The Role:
Title: Vice President, Programs
Location: Boston, MA
Reports to: President
Position Summary:
Fidelity Foundations anticipates continued growth and evolution of grantmaking and additional modes of philanthropic investment in coming years. The Vice President, Programs (VP) will play a key role in managing, inspiring, and mentoring a team of senior and experienced leaders to refine, expand, and execute on the Foundations’ grantmaking strategies.
They will report to—and serve as a key strategic partner to—the President, supporting the development and definition of programmatic priorities and engaging Trustees in a meaningful way across a diverse set of investment portfolios.
As a thoughtful and strategic leader with excellent collaboration and communication skills, the VP will partner closely with peers across the executive team to refine and execute the Foundation’s grantmaking strategies, ensuring alignment with organizational goals.
As a senior programmatic leader, the VP will directly manage a team of leaders and be responsible for ensuring that the program team operates at the highest level of effectiveness and impact, and that they continue to develop their professional skills and interrogate their grantmaking strategies. Additionally, this key leader will play a significant role in sustaining employee engagement, nurturing and building an inclusive culture, and maintaining the Foundations’ values across our grantmaking and ensuring consistency of process and procedure across all program portfolios.
Key Responsibilities:
Specific responsibilities include, but are not limited to the following:
- Work in partnership with the President and the executive team to set future vision and oversee the execution of organizational priorities that advance short- and long-term goals.
- Oversee the implementation of the Foundations’ grantmaking across all portfolios through the advancement of strategic investments and partnerships with grantees, facilitating integration, and coordinated grantmaking.
- Respond to President and Trustee interests and directives, keeping them apprised of all grantmaking activity and developments in an appropriate, meaningful, and value-added context.
- Oversee and advise senior program leaders on the development of incisive portfolio strategies, crisp Board presentations, and other updates to Trustees.
- Maintain a thorough understanding of program implementation challenges, including grantee needs, and work across the organization to identify and develop comprehensive solutions to effectively address them.
- Guide and support senior program leaders and their teams’ professional development and technical training needs and collaborate across the organization to ensure needs are anticipated and met proactively.
- Promote and advance an inclusive and equitable culture that values diversity and exemplifies the Foundations’ core values.
The Person:
It is critically important that the VP, Programs be an experienced program management and grantmaking executive with a record of outstanding communication and team leadership—a highly collaborative and collegial team player who listens actively, communicates thoughtfully and respectfully, and is a skilled storyteller.
To be considered, candidates will possess a majority of the following professional and personal attributes and competencies:
Professional Experience:
- A minimum of 20 years of philanthropic leadership experience, preferably including substantial experience in grantmaking, and additional modes of philanthropic investment, gained at a private foundation.
- Experience in innovative, best-practice grantmaking is required, with expertise in at least one of our strategic areas of grantmaking, preferably more (areas are: arts & culture, education, conservation, medical science, and economic opportunity).
- Experience as an internal resource and thought partner in identifying, strengthening, and synthesizing cross-programmatic work.
- Strong relationship builder, storyteller and communicator with experience building partnerships internally and externally.
- Proven ability to lead and manage teams effectively, fostering a collaborative and inclusive environment; demonstrates a strong track record of empowering team members through coaching, mentorship, and professional development initiatives to build individual and collective capacity.
- Experience with strategic planning and high-quality execution required.
- Ability to work under pressure, manage workload, prioritize, manage simultaneous tasks, meet deadlines, and maintain a sense of humor within a changing fast-paced environment.
- Ability to move work forward independently and think big picture while collaborating with team and applying a keen eye to detail; demonstrated resourcefulness in setting and executing priorities and guiding investments in projects and systems.
Personal Attributes:
- Facilitative style and approachable manager, capable of building trust and leading/advocating for a matrixed program team and organization, in high impact grantmaking.
- Advisor and thought partner to the President and the executive team, superior organizational and interpersonal skills with the ability to listen effectively.
- A forward thinker who drives execution, balancing long-term vision with practical, results-oriented actions that deliver impact at scale.
- An individual who excels at building consensus and forging strong partnerships across teams and external stakeholders to develop innovative solutions for complex challenges.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills, suitable for internal and external audiences, with an emphasis on compelling and precise live presentation and story-telling expertise.
- Extraordinary initiative, creative thinking, and analytical skills.
- Clear prior success in effectively leading, developing and managing an experienced team, in alignment with an organization’s values and goals.
- Demonstrated commitment to the values of the Foundation and diversity, equity, and inclusion.
- Comfortable with change and complexity, and highly adaptable.
- Sound judgment, humility, and respect for confidentiality.
Compensation and Benefits:
The Fidelity Foundations offers a competitive salary commensurate with experience, an annual performance-based bonus, and a comprehensive benefits package.
The Fidelity Foundations are committed to creating an equitable and inclusive professional environment. We encourage applications from candidates with a diversity of backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives.
Successful candidates will need to undergo a comprehensive background check.
