Program Officer

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Position description

SPOON is the only global organization dedicated to transforming nutrition and feeding for children with disabilities and children without consistent family care. These children face the highest risk of malnutrition because the systems meant to support them weren’t built to include them. SPOON empowers and equips families, communities, and partner organizations/providers to safely feed and adequately nourish children through training, implementation of proprietary tools, and advocacy. Through strategic partnerships with governments, nonprofit organizations, and community service providers, SPOON transfers knowledge and skills to partners to provide disability-inclusive and trauma-informed nutrition and feeding care for children vulnerable to malnutrition. In 2024, SPOON received a Zero Project award for its progressive approach and system-changing work that has catalyzed national policy change and yielded dramatic improvements in children’s health and development.

The SPOON team consists of 12 dedicated, focused, and compassionate individuals. While we now all work remotely, we were founded in and had an office in Portland, OR for many years. The hard and serious work we do is made easier by a compassionate and inclusive culture that we nurture and value regardless of where we are based.

SPOON’s Program Officer plays a key role in advancing SPOON’s mission by supporting the design, implementation, and quality of nutrition and feeding programs across our project countries. Reporting to the Senior Director of Programs & Partnerships, this role manages day-to-day project activities, financial and grant compliance, and partner communications to ensure programs run smoothly and deliver lasting impact. The Program Officer also contributes to monitoring and evaluation, donor reporting, and cross-team coordination, helping translate SPOON’s on-the-ground work into strong, sustainable outcomes for children and caregivers. Successful candidates will bring exceptional project management and budget skills, soundrelationship management, and a track record of meeting goals in complex, multi-stakeholder environments.

This position is initially funded for one year through a grant, with strong organizational intent to extend it into a permanent role as funding allows.

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS

Program Management

• Manage distinct SPOON implementation and advocacy projects as assigned, including designing and tracking work plans, timelines, and deliverables
• Support coordination of strategic relationships with donors, implementing partners, government partners, local contractors, and other stakeholders, and serve as a point of contact as required
• Support the Senior Director of Programs & Partnerships in ensuring program quality, including standardized templates and documentation for program outputs, a lessons-learned process, Project Cycle Management, Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E), and adherence to best-practice standards
• Conduct desk research on countries, policy opportunities, and other program-relevant topics to inform program design and strategy
• Maintain an electronic filing system for program documentation, stakeholder contacts, and key deliverables
• Support logistics, international travel, and technical needs for the Program Team, contractors, technical experts, and partners

Grant and Financial Oversight

• Monitor project and grant activities to ensure programmatic, contractual, and financial compliance
• Support financial management, including tracking project and grant budget expenditures and projections, contributing to the annual budget process, and processing vendor and partner payments
• Manage sub-awards and contractors, ensuring compliance with contractual and technical deliverables

Monitoring & Evaluation

• Support M&E of program activities and review M&E deliverables as needed
• Track program progress against work plans and results frameworks, flagging risks early and proposing solutions

Communications

• Document and share stories and photos from project locations — with informed consent and in partnership with the families and communities featured — in collaboration with the Director of Development
• Contribute to donor reports, proposals, and program updates, translating field data into clear narratives

Qualifications

In addition to the specific job requirements, staff at SPOON embody certain core values to support our mission: a passion for the mission, persistence, and a commitment to learning and evidence.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in international development, public health, public policy, nonprofit or business management, public administration or a related field. Candidates with 10 or more years of directly applicable professional experience may be considered in place of a degree.
• At least 5 years of experience managing international development programs or projects, including experience working with donors and/or grant management and government partners or implementing partners.
• Proficiency monitoring budgets and tracking expenditures, with a solid understanding of grant compliance requirements
• Experience managing or coordinating sub-awards, contracts, and vendor relationships
• Familiarity with Project Cycle Management and core M&E concepts (work plans, results frameworks, indicator tracking)
• Excellent written communication skills, including experience contributing to donor reports or proposals
• Solution-oriented approach to facing challenges and ability to work well under pressure and manage multiple deadlines and complex schedules
• Entrepreneurial attitude, results-driven, and able to work independently as well as collaboratively

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s degree in international development, public health, nutrition, public administration, or a related field
• International experience living and managing programs in low- and middle-income countries preferred, with demonstrated success operating in cross-cultural contexts and building relationships

TERM OF EMPLOYMENT:This is a full-time exempt position, with a salary range of $65,000-$75,000 per year. Benefits include health, vision, and dental coverage, 401K plan with employer match, life insurance, long-term disability, paid parental and family leave, and generous paid time off. This is a US-based remote position that may require some domestic and international travel throughout the year. This role does not have supervisory responsibilities.

Application instructions

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