Program Manager, Community Support

Anywhere

Posted 6 months ago

From Paris to Berlin, from Budapest to Madrid, an unprecedented number of people from all walks of life are taking to the streets and organising for change, galvanised by a common desire to build and be a part of more just and equitable societies. They show up because they care about issues that affect us all – from the climate crisis to rampant inequality, attacks on women’s rights, racism and other forms of identity-based discrimination, democratic backsliding and worsening living conditions. This sentiment rarely translates into political power. Today, roughly 80% of Europeans say they don’t trust political parties and they don’t trust political leaders to deliver on their promises.

If we want a democracy that works for everyone we need inclusive political leadership and decision-making that embrace the rich diversity of society. Trust in politics diminishes, and critical challenges go unaddressed when political representation falls short. This is why our hope lies in political changemakers committed to building inclusive, human and hopeful politics. Their biggest challenge is the lack of resources and support to break through existing power structures. We’re here to change that.

We are looking for a Program Manager, Community Support to support political changemakers who are building more inclusive, hopeful and human politics in Europe. We are a foundation registered in Sweden, operating across Europe.

Role: Program Manager, Community Support
Salary and benefits : 40 – 50,000 EUR, depending on experience, 28 days annual leave, health insurance and pension contribution
Location: Flexible in Europe, this is a remote organisation – CET time zone +/- two hours
Contract: 4 days a week, one year fixed term contract, with possibility of extension
Start: June / July 2024 depending on candidates availability
Application deadline: May 19th, 2024

Who are we?

Multitudes Foundation supports political changemakers who are building more inclusive, human and hopeful politics in Europe. We provide political changemakers in Europe with financial resources, strategic advice, practical support and a community of practice to accelerate their mission of reimagining politics. In our work, we strive to prioritise the perspectives and knowledge of those who are most impacted by the lack of political representation.

Our scope covers initiatives that prepare new political leaders to run for office and create meaningful change; initiatives aiming to build more inclusive and human political cultures; and initiatives that are working to find effective ways for people and communities to mobilise and build political power.

About the mission

Multitudes Foundation provides financial resources for people working to reimagine politics, but also supports the development of their projects and collaboration in the field, centering people the most underrepresented in politics, to help them develop collective responses to build inclusive, hopeful, and human politics. The Program Manager, Community Support role will offer incubation support to our grantee partners and manage our community of practice to deliver on that mission.

Responsibilities

Lead grantee support scheme.

Design and deliver a program adapted to the grantees’ stage of development, making sure we are setting them up for success.

Design, budget, deploy and constantly evaluate and adapt grantees support scheme, based on available resources, defined goals and key performance indicators
Provide support and guidance to grantees throughout the grant lifecycle (i.e, grantee onboarding and learning processes).
Understand grantees’ work within a broader social change ecosystem and support grantees to advance their work within it
Develop and implement ideation grantee track support scheme (i.e. cohort work, strategy support, organisational development) based on needs and best practices in the field of social entrepreneurship and political innovation
Develop and deliver on a specific program for incubation and scaling grantees, based on needs and best practices in the field of social entrepreneurship and political innovation
Develop strong relationship with grantees with opportunities for transparent dialogue and exchange and to earn and maintain trust
Support relationships between grantees and the wider community of practice for connection, collaboration and collective learning

Lead Community of Practice program

Design and deliver a program focused on building connection in the field (trust), developing learning and innovation (skills and expertise), and incentivizing strategic collaboration at national and European level (strategy)

Design, budget, deploy and constantly evaluate and adapt community of practice program, based on defined goals and key performance indicators
Develop activities and exchanges within the community of practice that build relationships and trust to foster collaboration.
Develop and implement learning activities in the community of practice to increase the community’s expertise and skill around political strategy and innovation, movement building and organising, inclusion and representation in the political space, and any other skills or expertise relevant to their success and collaboration
Develop and implement activities in the community of practice that enhance the strategic efficiency of the field, in particular a shared vision of a theory of change, and any other activities relevant to building strategic collaboration.
Crowdsource, curate and organise regular community of practice calls and workshops, based on communities’ needs and area of interest, Foundation’s strategy and vision and stakeholders feedback (local connectors, grantmaking council, team, grantees).
Maintain a good understanding of the field of political innovation and inclusion, to identify topics and key partners to contribute to the community of practice
Document and highlight activities and lessons from the community of practice to share with the broader community of political changemakers.

Support grantmaking activities

Collaborate with the Deputy director in designing and delivering our grantmaking program, a participatory process to identify, select and fund political change makers across Europe.

Contribute to scouting and selection process with grantmaking council and local connectors based on the organisation’s strategy and focus area, making sure to include stakeholders feedback and recommendations, reflecting the organisation’s commitment to equity, justice and power sharing
Maintain a good understanding of strategic priorities for funding by documenting and sharing the main findings based on community of practice exchanges
Collaborate with the Deputy director in managing grantmaking budget in line with fundraising goals
Contribute to constant evaluation and adaptation of grantmaking process, based on defined goals and key performance indicators

Contribute to the organisation’s learning, strategy and development

Take a learning stance in community support and develop learning & evaluation in collaboration with other foundation colleagues.
Collaborate with the Deputy director to ensure alignment between grantmaking, community support, community of practice and organisational strategy.
Contribute to the organisation’s strategy development and provide strategic inputs across the organisation’s activities, ensuring alignment with the mission and vision of the Foundation.

Your skills and experiences

Your experience and abilities might come through, for example, your life experience, volunteering, grassroots, community or movement-building work, or paid employment in any sector.

You have 5 years demonstrated experience in campaigning and community organising, helping people build their collective power and achieve change
You have a track record in project development and strategic planning within the social change ecosystem, going from ideas to well structured and impactful project and organisations
You have significant experience within the political space, either in a party or during electoral campaigns. You have a good understanding of how political systems function in Europe and care about people and how politics affects their lives.
You have demonstrated experience and expertise in designing and implementing equitable strategies, systems, and processes to foster inclusion and representation
Your experience running grantmaking programs is a plus as well as a 2nd or 3rd language to connect more easily with our partners across Europe

How you work

You are known for your ability to bring people together and help them build trust, learn and strategize together
Your project management skills are excellent and you love starting things from scratch, building the vision for what you want to achieve as well as how to get there through strategic planning
You enjoy and have the ability for work autonomously within a remote team, connecting with colleagues and other partners across Europe, online or in person
You are tech savvy and have experience using tools for remote work and digital organising
You have strong communication skills, especially written English, and know how to make information easy to access for all, especially for non english speakers

About you

Our team is low ego, we see the work as a place to support each other and learn together and would love to welcome someone with a similar mindset
You uphold the values of intersectional feminism, recognising that different forms of inequality often operate together and exacerbate each other.
We center people the most affected by underrepresentation in what we do and how we work and will prioritise applicants with a direct lived experience of system of oppression

We are hoping to build a truly diverse European team and encourage candidates based in Central or Eastern Europe to apply as our team is mostly based in Western Europe

How to apply for this role

To apply for this role, use the link at the bottom of this page to submit your application by May 19th 2024. Email Sarah Durieux sarah@wearemultitudes.org if you have questions or need to use another format for the application for any reason. We are committed to making adjustments for disability.

To apply:

Upload a 1-2 page CV/ Resume covering relevant experience – including paid and unpaid work as well as other forms of life experience.

Answer the following questions in the application form, and make sure to refer back to the job description:

Why are you interested in this role ?
What is your experience in organising people to build trust, learn and strategize?
What is your experience supporting or leading a strategic planning process to develop a project or an organisation ?

Recruitment process and timeline

Week of May 20th and 27th: 75 minutes interviews for shortlisted candidates
June 3rd: Instruction will be sent to selected candidates for a written test to send back by June 9th
Week of June 10th: 75 min final interview with shortlisted candidates
Week of June 17th: Reference checks and offer(s) made