluation, facilitating shared learning, and developing relationships across the sector. The VP will work to ensure that WhyHunger can adapt to new realities and incorporate new technologies and represent WhyHunger in public forums.

Working with a diverse team, the VP will report directly to the Executive Director. As a key member of WhyHunger’s senior leadership team, the VP will help drive the organization’s overall vision, strategy, and operations.

Responsibilities include:

Executive Leadership

● Work alongside the senior leadership team to evelop and achieve strategic priorities and implement WhyHunger’s theory of change.

● In partnership with the senior leadership team, set strategic direction and annual financial goals, diversify and grow revenue, and ensure a strong, diverse, and inclusive culture.

● Oversee the program team, with four direct reports; develop and maintain a broad and deep knowledge of all program areas and provide strategic leadership and support to promote a collaborative and innovative team and culture,

● Act as the primary programmatic liaison to WhyHunger’s Board of Directors; attend and present on program outcomes at quarterly Board meetings

● Understand and evaluate evolving needs and trends in programmatic impact.

● With the Executive Director and HR business partner, identify programmatic talent needs and develop talent acquisition strategies.

Program Leadership

● Lead the creation and ongoing refinement of WhyHunger’s programmatic strategy, ensuring alignment with the organizational vision and goals.

● Oversee the implementation of all programmatic aspects of WhyHunger’s strategic plan and theory of change, including program planning, aligning staff roles, responsibilities, budget and activities with organizational priorities, and improving WhyHunger’s ability to tell stories about its impact.

● Ensure high high-quality execution of WhyHunger’s programs and oversee ongoing analysis and evaluation of program data to ensure WhyHunger is using evaluation to improve programs and communicate program effectiveness and impact continuously to stakeholders.

● Develop and manage the program aspects of the annual budget, including monitoring revenue and expenses for all program areas and working on budget adjustments. Ensuring programs remain on budget and meet funder requirements.

● Grow and develop relationships with partners from advocacy, public policy, popular culture, philanthropy, research, media and other sectors.

● Guide and expand the programmatic vision and mission to create and improve both global and local outcomes.

● Develop a team-based environment to motivate and inspire staff to work collaboratively towards meeting program goals by clearly communicating agency vision.

● Establish annual departmental goals and objectives, tracking these goals as well as developing accountability protocols for each staff member.

● Implementing yearly staff development plans and mentor team members on how to proactively engage in planning to improve program management and meet program goals.

● Foster a culture of collaboration that streamlines and strengthens interdepartmental projects and communication.

Fundraising

● Partner with Development leadership to steward existing donors and funders and to identify and cultivate new opportunities for programmatic growth and development.

● Work with the Institutional Giving team on grant proposals and reporting, as well as corporate partnership development and implementation.

● Collaborate with senior staff to ensure integration of program and resource development, and to align overall fundraising goals and strategies with short- and long-term programmatic needs

Communications

● Serve as an ambassador, spokesperson, and high-profile organizational leader through media interviews, speaking engagements and content creation.

● Advise senior leadership team and collaborate on policy positions, public facing statements and thought leadership strategies.

● Partner with Communications leadership to shape and support organizational narrative change and messaging strategies.

● Help build and strengthen strategic media partnerships and campaigns.

What you’ll bring.

The right candidate is a seasoned programmatic leader with a track record of building, growing and evaluating global programming to advance social justice.

Candidates must have:

● A demonstrated commitment to social justice, food sovereignty and passion for WhyHunger’s mission.

● Deep understanding of national and global hunger and poverty issues as well as national & international politics, with an unwavering commitment to food sovereignty and to WhyHunger’s social justice approach.

● Empowering leadership style, with evidenced ability to lead a complex organization and international network alongside experience of bringing different stakeholders on a change journey. Demonstrated personal and professional commitment to organizational approaches to antiracism and combating white supremacy.

● Experience contributing to a comprehensive fundraising strategy and engaging funders.

● Relationships with different types of social change actors, including advocates, organizers, social movements, policymakers, researchers, media and cultural leaders.

● An ability to translate business strategies into clear objectives and implement plans aligned with WhyHunger's long-term interests.

● The ability to engage in close collaboration with the Board and skillfully utilize all available resources to drive forward strategic initiatives and ongoing projects.

● An understanding of relevant emerging trends in global social movements, the media landscape, demographics, framing theory, and policymaking.

● A demonstrated ability to hire, manage, and motivate staff and diverse teams to establish and achieve goals.

● Proficiently identifies patterns or connections between seemingly unrelated situations and discerns key issues in complex scenarios.

● Demonstrates adaptability and readily adjusts existing plans to suit evolving conditions.

● A self-reflective nature, with the ability to listen effectively.

● Fluency in a second language and policy experience are a plus.

Our Requirements.

● Bachelor's Degree preferred.

● Seven to 10 years of executive management experience in a nonprofit organization.

● Excellent communications skills, with experience contributing to and advancing narrative and messaging strategies.

● Experience in fostering effective program delivery, with good experience of building support and working with allies, especially in the global South.

● Experience in training, public speaking, and engaging audiences.

● Ability to lead complex projects, achieve strategic objectives, and manage a budget.

● Out-of-town, overnight travel occasionally required; ability and willingness to travel domestically and internationally to understand the challenges and opportunities of our partners.

If you're excited about this role but your past experience doesn't align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we still encourage you to consider submitting an application.

Compensation and Benefits.

The base salary range for this role is $175,000 to $200,000 for New York based employees. This employee will be eligible for WhyHunger’s generous benefits package, which includes medical insurance coverage for the employee and family, 30 days of paid vacation plus office closure for a week in the summer and a week at the end of the year, 5-hour Fridays, 403(b) retirement plan with discretionary employer contribution, and more.

How to Apply

Please submit your resume and a brief cover letter expressing your interest in the role and highlighting how your

experience and skills make you a good fit to ED@whyhunger.org

The deadline to apply is Friday, October 11, 2024. We accept applications on a rolling basis, so please apply early!

EEO Statement.

WhyHunger is committed to creating a workplace that respects and promotes diversity, fairness, inclusion, and belonging. It is the organization's policy to provide equal opportunity in all areas of employment practices and to adhere to all federal, state, and local laws on the basis of any protected characteristic. It is our intent that all employment policies, procedures and actions be applied in a manner to prevent any unlawful discrimination so that no employee or applicant for employment will be unlawfully discriminated against because of race, color, creed, religion, gender, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, transgender status, citizenship, age, disability, medical condition, marital status, sexual orientation, domestic partnership status, military status, ancestry, veteran status, union membership, socioeconomic status or any other protected category under federal, state or local law.

Accessibility and Accommodations.

If you require an accommodation in order for you to apply for a position with WhyHunger please send an email to Joy Curtin at Joy@whyhunger.org and HR@whyhunger.org.