Program Assistant, Education

The Hewlett Foundation

The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation has been making grants since 1966 to improve the quality of life of people at home and around the world. The Foundation concentrates its resources on activities in education, environment, global development, performing arts, and population.

In its grantmaking decisions as well as in its interest and activities, the Hewlett Foundation is wholly independent of the Hewlett-Packard Company and the Hewlett-Packard Company Foundation.
The Education Program:
Grants in the Education Program promote long-term institutional or field development, reform, or knowledge creation in five priority areas: improving instruction, California reform, technology, and opportunity.
The Education Program funds policy studies, research, development, demonstrations, evaluations, dissemination, and public engagement to accomplish its objectives. An individual grant should develop knowledge usable beyond its boundaries and should add clear and substantial value to accomplishing the goals of a Program priority.
The Position

The Program Assistant will provide clerical, administrative and project-related support to Program Officers, working in collaboration with the Director, and the Program Associate. The position’s responsibilities fall into two categories: (1) program clerical support, and (2) grants administration.

Essential Responsibilities

The duties of the Program Assistant include the following:

Program support
•Organize and keep current all program files and related material.
•Coordinate and maintain a schedule of program workloads and communicate critical goals in a timely manner. Identify and address potential problems in a reasonable timeframe.
•Collect, open and distribute mail. Respond to daily inquiries and prepare standard reports. Routine assignments will consist of grant approval letters and processing letters of inquiry, interim grant reports, etc.
•Assist Program Officers with research and data collection. Format and finalize documents and presentation materials.
•Work with Program Officers to plan travel arrangements including transportation and lodgings, meeting schedules and background material. Track travel budgets and credit card statements. Prepare and submit expense reports and pertinent documentation.
•Assist program staff with meeting/event planning, including assembling and distributing background material, organizing the agenda, preparing place cards and other signage, guiding guests to event area and coordinating with colleagues on unexpected meeting requirements.

Grants Administration
•Assist program staff with grants administration tasks, including the preparation of reports, data entry and other related grant-making activities.
•Manage a variety of inquiries
•Compile, organize and maintain currency of grantee files.
•Organize, compose and manage program mailings and communication with current and potential grantees.
•Monitor grant proposal process, assist with document management, collect external reviews and schedule proposal review meetings.
•Provide information on grant requirements
•Support Program Officers with their writing responsibilities.
REQUIREMENTS
•A 4-year college education or equivalent of college and work experience
•At least 2 years of experience in an administrative or support role in a high-performance environment
•Ability to multitask, meet deadlines and change priorities quickly
•Excellent communication skills, both written and spoken
•Proven ability to interact with a diverse range of individuals both in person and over the phone, applying tact and discretion as situations demand
•Detail-oriented with excellent organizational and analytical skills
•Excellent computer skills and experience with the Microsoft Office suite of applications, particularly spreadsheet, text preparation and presentation tools; familiarity with Outlook email, archiving and meeting scheduling features
•Ability to conduct literature and Internet searches and provide reviews on specially assigned topics
•Ability to thrive in a team environment