About the Foundation

The Heising-Simons Foundation is a family foundation based in Los Altos and San Francisco, California. The Foundation works with its many partners to advance sustainable solutions in climate and clean energy, enable groundbreaking science research, enhance the education of our youngest learners, and support human rights for all people. In 2025, the Foundation awarded more than $169 million in grants. The Foundation’s grantmaking is guided by humility, courage, justice, opportunity, sustainability, innovation, relationships, and integrity.

 

About the Human Rights Program

The Foundation’s Human Rights program envisions a society where people are free to live whole, safe, and dignified lives. At present, we are far from this vision in the United States because structural racism pervades our society and manifests through systems of punishment — mass incarceration and immigrant detention. The result is the criminalization of poor Black, Indigenous, and other people of color (BIPOC), and it is visible all around us: these communities are overrepresented in our country’s jails, prisons, and detention centers, and are under-resourced in our economic, political, and social justice sectors.

To best challenge mass incarceration, immigrant detention, and the mass criminalization of BIPOC communities, the Human Rights program invests in 1) building the power and capacity of grassroots; 2) creating healthy justice reform and immigrants’ rights ecosystems that center the grassroots in their work; and 3) advancing reimagined approaches to safety, justice, and accountability. Through these investments, the Human Rights program seeks to contribute to a country where grassroots movements have the power to lead and define change to dismantle the footprint of incarceration and immigrant detention systems and create new paradigms of safety, justice, and accountability not appended to the current punishment systems. In 2025, the Human Rights team made 161 grants totaling over $36 million in 501(c)(3) grant funding.

 

Position Summary

The Program Manager assists the Program Director in managing key components of the program’s operations and processes. The Program Manager also manages special projects and leads the integration and leveraging of Foundation-wide initiatives and resources to support the program’s grantmaking.

The primary responsibilities of the Program Manager are to:

• Forecast and optimize day-to-day program operations.
• Support and amplify the program’s grantmaking activities.

This full-time (37.5 hours per week) exempt (salaried) position is based in the San Francisco Bay Area and reports to the Director of Human Rights, working collaboratively across the Human Rights team, consisting of three program officers and three program associates.  

 

What You’ll Bring

In this role, you will serve as the engine of the Human Rights team, driving the planning and operational excellence required to turn vision into action.

• You keep the team on track, on time, and highly organized by looking ahead to anticipate what will be needed and ensuring workflows, priorities, and deadlines remain aligned.
• You anticipate roadblocks before they arise and proactively communicate shifts to keep us on the same page and on track.
• You lead with care and demonstrate a confident competence that builds the deep, trust-based relationships necessary for direct and honest conversations.
• You are skilled at managing up and across the team, bringing a strong commitment to collaboration that always centers shared goals.
• You set the stage for strategic decision-making by culling data and tracking key metrics through insightful reporting and data visualizations. You are adept at using technology to optimize budgets, reports, and grant data.
• You identify gaps and use your initiative and creativity to start building solutions without waiting for a map.
• You leverage technology to streamline workflows and surface insights, finding joy in using the right tools to make complex collaboration and reporting feel effortless.

 

Primary Responsibilities 

Forecast and optimize day-to-day program operations.

• Work in partnership with the Program Director to oversee day-to-day program operations. 
• Manage, create, and/or refine processes and procedures to optimize the experience of the Human Rights team and its grantees. 
• Develop annual administrative and grants budgets for the Human Rights program area and monitor progress and use of resources in Excel and Salesforce.
• Gather and synthesize team input, feedback, and data insights to inform program decisions, surface operational challenges, and support Program Director and team decision-making.
• Coordinate board narratives and presentations, including supporting team brainstorming and discussion meetings; setting timelines and deadlines; drafting outlines; compiling edits; proofreading narratives; and developing and ensuring consistent formatting of slides. Delegate tasks as needed to Program Associates.
• Serve as project manager for the team’s strategic planning, learning, and performance monitoring processes. 
• With guidance from the Human Rights Program Director and Program Officers, develop and implement team processes and frameworks to assess the impact of and foster learning around Human Rights grantmaking strategies, initiatives, and practices.
• In collaboration with the Program Associates, provide executive-level meeting materials, including docket tables and agendas, and assist with the formatting of presentations and other electronic documents.
• Serve as the primary liaison between the Human Rights program and other programs and departments (including Grants Management, Legal, Communications, other programs, etc.). Ensure alignment and collaboration with Grants Management and Legal teams to support efficient and compliant grantmaking processes.
• Create and contribute to team building opportunities as well as team and cross-program learning and collaboration.
• Lead the planning and execution of assigned team and external meetings, convenings, and retreats, including agenda development, facilitation, and logistics.
• Support special projects and initiatives that contribute to the Human Rights program’s strategy and engage and delegate to program associates with consideration to capacities and professional development goals.
• Manage the recruitment, onboarding, and training of new team members.
• Select, manage, and coordinate with outside consultants. 

 

Support and amplify the program’s grantmaking.

• Provide administrative and legal/compliance support to the Program Director and Program Officers on C3 grantmaking and act as Program Officer on grants as needed.
• Implementing existing programmatic strategy, maintaining a small C3 grantmaking portfolio. This will involve soliciting proposals, conducting site visits, summarizing proposals for Board review, and reporting on progress to the Program Director, Foundation management, and the Board. 
• Work with the Program Director to develop and implement activities designed to amplify the effects of Foundation grantmaking (e.g., convenings, communications, and dissemination of results, connecting with relevant public and private stakeholders). 
• Provide coverage and support to Program Officers and Program Associates during vacations, medical leaves, or other impacted periods.

 

Learning & Networking 

• Attend workshops and conferences to learn more about relevant topics and trends. 
• Join and/or network with relevant affinity groups or individuals to increase access to knowledge and thought partnership. 
• Informally read and synthesize published literature and web-based resources to increase knowledge of Human Rights areas and/or grantmaking techniques. 

 

Foundation-wide Responsibilities 

• Contribute to a positive, inclusive, and dynamic organizational culture.
• Participate in Foundation-wide activities, such as committees, internal culture-building, training, and strategic planning.
• Provide regular feedback to supervisor and colleagues both informally and as a part of the annual review process.
• Train new colleagues.

 

Desired Experience & Attributes

• Strong understanding of the philanthropic sector and the structure and stakeholders of family foundations. 
• 4+ years of experience with grantmaking processes. 
• Exceptional organizational and time management skills, with an ability to manage multiple deadlines and goals simultaneously, as well as synthesize and distill complex conversations into clear action items.
• Proven ability to demonstrate initiative and bring a proactive, “can-do” approach to your work.
• Proven ability to effectively manage and optimize the performance of team members. 
• Experience setting up internal systems and processes to ensure efficient communication and management of resources. 
• Exceptional relationship-building skills, including the ability to be an excellent listener and connect with a wide range of stakeholders. A strong track record of developing trusting, productive relationships and operating with a deep sense of authentic respect for grantees and the individuals they serve, as well as engaging in a partnership-driven approach to grantmaking. 
• Exceptional oral and written communication skills. In particular, the ability to anticipate information that will be needed, to share information proactively, keep colleagues informed and be highly responsive in communication.
• Ability to thrive in a family foundation environment with engaged Board members who are deeply passionate about, and have deep expertise in, the areas they fund. 
• Passion and/or proximity to the issues and the people that the Human Rights program represents, with a strong commitment to immigrant justice, criminal justice, racial justice, and gender justice.
• Ability to evolve thinking and research in Human Rights issue areas. An understanding of how philanthropy, pooled funds, and nonprofits function and interact
• Keen analytical skills, creativity, maturity, and sound judgment, with the ability to act thoughtfully and lead effectively. Able to consider multiple perspectives, think critically, evaluate risk, identify potential answers to complex problems, and explain and justify recommendations to diverse audiences. Politically astute and able to exercise good judgment in a range of situations. 
• Humility, empathy, optimism, and sense of humor.
• Ability to constructively participate in the development of a growing organization.
• Must be available for occasional travel between our San Francisco and Los Altos offices or to other meetings, conferences, and convenings with grantees or other stakeholders.

 

Compensation and Benefits

The target starting salary for this Bay Area-based position is $110,000 to $132,000 per year, depending on experience.

The Heising-Simons Foundation offers a comprehensive employee benefits package designed to support employee wellness at work and in life. Benefits include employer-paid medical, dental, and vision insurance for employees and dependents. In addition, the Foundation offers a flexible spending account (FSA) for medical and childcare expenses, a 401(k) plan with an employer match of up to 16%, 3 weeks of vacation per year, and paid time off for sick, personal reasons, and holidays.

 

Application Process

The Foundation is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes a diverse pool of applicants. Foundation policy prohibits unlawful discrimination based on race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, pregnancy, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, age, marital status, physical disability, mental disability, military service, legally protected medical condition, reproductive health decisions, or any other consideration made unlawful by federal, state, or local laws. Reasonable accommodation will be made so that qualified applicants with disabilities may participate in the application process. Please advise in writing of special needs at the time of application.

Our success depends on our ability to build teams that include people with diverse experiences and expertise, who can challenge each other’s assumptions with new viewpoints and bring different perspectives to the team. We encourage women, people of color, formerly incarcerated individuals, immigrants, LGBTQ+ individuals, people with disabilities, and others with diverse perspectives and experiences to apply.

Please upload a cover letter that describes your relevant experience and interest in this position, as well as your resume.