JOB SUMMARY:
What We Are Looking For
We seek a highly strategic, organized, proactive, and trusted partner to support the Chief Impact & Innovation Officer (CIIO) and the Program Strategy & Innovation (PSI) leadership team. The ideal candidate is an exceptional project manager and communicator who excels at driving execution, enabling senior leaders to operate at their highest level, and ensuring PSI’s work is aligned, high-performing, and well-coordinated across the organization.
Job Summary
The Senior Manager, Program Strategy & Innovation serves as a critical integrator and force multiplier for the CIIO and PSI leadership. This position plays a central role in coordinating leadership rhythms, advancing strategic initiatives, strengthening team culture, driving organizational performance reporting, and managing PSI’s contributions to CARE’s governance processes. The role functions similarly to a “chief of staff” but without that title, supporting both daily operational excellence and long-term strategic impact.
RESPONSIBILITIES:
Executive and Leadership Staffing
- Manage leadership rhythms for the CIIO, including agenda setting, preparation, and follow-up for the PSI Management Team and Shared Leadership Team.
- Drive prioritization and delegation to ensure the CIIO focuses on high-impact activities such as strategy, partnerships, and Board engagement.
- Prepare briefs, talking points, presentations, speeches, and decision materials for internal and external engagements.
- Lead PSI’s contributions to CARE governance processes, including developing materials for full Board meetings and owning agenda setting and preparation for the Program and Strategy Committee.
- Coordinate PSI’s representation in cross-organizational workstreams and ensure effective follow-through on decisions and action items.
- Maintain strong internal stakeholder relationships and support timely, high-quality correspondence and follow-up on behalf of the CIIO.
Strategic Initiatives, Portfolio Coordination, and Organizational Performance Reporting
- Lead or support cross-cutting strategic initiatives across PSI, ensuring strong project management, clear milestones, and consistent delivery.
- Track PSI progress against annual and multi-year priorities and maintain transparent dashboards, trackers, and reporting tools.
- Coordinate PSI’s contributions to CARE’s organizational performance reporting, synthesizing key programmatic and innovation-related metrics for enterprise-level dashboards and executive reviews.
- Identify bottlenecks and proactively troubleshoot operational challenges, convening the right stakeholders to drive solutions.
- Prepare regular status updates, briefing notes, and issue escalations for the CIIO and senior leaders.
External Positioning and Representation
- Support the CIIO’s external engagements by preparing high-quality materials, including speaking notes, pitch decks, social media content, and briefing packets.
- Represent PSI in select external meetings, partnerships, or technical forums as delegated.
- Collaborate with Communications and Advocacy teams to elevate CARE’s evidence, innovation, and impact story across audiences.
Team Culture, Internal Communications, and Cohesion
- Lead internal communications across PSI to promote clarity, alignment, inclusion, and team cohesion.
- Design team engagement rhythms, including all-staff meetings, learning sessions, retreats, onboarding processes, and recognition practices.
- Promote a positive, connected culture that strengthens PSI’s shared identity and reinforces CARE’s values.
- Support knowledge management, information flow, and cross-team coordination across PSI’s 100+ technical staff.
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