About the Obama Foundation

At the Obama Foundation, we are guided by a core belief: that ordinary people working together can change history. Our mission is to inspire those people to take action, empower them to change their world for the better, and connect them so they can achieve more together than they can alone.

We were founded by community organizers, so when we seek change, we do it by bringing people together. 

That approach begins at home, on the South Side of Chicago, where we are building the Obama Presidential Center. The Center represents a historic opportunity for Chicago: a chance to build a world-class museum and public gathering space that celebrates our nation’s first African American President and First Lady, steps away from where he began his career, where she was raised, and where—together—they made their home. 

But that approach extends to all our work, whether it’s holding leadership training sessions in communities throughout the U.S., bringing local leaders together in countries around the world, working to support the global education of girls, or ensuring young men of color have pathways to opportunity.

As President Obama has said, “we cannot solve the challenges of our time unless we solve them together.” So join us.

For more information, please visit www.obama.org.

Location

Chicago; Washington, D.C.; Remote; Hybrid | Multiple States

Purpose of the Role

As a key member of the Global Programs team, the Deputy Director, USA leads the design and implementation of the Obama Foundation’s regional leadership development program in the United States. In pursuit of the Foundation’s mission, the Deputy Director,USA will help develop and execute a strategy to inspire, empower, and connect the next generation of civil society, business, and public sector leaders with the values, skills, and opportunities in order to build more prosperous, sustainable, equitable and inclusive communities in their region and around the world. 

As the Deputy Director, USA, also called the US Program Lead, you’ll be reporting directly to the Director of the Obama Leaders Program.

Core Job Responsibilities

• Program Management: Design, implement, and oversee cohort-based regional programming, both virtual and in-person. Work closely with the Director of Global Programs Quality & Impact to facilitate monitoring & measurement activities to evaluate the impact of the USA program.
• Staff Management: Manage workflow, deliverables, and performance of Program Associates and supporting implementation staff. Partner with said individuals for setting and achieving team-wide goals that contribute to strongest impact for the overall USA program.
• Team Collaboration: Collaborate with the Director, fellow Program Leads, and Design, Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (DMEL) staff to refine a shared values-driven leadership development curriculum that incorporates equity in the design process and is customized for regional audiences and contexts. Align program content and design elements across all Obama Leaders programs, sharing best practices and resources. Provide rationale for appropriate regional differentiations. Actively seek early input and buy in from other Foundation Departments that are critical to program implementation (e.g., Creative Communications, Product Tech, Legal, Obama Presidential Center).
• Vendor Procurement: Research and identify program speakers, facilitators, and other partners with an emphasis on thought leaders from the region. Engage internal and external collaborators, such as contractors and consultants, to facilitate the timely and successful completion of delegated activities and deliverables.
• External Partnerships: Build and maintain partnerships with a broad set of organizations, institutions, and individuals, both inside and outside of the region, to build networks that can support the execution of shared strategies and programming. Serve as regional representative on global issues on behalf of the Foundation, as well as the Foundation’s internal liaison to issues and relations in the United States.
• Participant Selection: Work with the Global Programs Operations team to implement the application and selection process for the regional leadership program. Lead the review and selection of an inclusive, highly skilled cohort of emerging leaders from the US annually.
• Alumni Engagement: Collaborate with the Global Programs Network team to contribute to the design and implementation of an alumni engagement strategy as part of our goal of creating a dynamic global network of changemakers. Support integration of regional program alumni into activities. Assist with alumni relationship management efforts. Where possible, encourage and plan cross-cohort alumni programming for issue-based and/or geographic cohorts.
• Development and Creative Communications: Support donor and public engagement through programming opportunities and conversations with donors and prospects. Contribute to communications materials for the general public and to development reporting for funders, board, and the Foundation’s Creative Communications Team.
• Finance: Draft and manage a detailed approved budget for programming. Serve as a financially responsible steward of foundation resources.
• Other Duties: Perform as assigned.

Key Deliverables / Outcomes

• Refine and implement programming that lifts emerging leaders and is specific to the needs of the USA program, but also integrated with broader Leaders programs. 
• Enact the Foundation’s five-year strategy and budget in the United States, deploying tactics to recruit applicants and partners from underrepresented countries and communities in the region
• Co-design values-driven leadership curriculum and shared program delivery model 
• Serve as primary liaison from regional program to alumni engagements
• Maintain program activation calendar and schedule 
• Develop and implement a partnership engagement strategy and plan in the US.

Required Qualifications

• Significant experience developing and managing social impact or leadership programs focused on leadership, entrepreneurship, civil society, and/or leadership skill-building.
• Deep understanding of US history, culture, current affairs, and diversity in the American context.
• Significant teaching, training, facilitation, and/or curriculum design experience, including strong understanding of pedagogy. Public speaking experience, including facilitating conversations with high-profile speakers.
• Demonstrated experience utilizing equity and inclusion lenses to achieve mission and program objectives.
• Experience managing application-based selection processes at scale.
• Experience creating virtual curriculum and understanding of digital tools required for social, web, email, etc. recruitment and engagement.
• Experience supporting extensive and active alumni networks.
• Strong communications skills: verbal, written, team collaboration.

In the interest of employee health and safety during the pendency of the COVID-19 global pandemic, the Obama Foundation is requiring that all prospective employees present proof that they are fully-vaccinated against COVID-19, or seek a reasonable accommodation for religious or medical reasons, prior to their first day of employment.

Equal Opportunity Employer

The Foundation is committed to creating a diverse work environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. The Foundation does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, gender identity, religion, sexual orientation, age, disability, parental status, veteran status, or any other protected status under applicable laws. We encourage individuals of all backgrounds to apply. If you are a qualified candidate with a disability, please e-mail us at careers@obama.org if you require a reasonable accommodation to complete this application.