Director of Strategy and Learning

The Klarman Family Foundation seeks to identify areas of unmet need and to advance solutions to addressing them. Their intention as a Foundation is to help make measurable progress in improving the lives of others. Founded in 1990, The Klarman Family Foundation granted approximately $82 million in 2021 to advance its philanthropic interests.

Their work is guided by the following principles and values:

• Approaching their work with a seriousness of purpose and evaluative rigor, and also with an openness to tackle issues in new ways.
• Approaching their work with a sense of urgency and willingness to invest based on the opportunities to make a difference, rather than the limits of an annual grantmaking budget.
• A belief that the preservation of democratic norms lies at the core of all of their work and that a healthy democracy is crucial to all the Foundation seeks to achieve.
• A commitment to acting in partnership with other funders as opportunities to learn and leverage greater impact.
• Applying what they learn to improve their philanthropic practices and outcomes.

The Foundation’s grantmaking spans several areas of interest:

• Ensuring a healthy democracy.
• Expanding access to vital services and enrichment opportunities in Greater Boston and throughout Massachusetts.
• Advancing understanding of the biological basis of health and illness.
• Supporting the global Jewish community and Israel.

These issues are complicated, requiring new and creative thinking and persistence over time. With a commitment to learning and assessing impact, these categories and strategies may evolve, but the dedication to applying best practices in philanthropy will remain unchanged.

THE OPPORTUNITY FOR YOU

The Director of Strategy and Learning is a new role at the Foundation that will work closely with the President and will collaborate with the program team to stimulate and deliver programmatic strategies, processes, and learning across the organization’s diverse set of interests. The Foundation is in an exciting period of growth and the new Director will partner and strategize with their talented team of program colleagues, helping to sharpen approaches to achieving impact over time, highlighting strengths within each issue area, assessing what is/is not working, and ensuring lessons learned are shared internally and externally as appropriate.

With a commitment to continuous learning, understanding community priorities and assessing impact, the Foundation’s funding priorities and strategies evolve over time. The Foundation is also committed to applying an equity lens throughout its work. The new Director will ensure the Foundation has an understanding of new and best practices and innovations across the relevant content areas as well as more broadly across the philanthropic sector.

As a key member of the Managers Team, the new Director will help create connective tissue across the organization, undertaking opportunities to embed knowledge and lessons into the Foundation’s priorities, and will actively contribute to promoting a positive workplace culture of collaboration, innovation, and respect.

Working closely with the President, Program Team Director, and Director of Grantmaking, the new Director will serve as an in-house consultant on individual program strategies to ensure alignment of impact and outcomes and to identify and leverage intersections across program areas. They will advise team leads throughout the life cycle of program strategy development on the creation, refinement, and assessment of strategic tools, including theories of change, logic models, and other frameworks and deliverables. The new Director will help compile and translate learnings across the Foundation including in support of Trustee meetings and engagement. Reporting to the President, the Director of Strategy & Learning will also supervise and support the development of a newly created Strategy and Learning Analyst and manage relationships with external consultants as appropriate. The Director will be a member of the Managers Team and has a tremendous opportunity to build the Foundation’s capacity to achieve greater impact.

THE SKILLS YOU’LL NEED

The Klarman Family Foundation recognizes that a person’s skills and competencies can be gleaned in myriad ways, including via life experience. If you do not meet all of the qualifications listed, you are still encouraged to apply for this position.

The ideal candidate will be a forward-thinking, practical, and collaborative leader who brings a deep and demonstrated commitment to the principles and values of the Foundation. They will be a proven facilitator of internal learning with highly effective interpersonal and relational skills, including a demonstrated ability to support program teams in developing, implementing, and assessing long-term strategic goals.

Additionally, ideal candidates will bring:

• Natural inclination and intentionality for learning; A curious disposition motivated by the internal drive and passion to uncover and shed light on a variety of complex social issues.
• High emotional intelligence, steeped with interpersonal awareness and excellent listening skills.
• Internal consultant posture with the ability to provide nuanced, tailored support to team members on issues that may be challenges or points of opportunity.
• Knowledge of the field of philanthropy and strategic program and initiative development, with particular interest in candidates who bring experience and/or appreciation of family foundation contexts. Understanding of different approaches deployed by the foundation, including grantmaking, complex partnership development, and special initiatives is highly desired.
• Flexibility and agility working across content areas with an appreciation for the intersections between issues; Ability to synthesize complex, cross-disciplinary material and focus quickly on the essence of an issue while maintaining clarity around the big picture; Experience using a combination of objective and subjective data to create relevant, practical and dynamic learning opportunities for internal stakeholders.
• Exceptional communication skills, across different audiences (internal/external) and approaches. Ability to clearly articulate concepts, findings/data interpretations, as well as the implications of these analyses for the Foundation’s work. Communication style reflects approachability, authenticity, and transparency.
• Effective time and project management skills with demonstrated ability to manage a diverse and demanding workload in a fast-paced environment.
• Bachelor’s degree and at least 7 years of relevant professional experience within a nonprofit, philanthropic, strategy consulting or other mission-driven organization. Strong preference for senior leaders with 10+ years of professional experience.

The salary range for this exempt position is expected to be $150,000 – $200,000 depending on prior experiences and skills. Comprehensive benefits for this position include paid leave, health and dental insurance with a flexible spending account and dependent benefits, a transit account, and a 403(b) retirement plan. The Foundation is committed to professional growth and development for all employees, and to the continued learning and practice required as an organization to build and foster a diverse, equitable and inclusive workplace.

All Foundation employees are required to be vaccinated for COVID-19 as well as boosted, and the Foundation will require any new employees to be fully vaccinated and boosted by their date of hire as well, absent a medical or religious accommodation as approved by the Foundation.

This position is based in The Klarman Family Foundation’s Boston office and is eligible for a hybrid of in-office and working from home.

TO APPLY

More information about The Klarman Family Foundation may be found at: www.klarmanfoundation.org

This search is being led by Cara Pearsall, Britni Russell-Bianchi, and Robert Diggs of NPAG. Due to the pace of this search, candidates are strongly encouraged to apply as soon as possible. Candidates may submit their cover letter, outlining their interest and qualifications, along with their resume via NPAG’s website.

The Klarman Foundation commitment to diversity includes the recognition that our mission is best advanced by contributions of people of diverse backgrounds, beliefs, and culture. Recruiting and mentoring staff to create an inclusive organization that reflects the diverse communities that we serve is a priority, and we encourage applicants of all ages, cultures, races, colors, religions, national or regional origins, disability status, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran status or other status protected by law.