Program Associate - Catholic Sisters, Africa/Global

The Program Associate (PA) plays a critical administrative and project management role in coordinating the Initiative's grantmaking activities. The associate will provide support for key operational areas of the team, including project management/tracking, communications, and knowledge sharing, coordination of meetings, contribution to project reports, research, budgeting, and grant process management. This position will also assist the team with general administration functions including the coordination of convenings, site visits and scheduling.

Reporting to the Senior Program Officer, the Program Associate will participate in project and department-wide activities, meetings, conferences, etc. They will participate in programming discussions and will be familiar with the Foundation's approaches. They will possess significant writing skills and an excellent ability to multitask. 

This role will serve to advance the Foundation's mission of impacting those experiencing disadvantage, specifically by strengthening Catholic sister's education, formation, and elderly care in Africa and supporting their advocacy and human development services to improve the lives of children, youth and families living in disadvantaged situations. The Initiative supports sisters and communities to thrive and achieve self-sufficiency through collaboration and strengthening partnerships with a range of stakeholders, including sisters' conferences, Church, key networks, and other entities in our focus geographies (Africa, Kenya, Uganda, Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania, Ghana, Nigeria, etc.) and ensure sisters have the tools and platforms needed to make a lasting impact in the lives of the communities they serve.

Partnership is a key tenet of the Initiative program strategy; consequently, this person should be adept at interacting with a range of diverse stakeholders in a professional, collaborative, and diplomatic way.

Requirements

Grantmaking Support

• Monitor grant progress to ensure timely approvals.
• Track and manage grant budgets and coordinate grant processes with Grants Management (pre-grant inquiry and grant modifications, etc.)
• Monitor grant progress to ensure timely approvals and support in mapping progress reports.
• Regularly update program officers on the status of grant application documents and funded projects.
• Participate in workgroups within the department and across the organization, and document site accomplishments and site-specific reports.
• Maintain internal tracking databases in Giving Data, Excel spreadsheets, etc.
• Collaborate with program officers and grant applicants to develop and submit grant proposals in accordance with approved strategies. Support in processing budget and grant modifications.
• Lead in providing administrative support to applicants.
• Own the grants payout process, ensuring grants are paid according to the timeline and process.
• Review, analyze, and prepare grantee progress reports and payments for approval.
• Support the effective and timely delivery of information and technical assistance to grantees and other key partners.
• Participate in team-based strategy development.

Program Liaison

• Maintain collaborative relationships with grantee partners, peer funders, and external stakeholders regarding grant-making and reporting processes, as well as organizing external events.
• Work with grants management to ensure compliance with internal audit and grant tracking procedures, grantmaking processes (such as grant reporting, payment, and reporting schedules, Giving Data entry).
• Provide advice to Senior Program Officer (SPO) and Program Officer (PO) on proposals in process; communicate with applicants to address administrative questions regarding their application, budget, and project measurement table.
• Provide support for key operational and administrative areas of the team, including: project tracking, coordination of meetings, vendor/consultant contract agreements, and contribution to project reports, grant oversight, and planning.

Program Operational Support

• Provide support to the team with convenings and site-visits by taking the lead on preparing materials, booklets, correspondence, information management and travel arrangements.
• Support SPO by taking the lead on organizing meeting logistics, which includes securing the meeting site, arranging materials and technical needs, and catering orders. Additionally, provide logistics support to the meeting facilitator/coordinator as required, and participate in team discussions regarding speakers, agenda items, and themes.
• Coordinate program-related events, such as external meetings, conferences, and presentations.

Communications and Learning

• Support the SPO/PO members in developing program communication strategies and priorities.
• Assist in creating communication materials, such as blogs, tweets, articles, and reports.
• Collaborate with the communications team to distribute communication materials to the appropriate audiences.
• Conduct program-related research and special projects as needed to identify field trends and best practices, as well as to store and communicate information.
• Maintain team contacts and email.

Required Education and Experience

• Minimum 4 years of relevant work experience in the non-profit sector or a private entity with a social mission. Candidates with lived experience related to Initiative area are encouraged to apply.
• Skilled writer with the ability to produce communication products for a variety of audiences.
• Comfortable working with complex budgets and work plans and have a good understanding of non-profit finances and budgets. They are highly attentive to detail.
• Possess solid organizational skills and are able to effectively manage and prioritize workflow to meet deadlines.
• Possess bilingual capacities.
• Work well independently and collaboratively within a team and demonstrate a high degree of initiative, resourcefulness, and flexibility to meet the needs of the role.
• Curious, value learning, and continually seek information and new approaches to processes and practices.
• Critical thinking skills to analyze and summarize reports.
• Interpersonal skills and cross-cultural competency, and adept at interacting with a range of diverse stakeholders in a professional, collaborative, and diplomatic way.
• Comfortable with traveling, including 1-2 site visit trips per year and domestic travel.
• Ability to continually seek information and look for new approaches to processes and practices.
• Excellent technological skills, including proficiency in Microsoft Office (with an emphasis on Outlook, Word, and Excel) and experience with database software (e.g., Giving Data, Salesforce, related grants, and/or data management software). Excel skills include generating graphs and charts, and an understanding of how formulas work.

Desired

• An understanding of grantmaking processes.
• Knowledge of the nonprofit and philanthropic sector.

Physical Requirements

• Ability to work on-site at least three days each week (MTW) according to the hybrid schedule policy.
• Prolonged periods of sitting at a desk and working on a computer.
• Must be able to lift up to 15 pounds at a time.

Additional information

About the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation

Founded by international hotelier Conrad N. Hilton in 1944, the Foundation invests in organizations tackling some of the world’s toughest challenges, helping people living in poverty and experiencing disadvantage. We think big about solutions, working in partnership with local communities to improve lives, strengthen systems, and bring meaningful change. The Foundation partners with organizations worldwide, with a special focus on Africa, South America, and the United States, including our home in Los Angeles. Additionally, the Foundation awards the world’s largest annual humanitarian prize for nonprofits — the Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize. For 30 years, the Prize has recognized nonprofit organizations setting a global benchmark for excellence and advancing the collective progress of humanity. The Foundation is one of the world’s largest and has awarded grants to date totaling more than $4 billion, with nearly $353 million in 2025. Please visit www.hiltonfoundation.org for more information.