Program Officer, Sustainable Transportation

The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, based in Menlo Park, California, is seeking an Environment Program Officer to lead the Program's grantmaking strategy for reducing pollution from the transportation sector in key developed and developing countries.

The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation has been making grants since 1966 to help solve social and environmental problems at home and around the world. The Foundation concentrates its resources on activities in education, environment, global development, performing arts, philanthropy, population, and makes grants to support disadvantaged communities in the San Francisco Bay Area. The Foundation's assets are approximately $6.5 billion, with annual grants totaling approximately $210 million in 2009. For more information about the Hewlett Foundation please visit the website.

Posiiton Overview:

The Environment Program typically makes grants of $40 million per year focused on 4 issue areas: climate change, energy policy, western conservation, and environmental issues disproportionately affecting poor communities in the San Francisco Bay Area. In addition to this grantmaking, the Hewlett Foundation helped launch and continues to fund the ClimateWorks Foundation, which is working to reduce the risk of climate change by advancing policies in the nations and economic sectors with the highest greenhouse gas emissions.

One of the critical components of the Hewlett Foundation's investment in climate change is support for Sustainable Transportation. The Program Officer - Sustainable Transportation (Program Officer) will pursue grantmaking strategies to reduce transportation-related air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions in the United States, China, Mexico, Brazil, Canada, and the European Union. Targeted outcomes include public policies for cleaner transportation fuels, more efficient vehicles, expanded transit systems, and transit-oriented development. The Program Officer will have oversight of a grant budget of $9 million a year.

The 4 areas of the Sustainable Transportation Program are:

1. Vehicles: The environment program has been supporting efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and conventional vehicle pollution in the U.S. and internationally since 2002. The program's work in the U.S. supports the national energy policy by establishing GHG emissions standards for vehicles. In other developing nations, the focus is to promote the adoption of Euro VI emissions standards - or better - by 2015.
2. Fuels: While improving the overall efficiency of vehicles reduces their greenhouse gas emissions, transportation fuel itself holds a significant amount of carbon which can be detrimental over time to the human population. The Foundation, therefore, focuses on promotion of a low-carbon fuel standard. Given the large public health benefits of clean fuels, the Foundation promotes ultra-low sulfur fuel standards in China, Mexico, and Brazil.
3. Transportation systems: Public transportation, particularly in large developing countries where use of private vehicles is growing rapidly due to increased wealth and access, is also a focus. The Foundation promotes sustainable transportation systems, including bus rapid transit (BRT) systems, in China, Mexico, and Brazil, as these systems have proven to be efficient and cost effective.
4. Urban design: Imbedding global best practices for urban design into the city planning process will pay huge dividends in terms of air pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, and resource consumption. The Foundation supports the creation of policies that foster transit-oriented development practices by adjusting zoning and real estate regulations to allow higher density living near public transportation and that reinforce the use of public transportation by mixing high density housing with social services, government offices, and light commercial activity.

In this role, the Program Officer reports to Susan Bell, Vice-President/Senior Fellow for Energy and Climate, and works closely with the Tom Steinbach, Environment Program Director. The Program Officer will also coordinate his or her work with the Program Officer focused on energy and climate. The Program Officer will be based in Menlo Park, California and be charged to meet the following responsibilities:

Responsibilities: 

• Developing, testing, and refining grantmaking strategies, and communicating those strategies to board, staff, nonprofit organizations, and foundations.
• Reviewing and assessing grant proposals.
• Designing and implementing evaluations of grants and program initiatives.
• Maintaining current knowledge of transportation and energy policy issues.
• Providing expert assistance to nonprofits and other parties in the field.
• Making site visits, attending conferences and representing Foundation programs to the public and to leaders in the field.
• Contributing to the Foundation's interest in and practice of outcome focused grantmaking including due diligence, goal-setting and review of business plans, knowledge building, evaluation, and exit strategies.

Qualifications: 

The Program Officer should ideally possess the following professional qualifications and personal attributes:

• Experience and understanding of policy issues in air quality and sustainable transportation advocacy, with a demonstrated capacity to advance program interests diplomatically in these areas at state, federal, and international levels as well as with the private sector, in particular in developing countries;
• Experience with strategy development, goal setting and evaluation (both quantitative and qualitative reporting mechanisms);
• Proven talent in staff management (geographically distributed), budgeting, information brokering;
• The desire and ability to travel extensively;
• Graduate degree in public policy, urban planning or related policy fields;
• Spanish, Portuguese, or Mandarin language skills preferred.

Personal Attributes:

• Articulate, with proven ability to write effectively and speak persuasively;
• Superlative interpersonal skills, including a willingness to listen to internal and external constituents and learn from their best ideas;
• Highly motivated with intellectual curiosity, approachability, and openness to input from all levels of staff;
• Personable, diplomatic and possessing impeccable integrity;
• Exceptional analytical, strategic, and tactical abilities;
• Proven team player and leader able to motivate and inspire staff as well as colleagues to work well as a team;
• Good sense of humor.

Compensation: The Foundation offers an excellent benefits package and a salary that is commensurate with experience and education. This position is exempt and full-time.

To Apply:

Please email your resume and cover letter and refer to job: Hewlett Sustainability Program Officer Position. Daniel Sherman, President, Explore Company. No phone inquiries please.

The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes a diverse pool of candidates for this search. The Foundation uses an outside firm to check the accuracy of information supplied by applicants.