Associate Director, Resilience- NYC

Organization: The Rockefeller Foundation

Position Title: Associate Director, Resilience

Location: 420 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY, 10018, US

Hours and Compensation: Full time

Application Deadline: December 2, 2013

Organization Overview

The Rockefeller Foundation’s mission to promote the well-being of people throughout the world has remained unchanged since its founding in 1913.  Our vision is that this century will be one in which globalization’s benefits are more widely shared and its challenges are more easily weathered.  To realize this vision, the Foundation seeks to achieve two fundamental goals in our work.  First, we seek to build resilience that enhances individual, community and institutional capacity to survive, adapt, and grow in the face of acute crises and chronic stresses.  Second, we seek to promote equitable growth in which the poor or vulnerable have more access to opportunities that improve their lives.  In order to achieve these goals, the Foundation constructs its work into time-bound initiatives that have defined objectives and strategies for impact.

In addition, there are several strategic principles that guide the Foundation’s work.  We seek to mobilize systemic transformations by integrating policy, financial, social, and technological solutions.  We test pilot projects, spin them off, or join others to help implement successful demonstrations on a wider scale.  We aim to inform public policy through support for research, advocacy, and coalition-building.  Many of our interventions take advantage of tipping points and break bottlenecks that are impeding progress.  We also seek to create an enabling environment for our work by fostering innovation, convening partnerships, and building networks.

The Foundation currently maintains offices in New York, a study and conference center in Bellagio, Italy, and regional offices in Bangkok and Nairobi.

The Foundation has contributed in significant ways to resilience building in the US through policy support on climate change resilience building at the federal and state level.  In particular, though, the Foundation has invested in the Post-Katrina and Post-Sandy resilience building needs of the City of New Orleans, the State of Louisiana, New York State, and cities in the NY and NJ area.  The related on-going work supported by the Foundation falls under a body of work we call Resilience by Design.  This pillar of work aims to demonstrate new paradigms for how public institutions and their partners can promote resilience at the landscape scale.

Description

This is an opening for an Associate Director in the program team at the Rockefeller Foundation.

Associate Directors have a mix of project management and foundation-wide strategic responsibilities.  The Foundation works in a matrix structure, and therefore the AD may be assigned to any of the Foundation’s initiatives based on organizational needs.

The Associate Director will play a key role in strategizing and supporting the Foundation’s efforts in building resilience to acute shocks and chronic stresses, in two ways: by identifying and engaging with grantees and other stakeholders on specific resilience efforts of the Foundation, and by increasing the capacity of the Foundation to incorporate a resilience lens in throughout its programmatic work.  On the first, this post holder will be the primary thought partner and link to those implementing the foundation’s Resilience by Design effort, and  capacity building on coastal resilience On the second, the position will  support cross-foundation learning, action and coordination among the different areas of the foundation’s resilience work, incorporating our real-time learning and experience on resilience and enabling consistency of approaches and communications.

Responsibilities

For the Resilience by Design work:

• Contribute strategic planning and project development, execution, and leadership to entire resilience framework.
• Provide strategic direction to and coordination of resilience grant making and other activities in the US, and particularly the Sandy-affected region, including the HUD Rebuild by Design partnership grants, the Science and Resilience Institute at Jamaica Bay and potentially others,  the US Army Corps of Engineer-related grants,  and associated grants to RAND and Princeton.  Structure and manage grants and budgets.
• Network building and connecting grantees and other stakeholders.
• Contribute feedback and thought to grantees’ articles, events, and other activities.

For coordination, internal capacity building, and thought leadership on resilience across the foundation:

• Under the direction of the Managing Director, Resilience, help link and at times coordinate activities between different areas of the foundation’s resilience work.  Identify connections, interdependencies, and potential disconnects.  Ensure engagement of office of grants management, legal, and other internal foundation stakeholders, as needed.
• Coordinate work with RF strategy, research, M&E, communications and other teams to establish process for building resilience thinking and reviews into ideas and opportunities moving through the foundation’s initiative pipeline.
• Set agendas for Resilience Integration Meetings, identify pre-reads and keep track of follow-up.
• Work with RF communications office to coordinate communications strategy and implementation  vis-à-vis RF’s resilience work
• Manage any related grantee and vendor relationships as needed to support adoption of resilience principles in development of RF work.

Qualifications

Competencies

• Execution:  Strong project management skills, deadline management, sense of responsibility and accountability (hands on mentality) and the ability to effectively multi-task.
• Strategic Ability: Ability to see opportunities, design innovative approaches backed by strong analysis and planning.
• Decision-Making: Able to evaluate risks and opportunities, analytical and strong problem-solving skills. Strong analytical capability.
• Leadership: Vision, innovation, thought leadership, collaboration, integrity, accountability and emotional intelligence. Strategically strong and robust demonstration of leadership skills.
• Partnership and relationship Building: Strong professional representation of the Foundation, interpersonal relationship abilities, intercultural knowledge and appreciation, strategic partnership building.
• Flexibility: Flexible adaptive with the professional capacity to innovate and change through interactive and complex processes.
• Integration: Ability to demonstrate inclusiveness, collaboration, respect and broad organizational interests.
• Communication: Strong interpersonal and communication abilities; exceptional listening written and verbal skills. 
• People Management: Skills in team building, coaching, mentoring, delegating, inspiring and motivating.

CRITERIA FOR SUCCESS:

Successful applicants will demonstrate:

• An action-oriented, entrepreneurial person who is a self-starter, and can work independently as well as in teams
• Exemplary communication skills
• Sound, mature judgment and integrity
• Commitment to the Rockefeller Foundation’s mission and Core Values – effectiveness, equity, integrity, innovation and leadership

Education, Training and Experience:

• Masters required plus at least 6 years of experience
• Deep understanding of urban resilience and sustainability issues, policy and practices
• Strategy and project planning and management experience, including complex, high-stakes, and time sensitive collaborations
• Experience managing internal and / or external teams, including coordination of peers and more senior colleagues
• Experience engaging with actors and organizations across sectors (public, private, non-profit)
• Demonstrable high quality communications skills for internal and external audiences in various media
• Knowledge of and experience with common approaches for project management and monitoring tools & processes, and results-based management approaches.

How to Apply

Compensation

The Rockefeller Foundation offers a competitive salary commensurate with experience.  The Foundation provides a very generous package of benefits.

Please submit in confidence a resume through the Foundation’s Website application.

www.rockefellerfoundation.org/about-us/careers

The Rockefeller Foundation is committed to the principles of equal employment opportunity and to compliance with all federal, state, and local laws concerning employment discrimination, including the Americans with Disabilities Act.  To this end, the Foundation ensures equal opportunity to all employees and applicants regardless of race, color, age, gender, sexual orientation, religion, marital status, national origin or ancestry, citizenship, lawful alien status, physical, mental, and medical disability, veteran status or liability for service in the United States Armed Forces.

The Rockefeller Foundation is an Equal Opportunity Employer