Director of Grantmaking & Strategy

Reports to: Executive Director
Location: Hybrid in NYC
Salary: $160,000-$185,000

About Humanity AI

Humanity AI is a $500 million five-year initiative dedicated to making sure people have a stake in the future of artificial intelligence. As part of Humanity AI, eleven of the nation’s most dynamic foundations supporting the arts, labor and work, democracy, education, and security will drive new investments toward establishing a people-driven future where AI delivers for humanity, strengthens communities, and enhances human creativity. Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors (RPA) will serve as the fiscal sponsor for Humanity AI and will manage a pooled fund of grants. Learn more at Humanity AI.

About the role

This leader will drive Humanity AI’s grantmaking and field-building strategy: discerning where our pooled fund can have the most influence on the future of AI, collaborating closely with organizations doing cutting edge work, and building trusted partnerships with a diverse array of grantees. We’re looking for a strategic thinker with deep experience in civil society who has sharp judgment about what makes a grant catalytic and a strong commitment to centering communities historically excluded from technology decisions.

Key Responsibilities

Grantmaking

• Translate Humanity AI’s strategy and emerging hypotheses into a coherent, multi-million-dollar grant portfolio, with a clear view of the levers of change in AI and Humanity AI’s role in influencing them
• Own the grant cycle end to end: RFP design, pipeline development, proposal review, and Steering Committee decision workflows
• Conduct programmatic due diligence on prospective grantees — site visits, reference calls, and organizational assessment
• Coordinate with Finance & Operations on charitable-status vetting and payment processing through RPA
• Develop annual grantmaking priorities and deployment plans with the Executive Director and Steering Committee
• Monitor grant progress and be accountable for demonstrating the results and impact of the portfolio, and proactively recommend reallocating resources when the evidence warrants
• Develop trusting relationships with grantees and identify opportunities to support them beyond financial awards

Ecosystem building & member alignment

• Build and lead coalitions across civil society, labor, academia, and industry, aligning diverse voices behind shared outcomes
• Serve as the substantive point of contact for Steering Committee members on grantmaking strategy and aligned-fund coordination
• Inform aligned funding strategies across Steering Committee members by surfacing co-funding opportunities across member portfolios and wider ecosystem
• Design and facilitate ecosystem convenings and funder convenings that ensure multi-directional exchange between Humanity AI members, grantees, and the broader field

Learning & strategy

• Shape a focused learning agenda from deployed grants that informs Humanity AI’s future and helps set an agenda for the broader field
• Translate grantee insight and other portfolio data into strategy — what is working, what is not, what it means for future grant deployment strategy
• Produce learning reports and impact summaries for the Steering Committee and public release
• Advise the ED on programmatic strategy, positioning, and narrative

Required qualifications

• Experienced Grantmaker: 8+ years of relevant experience in philanthropic grantmaking, field-building, or program leadership, including setting portfolio strategy, due diligence, and accountability for multi-million-dollar portfolios
• Public Interest Technology Expert: Sophisticated understanding of the levers, stakeholders, and approaches for influencing how AI is built and governed, with established relationships and credibility among civil society and public interest technology organizations working on AI
• Coalition Builder: Proven track record forging trusted relationships across grantees, funders, and policy communities; sought after for steering committees and advisory roles
• Learning-Driven Strategist: Uses evidence and grantee insight to evolve strategy; comfortable working with evaluators and translating findings for different audiences
• Proactive Problem Solver: Able to operate as a key thought partner with the ED to navigate the challenges of a new organization, problem solving and building without close direction
• Ally and Amplifier: Committed ally to those historically overlooked or excluded from technology decision making; eager to work in relationship with them to leverage Humanity AI’s position for strategic amplification and narrative change 

Working with AI

• Fluency using AI for landscape analysis, portfolio pattern-finding, and synthesis of grantee and evaluation material, with human verification on anything that informs a funding decision
• Proactive experimentation with new tools and sharing of what works across the team
• Responsible use of AI across functions, modelling transparency with Humanity AI stakeholders and grantees about where and how AI is used

Preferred qualifications

• Experience with pooled funds, intermediaries, or multi-funder collaboratives
• Experience working inside a nonprofit or civil society organization, bringing a grantee’s perspective to grantmaking
• Background in systems change analysis and grantmaking to build partner capacity and efficacy
• Strategic-level thinker who operates egolessly at the tactical level, narrowing potential for disconnects with fast feedback loops between what is being heard on the ground and what we’re doing
• A sought-after partner who builds, cultivates and reciprocally benefits a broad-based network of relationships across the country
• Exceptional written and verbal communication, demonstrating clarity, persuasion and sophisticated modulation across channels and different perspectives
• Comfort with ambiguity, experimentation and rapid iteration in an early-stage organization
• Experience designing learning initiatives or communities of practice

Compensation & benefits

We offer a competitive compensation and benefits package including health coverage, retirement benefits, paid sick leave, vacation and holidays, tuition reimbursement and access to professional development resources.

How to apply

Please submit a resume to careers@humanityai.ai with “Director of Grantmaking & Strategy” in the subject line. In lieu of a cover letter please share answers to the following questions:

1. Please describe your experience with due diligence and portfolio oversight in a grantmaking role. 
2. Please describe your experience in public interest technology.
3. Please describe how you have demonstrated working responsibly with AI in your grantmaking work. 
4. Are you able to work in-person in New York City three days per week or open to relocation to do so?
5. Are you currently authorized to work in the United States?
6. Do you now or will you in the future require visa sponsorship to work in the United States?
7. How did you learn about this opportunity?

Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors and Humanity AI celebrate the uniqueness of our staff, our partners, and the communities we serve. We are committed to inclusion with the goal of cultivating a culture of belonging and acceptance. We strive to embed this value in our philanthropic work to advance a more just, equitable and sustainable world. RPA is an equal opportunity employer.