Temporary
New York
City
Program
Associate

Program staff have the responsibility of monitoring developments in the arts fields and work with the President and the Board to develop new strategies and responses to changes in the arts. The Foundation offers grants to artists as well as to arts organizations and uses panels to reach decisions about grant applications and recommend grants to the Jerome Board for final approval. Program staff attend, monitor and record these panel deliberations, but do not participate in the deliberations. Staff do not make decisions about grant applications and potential grantees, do not have discretionary funds to award, and should view their role primarily as facilitators and conveners pursuing a fair and equitable process, rather than as decision makers awarding funds.

Program staff are the primary point of contact between grantees, applicants, potential applicants and the Foundation. This work, which accounts for 70% of the position’s time, entails the following:

• Explaining grant eligibility and processes, Foundation priorities, and values clearly and accurately;
• Providing accurate answers to applicants as they work on materials to be submitted to the Foundation;
• Coordinating, participating in and making presentations at Foundation-organized community meetings and webinars;
• Reviewing applications in accordance with Foundation guidelines to ensure eligibility before applications are distributed to panels;
• Identifying potential panelists to view applications and participate in panel reviews;
• Assisting in the coordination of panel meetings, including scheduling of meeting times, locations, distribution of materials, and panel Orientations;
• Serving as point of contact with panelists during their review period, answering questions, providing reminders of schedule, coordinating scoring of applications and determining finalists for full panel discussion;
• Taking careful notes of panel discussion to be able to provide feedback to applicants;
• Preparing written materials capturing panel recommendations and rationale for Board of Director review and final action;
• Attending the relevant Board meeting to answer questions and explain rationale, as appropriate;
• Following the Board meeting, notifying applicants of status and providing feedback to both grantees and applicants about panel reaction to their applications;
• Reviewing interim and final reports from grantees;
• Participating in discussions about and rewriting of potential revisions to guidelines for future rounds of programs;
• Serving as an ongoing point of contact between grantees and the Foundation; and
• Ensuring that all application and reporting materials are complete and timely.

Additionally, Program Associates are expected to perform the following, accounting for 30% of their position’s time:

• Participating in weekly staff meetings;
• Coordinating logistics for meetings of panels, board and communities;
• Attending performances and exhibitions offered by early career artists
• Conducting site visits to organizations to meet with staff and report back to the Foundation about those meetings;
• Attending select meetings of other Foundations and philanthropic community events as assigned; and
• Reading and participating in discussion to advance Foundation understanding of issues facing artists and their fields.

The ideal candidate will have first-hand prior knowledge of one or more arts disciplines, through at least two years as an artist, employee, Board member, consultant for a professional or community arts organization(s) dealing with the work of living artists. The candidate will also have significant connection with the New York City arts community.

Recognizing the Foundation’s ongoing commitment to racial equity and diversity, the ideal candidate will work with diverse racial and aesthetic communities and should have a strong demonstrated commitment to the Foundation values of diversity, innovation/risk and humility and the mission and goals. (See About the Jerome Foundation at the end of this posting for further information.)

The candidate should expect to work a variable schedule, including a mix of office hours and event/meeting attendance on evenings and weekends. While this schedule will be largely flexible and delegated to the candidate to control, there will be specific times (including weekly staff meetings, grants panel meetings and quarterly Board meetings) that will be considered mandatory attendance.

The candidate must also be available to travel occasionally to Minnesota for initial orientation and Board meetings.

The candidate should have experience and facility using Mac computers and the Microsoft Office platform (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook). Associates will also be required to learn and perform administrative functions on Submittable.

The candidate must be detail-oriented, well-organized and methodical; demonstrate effective interpersonal communication skills; have strong technical writing skills; accurately synthesize information; be able to take direction; and, at the same time, demonstrate ability to self-organize schedules and juggle multiple work responsibilities.

The candidate must be comfortable communicating through telephone, Zoom and email.

The Foundation receives all grant applications online. Staff must have the ability to review detailed reports and information on computers.

Potentially interested candidates should note, however, that Jerome employees (whether full time or part time) are ineligible to apply for direct or indirect Jerome grants. Any individual interested in applying for a Jerome Hill Artist Fellowship, a Film/Video/Digital Production grant, an organizational grant for a nonprofit where the applicant occupies a central staff position or role, or to any regranting program sponsored by Jerome in 2022 or 2023 should not apply for this Associate position.

Named for filmmaker/composer/painter Jerome Hill, the Jerome Foundation funds artists in all disciplines at early points in their careers and organizations who nurture, develop and/or produce, exhibit or publish such artists. Funding is limited to artists and organizations in Minnesota (where Jerome Hill was born) and New York City (where he spent much of his professional creative life).

The Foundation consciously embraces three core values which we strive to model in our practices as grantmakers and to support in our grantees. These are:

• Diversity: We consciously embrace diversity in the broadest sense. We supports a diverse range of artists and organizations, including but not limited to those of diverse cultures, races, sexual identities, genders, generations, aesthetics, points of view, physical abilities and organizational missions. We support a diverse range of artistic disciplines and forms created in a variety of contexts and for different audiences.
• Innovation and Risk: We applaud unconventional approaches to solving problems and support both artists and organizations that challenge and engage the traditional aesthetic and/or social dimensions of their respective disciplines.
• Humility: We work for artists (rather than the reverse) and believe that artists and organizations are the best authorities to define their needs and challenges—an essential humility reflective of Jerome Hill, our founder. The artists and arts organizations we support embrace their roles as part of a larger community of artists and ctizens, and consciously work with a sense of purpose, whether aesethetic, social or both.

The Foundation currently has a full time staff of 3, including a President, a Program Director and a Grants and Program Administrator. Additional part time staff include an accountant and a Controller.

The Foundation awards approximately $4 million in grants each year. In 2020, the Board of Directors agreed to increase this grants budget by an additional $8M over four years.

For more information about the Foundation, to see its Annual Report for the most recent fiscal year, and to learn more about its programs, Staff, Board and Members, please explore this website.

 All applications should be submitted electronically through Submittable at this link: https://jeromefdn.submittable.com/submit/9fe00f33-0ebf-4664-ba46-0138c6d7d869/program-associate-nyc

The application will ask for a cover letter (see details below), the names of 3 references that the Foundation can contact (including both an email and a phone number for those contacts), and a resume. Additional “yes/no”-style questions around employment eligibility and potential conflicts of interest are also included.

In the cover letter (which has a recommended maximum of 500 words), please explain why a temporary part-time position at the Jerome Foundation is of interest and how this experience might advance your longer-term professional goals, and provide specific examples of ways you have aligned with/worked to further Jerome’s values of risk/innovation, diversity and humility. Please also add any relevant considerations of arts experience that would not be apparent from the resume.

The Foundation will interview a limited number of candidates. Interviewed candidates will be asked to supply additional information at the time they are scheduled for the interview.

All candidates will receive notification when their materials are received, and additional notification when the position has been filled. Candidates should not make additional inquiries once their materials have been received.

Apply via Submittable