Job Opportunity for Program Assistant – India at Ford Foundation in New Delhi

Title: Program Assistant

Reports To: Acting Program Director

Location: India

The Program Assistant works within the programmatic team headed up by the Regional Director, alongside  Program Officers, a Program Associate, and a Grants Manager. The Program Assistant provides critical support to three (3) Program Officers who serve as grant-makers for the Foundation. The Program Assistant manages various activities for the Program Officer, including meetings and grants administration.  The Program Assistant helps manage the multiple workflows of program staff and the program team more generally.

It is the Foundation’s core mission to address inequality in all its forms. The work around the world aims to disrupt the persistent drivers of inequality and advance a more just world committed to the dignity of every person.  In India, the focus is on two specific strategies: women’s safety in informal work and in public spaces as ensuring living incomes for farmers. These are two of the biggest challenges facing our region today.   The Foundation is committed to supporting communities, movements, and leaders working on the frontlines of social change to create a more just and equitable world. These bodies of work align with two of the Foundation’s global themes; Gender, Race and Ethnic Justice, and Civic Engagement and Government.

The Foundation strives to achieve this by working with critical stakeholders and partners in government, civil society, the private sector, and the donor community, including local philanthropies in the region.  The Ford Foundation’s social justice mission is advanced by working with community-focused organizations and working on rights and entitlements with the government.  Other strategies to reach these goals could be the experience and ability to engage with different communication strategies.

The Ford Foundation India Office focuses mainly on India, with limited activity in Nepal and Sri Lanka. The Foundation tries to address these priorities from a local perspective while also bearing in mind the importance of linking local challenges and interventions to global trends and strategies.

Principle Duties and Responsibilities Include but are not limited to:

Workflow and Administration:

• Assist with Program Officers’ calendar of appointments, including scheduling meetings and follow-up.
• Assist with Program Officers’ work-related travel; assist with developing travel plans and logistical arrangements, including processing expense reports.
• Assist Program Officers in responding to both internal and external requests for information or other documentation
• Work alongside the Executive Assistant, who supports the Regional Director and team, serving as a member of an administrative support group for program leaders on the team, backing each other up and collaborating, as needed, on workflows, including, but not limited to contract management, administrative tasks, and projects.
• Assist in the onboarding process for new hires/consultants.
• Support document production, including preparing and editing reports, memoranda, or other materials.
• Support document management and storage in institutional document repositories.
• Provide general administrative support, such as managing mail, scanning, faxing and copying materials, answering phones, as needed.

May be asked to monitor and coordinate tasks related to contracts as follows:

• Work with Program Officers (PO) to determine whether the funded activity is appropriately classified as an operating budget expense
• Confirm budget source availability with Executive Assistant
• Process contracts in WorkPlace and coordinate with Legal Department for contract preparation/review
• Monitor contracts, including reviewing invoices and confirming that deliverables have been met before submitting for payment, tracking payments to ensure compliance with contract terms, and keeping the PO updated as necessary
• Forward invoices to Accounting for payment 

Grant-Related Administration:

• Request administrative and support information relative to grantee proposals and grant actions.
• Coordinate with GM and PO/s and follow up with grantee/prospective grantee organization to collect standard organization documents, e.g., Governing docs, Audited financials, FCRA registration, and amendments documents, and more, as required on a case to case basis, and to upload them in FLUXX
• Assisting with sending offline reminders to  grantees on pending reports submission, updating of Board list and EPI in Fluxx (in coordination with PO/GM)
• Assist as needed with grantees to help/guide them on navigating thru Fluxx, e.g., for tasks as simple as clicking the “Submit” button in the workflow. 
• If needed, the ability to access/generate standard grant-related lists from FLUXX and make them available to POs.
• Establish and maintain appropriate files, including virtual grant file records.    
• Support the development of grant recommendations through editing and information compilation.
• Plan and coordinate logistics for site visits and major grantee meetings; preparing expense reports.
• Manage calendar appointments and group meetings.
• Assist with grant-related inquiries, coordinate responses, and maintain correspondence control records. 

Communications and Research:

• Preparation of presentations and other materials for program staff.
• Undertake light research and work with the Information Management staff on research tasks.
• Compiling information into analytical tools and preparing charts or other presentations from this information.
• Serve as the focal point for the NY communications team for Fordify content. 

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS

This position is primarily a sedentary role. However, the person in this position may need to occasionally move about inside the office to liaise with internal staff, access files, office machinery and a copy machine/printer. Additionally, some travel to attend team conferences, retreats and meetings may be required. 

Alignment to Culture and Values

• Commitment to the Foundation’s mission and core values of equity, openness, collaboration, trust, accountability and urgency
• Personal qualities of humility, capacity for self-reflection, and a sense of humor
• Discretion and ability to handle confidential issues
• Action-orientated and entrepreneurial self-starter who can work well independently and in teams 

Benefits

• Medical and dental benefits for employee and immediate family on first day of work
• Retirement savings account with matching company contributions of up to 13%
• Three weeks’ paid vacation in first year of work; four weeks in subsequent years
• Tuition Reimbursement
• Office closed the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day
• Professional development initiatives for growth
• Generous parental leave (maternal and paternal) during new child’s first year (born into family or adopted) 

Equal employment opportunity and having a diverse staff are fundamental principles at The Ford Foundation, where employment and promotional opportunities are based upon individual capabilities and qualifications without regard to race, color, religion, gender, pregnancy, sexual orientation/affectional preference, age, national origin, marital status, citizenship, disability, veteran status or any other protected characteristic as established under law.