Senior Program Assistant, Humanities in Place

Position description

The Mellon Foundation (“Foundation”) is a not-for-profit, grant making organization that believes that the arts and humanities are where we express our complex humanity, and we believe that everyone deserves the beauty, transcendence, and freedom to be found there. Through our grants, we seek to build just communities enriched by meaning and empowered by critical thinking, where ideas and imagination can thrive. The Foundation makes grants in four core program areas - Higher Learning, Arts and Culture, Public Knowledge, and Humanities in Place - and through its signature Presidential Initiatives. The Foundation seeks a Senior Program Assistant for our Humanities in Place team.

About the Program

Humanities in Place supports a fuller exploration of communities and sites located in and connected historically to the US. Working with heritage and public spaces, history museums and other institutions, and conveners of shared experiences—including built, digital, or ephemeral—we strive to expand the public expression of the histories that have made us and the values we hold. Our program works across and within diverse communities, encouraging bold, innovative rethinking of past practice, as well as visionary new approaches for how to collectively understand, uplift, and celebrate more complete stories about who we are. A selection of organizations, people, places, and ideas that inspire our work are featured on the Mellon website Public Places, Public Stories page.

Three interconnected strategies guide Mellon’s Humanities in Place grantmaking:

Strategy 1: Keep and Shape our Places

Resource projects, initiatives, and infrastructure to better identify, document, create, and care for our places; and support innovative ideas and actions that help people engage with cultural heritage

Strategy 2: Support and Sustain Our Institutions

Catalyze initiatives and programs supporting the development and sustainability of institutions (e.g., civic, cultural, educational, or community) through place-based and heritage-centered approaches

Strategy 3: Promote Greater Engagement and Understanding

Support projects and programs with a place-based focus that promote greater access, interaction, and exchange of stories and experiences

About the Position

Reporting to the Program Director for Humanities in Place, the Senior Program Assistant will provide programmatic, logistical, and research support to programmatic work in Humanities in Place. The successful candidate will be thoughtful, highly motivated, energetic, collaborative, and congenial, with well-developed communication and organizational skills. This position includes independent work on on-going grantmaking activities (such as serving as a liaison to grantees, corresponding with grantees about proposals; managing program-related information in the Foundation’s grant portal (Fluxx) and other information systems like Monday.com and PowerBI; tracking grant files, data, and budgets, reviewing and preparing proposals and reports; and assisting with preparing dockets and other materials for trustee meetings); episodic or long-term research projects; collaborative work with colleagues across program areas, the President’s Office, and the Foundation (for example on compliance, legal, program planning, and program-related event coordination); and administrative work in support of the Program Director and grantmaking out of the Humanities in Place program.

This role will include travel several times per year for site visits, meetings, and programs nationwide, and have responsibility for the development of internal and external grantee engagement, learning, and relationships as well as for related presentations, content, coordination, and convenings. The work of the Senior Program Assistant is highly detail-oriented and requires accuracy, the ability to anticipate outcomes, multi-tasking, effective time-management, flexibility, creativity, rigor, cool-headedness, precision, patience, efficiency, and the ability to work with both nuance and discretion. The role includes ongoing coordination and management of tasks with colleagues and project teams or consultants and may include the direct management of program interns or apprentices.

Position Details:

Responsibilities may include, but will not be limited to the following:

Grant Management:

• Monitor the progress of prospective grants from first receipt to presentation to the Foundation Officers and Board of Trustees, to post-award management, including their tracking and management in Fluxx, the Foundation’s online grant portal, an communicate with grantees as directed about the progress of their proposals and grant activities;
• Develop an assigned grant portfolio of new and renewal funding proposals under the direction of the Program Director and advising grantees in preparation and revision of the narrative and financial components of proposals;
• Monitor and carefully review grant reports and requests for modifications, extensions, and transfers, correspond with grantees about deficiencies, alert program colleagues to unresolved difficulties, and take appropriate actions;
• Identify the need for grant modifications and no-cost extensions, and facilitate the modification approval process by providing instructions to the grantee, reviewing request materials, and updating relevant information in Fluxx;
• Review and research unsolicited inquiries and collect them for discussion with the Humanities in Place program team;
• Participate in meetings with current and potential grantees; take notes and maintain notes and files on grant and potential grant activities;
• Support the Humanities in Place Program Director and key staff and consultants with prospective, current, and prior grantee engagement, relationships, coordination, and learning;
• Support and coordinate special projects for grantmaking work and other initiatives for Humanities in Place and across the Foundation’s program areas, Vice President’s and President’s Offices, and other Foundation departments; and
• Develop and coordinate research, planning, content, and arrangements for on- and off-site visits, meetings, and programs.

Program Research and Content Development:

• Conduct research in connection with current and new program initiatives and strategies;
• Assist with information gathering regarding the development of new grant initiatives and the review of existing programs as requested by program leaders;
• Prepare briefing materials for the Humanities in Place Program Director, senior leadership and key staff, and Foundation Vice President, and President, as assigned;
• Support and coordinate special projects for grantmaking work and other initiatives for Humanities in Place and across the Foundation’s program areas, Vice President’s and President’s Offices, and other Foundation departments; and
• Develop and coordinate research, planning, content, and arrangements for on- and off-site visits, meetings, and programs.

Administrative Duties:

• Work with other Foundation departments to ensure timely delivery and processing of grant-related information, and facilitate rapid response to internal questions as they arise;
• Keep grant files in the Foundation's file management system up to date; resolve inconsistencies, and prepare briefings and reports;
• Undertake general office and grant-related work, such as electronic filing, maintaining program records, preparing correspondence, responding to requests for information, scheduling, etc.;
• Participate in team-level process improvement projects as assigned by Program Director or collaboratively with the team;
• Represent the Humanities in Place program in cross-functional meetings and collaborate with other departments to advance program goals; and
• Listen actively within the program team and elevate any opportunities for improvement identified by the team and/or large issues/concerns to senior leadership.

Qualifications

The ideal candidate would hold a bachelor’s or graduate degree, preferably in the arts, humanities, design, or policy, or in a related area. Several years of full-time experience in a fast-paced, high-volume office or organizational environment and experience with nonprofit or community-based organizations or grants administration is preferred. Applicants should possess:

• Commitment to the Foundation’s mission, core values, and focus on social justice;
• Demonstrated interest and knowledge in place-based or cultural heritage-focused programs, initiatives, and projects;
• Demonstrated interest in and commitment to advancing social justice through work in the arts and humanities—and in public, community, or institutional spaces;
• Proven ability to take direction but also to work with minimal direct supervision and manage multiple projects, while being a committed team player;
• Excellent written, oral, and visual communication skills;
• Ability to read, understand, and develop organizational and project budgets;
• An orientation toward self-starting, proactive anticipation of team needs, and creative problem solving;
• Demonstrate time and task management and prioritization skills;
• Superior written communication skills; excellent analytical, critical thinking, and organizational skills with precise attention to detail;
• Keen understanding of and interest in disciplines in the arts, humanities, design, and humanistic social sciences;

• Commitment to a collegial work environment and to collaboration with colleagues in all the Foundation’s program areas;
• Flexibility, adaptability, curiosity, integrity, and a good sense of humor;
• Interest in community engagement and inclusion and with a strong sense of ethical practice and empathy;
• Interest in lifelong learning and professional development and a willingness to learn from mistakes;
• An awareness and thoughtfulness of the dynamics of personal and institutional agency, power, and privilege;
• A high degree of competency in the MS Office and Adobe suite; familiarity with web-based technologies and data visualization and analysis applications (Box.com, Monday.com, Power BI, etc.), or a willingness to learn and experiment is desirable; and
• Experience with business-related travel and/or participating in site visits, conferences, or convenings.

The Mellon Foundation is committed to building an inclusive workplace where all individuals are treated with dignity and respect. Employment opportunities are based on individual qualifications, merit, and organizational need, without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, and related conditions), gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, national origin, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. We welcome applications from qualified individuals of all backgrounds.

Mellon is committed to access and inclusion for our applicants. If you have accessibility requests to support your participation in the hiring process, please let us know at your earliest convenience.

Mellon offers a generous total reward package that includes base salary and a comprehensive benefits program, as well as an excellent working environment. Mellon is committed to providing compensation that is competitive and equitable within the philanthropic sector. The estimated annual salary range for this role is $,85,000 - $95,000. The amount of pay offered will be determined by several factors, including but not limited to qualifications, unique skills, credentials, or experience that is expected to impact the candidate’s contribution to the role. We will also consider market data as well as the Foundation’s internal pay equity framework.

Please note that Mellon maintains a hybrid work schedule, with three days per week in person at the Foundation’s Manhattan offices.

Application instructions

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