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Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Xenon Program Officer

💰 $70,000 - $110,000

Program ManagementGrantsNonprofitMonitoring & Evaluation

🎯 Role Definition

The Xenon Program Officer manages a portfolio of grants and program initiatives from concept through closeout, ensuring high-quality program delivery, compliance with donor and organizational standards, rigorous monitoring and evaluation, and sustained partner relationships. This position works closely with program directors, finance, legal, communications, and external partners to maximize outcome-driven impact and to inform strategic decision-making.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • Program Coordinator / Program Assistant with 1–3 years of program support experience
  • Grants Associate or Grants Administrator with hands-on grant lifecycle experience
  • Project Manager in nonprofit, government, or international development settings

Advancement To:

  • Senior Program Officer / Senior Grants Manager
  • Program Director / Portfolio Manager
  • Head of Programs, Director of Grants, or Deputy Country Director

Lateral Moves:

  • Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning (MEL) Specialist
  • Partnership or Stakeholder Engagement Manager
  • Policy Advisor or Advocacy Manager

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  • Lead end-to-end grant and program management for an assigned portfolio, including solicitation, due diligence, contracting, implementation oversight, risk management, and closeout to ensure programs meet objectives, stay on budget, and comply with organizational and donor requirements.
  • Manage the solicitation and review process for proposals and concept notes, draft funding recommendations and clear, evidence-based memos for program leadership, and ensure alignment with Xenon’s strategic priorities and investment criteria.
  • Conduct thorough programmatic and financial due diligence on prospective partners, including background checks, capacity assessments, budget analysis, and verification of legal and compliance documentation.
  • Negotiate and draft grant agreements, scopes of work, budgets, payment schedules, and performance milestones in coordination with legal and finance teams, and ensure timely execution and amendment processing.
  • Serve as the primary point of contact for grantees and partners, providing regular technical guidance, performance feedback, and capacity-strengthening support to improve program quality and sustainability.
  • Develop and maintain detailed work plans, logical frameworks, theories of change, and results frameworks that translate strategic objectives into measurable indicators, activities, timelines, and resourcing.
  • Design and implement monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) plans, including KPI definition, baseline and endline measurement, survey design, data collection protocols, and data quality assurance to measure outcomes and inform adaptive management.
  • Oversee routine program monitoring through site visits, partner meetings, virtual check-ins, and progress reviews; prepare concise progress reports and escalation of risks or implementation challenges to program leadership.
  • Analyze program and evaluation data to produce actionable insights, trend analyses, dashboards, and evidence briefs that inform programmatic decision-making and public-facing communications.
  • Prepare and submit high-quality donor reports, internal briefings, and compliance documentation in line with donor schedules and organizational standards; ensure accuracy and timeliness of all reporting deliverables.
  • Coordinate cross-functional project teams, including finance, legal, communications, procurement, and operations, to ensure integrated delivery and smooth operational support for program activities.
  • Manage program budgets and forecasting, track expenditures against budgets, approve disbursements within delegated authority, and liaise with finance to reconcile variances and maintain financial controls.
  • Identify, cultivate, and sustain strategic partnerships with civil society organizations, government agencies, private sector actors, and research institutions to leverage complementary strengths and scale impact.
  • Design and deliver capacity building and technical assistance to partners in areas such as project management, MEL, financial management, and compliance to strengthen partner performance and sustainability.
  • Lead or contribute to program design processes, pilot testing, and scale-up strategies, incorporating evidence from evaluations and field learning to refine approaches and maximize effectiveness.
  • Facilitate stakeholder convenings, workshops, and learning events to surface lessons learned, build networks, and disseminate evidence to internal and external audiences.
  • Implement risk management and mitigation strategies, including compliance monitoring, safeguarding, fraud prevention, and contingency planning, escalating high-risk issues promptly to leadership.
  • Maintain robust knowledge management practices by documenting case studies, lessons learned, and best practices; contribute to internal knowledge repositories and external dissemination materials.
  • Support resource mobilization by contributing to funder pitches, proposal development, concept notes, and strategic engagement with prospective donors and partners.
  • Ensure adherence to organizational policies on procurement, safeguarding, ethics, diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), and data protection throughout the program lifecycle.
  • Support impact evaluations and third-party assessments, coordinate external evaluators, manage terms of reference, and ensure evaluator independence and high methodological standards.
  • Monitor external context, policy shifts, and sector trends that could affect program design and implementation; provide written analysis and recommend strategic adjustments.
  • Mentor and provide performance feedback to junior program staff and consultants, supporting professional development and promoting a culture of continuous improvement and learning.
  • Maintain accurate program records and grant files in the organization’s grant management systems (e.g., Salesforce, Fluxx, or bespoke CRM) and ensure timely updates for transparency and audit readiness.

Secondary Functions

  • Support ad-hoc data requests and exploratory data analysis.
  • Contribute to the organization's data strategy and roadmap.
  • Collaborate with business units to translate data needs into engineering requirements.
  • Participate in sprint planning and agile ceremonies within the data engineering team.
  • Provide backup coverage for other program team functions during staff absences, including meeting facilitation, report preparation, and partner follow-up.
  • Assist marketing and communications teams by contributing program inputs for newsletters, case studies, and impact stories to raise the profile of Xenon initiatives.
  • Support the procurement and contracting process for consultants and vendors, ensuring scopes, deliverables, and deliverable-based payment structures are well defined.
  • Participate in budget planning cycles and annual strategic planning workshops to integrate program learnings into organizational strategy.
  • Maintain stakeholder contact lists and relationship management logs to support continuity and institutional memory across program cycles.
  • Contribute to compliance audits and support the audit process by providing required documentation, explanations, and remedial action plans.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • Grant lifecycle management: issuing RFPs, conducting due diligence, negotiating grant agreements, disbursing funds, and managing close-outs.
  • Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E): experience designing MEL frameworks, KPIs, baselines/endlines, mixed-methods evaluations, and data quality assurance.
  • Budgeting & Financial Oversight: budget development, variance analysis, financial tracking, forecasting, and familiarity with grant financial controls.
  • Data analysis and visualization: advanced Excel, familiarity with statistical software (e.g., Stata, R, or SPSS) and dashboard tools (e.g., Tableau, Power BI).
  • Proposal writing and donor reporting: ability to draft compelling proposals, concept notes, and high-quality donor reports aligned to donor templates.
  • Project management methodologies: experience using Agile/Scrum or PRINCE2 methodologies, and project management tools like Trello, Asana, or MS Project.
  • CRM and grant management systems: working knowledge of Salesforce, Fluxx, Microsoft Dynamics, or similar platforms.
  • Risk and compliance management: safeguarding, anti-fraud controls, donor compliance (e.g., USAID, EU, DFID, foundations) and contract compliance.
  • Program design and theory of change development: capacity to translate strategic goals into operational plans with measurable outcomes.
  • Evaluation procurement and management: developing TORs, managing independent evaluators, ensuring methodological rigor and ethical standards.

Soft Skills

  • Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to synthesize complex information into clear recommendations for senior leadership and funders.
  • Stakeholder engagement and relationship management with partners, donors, government officials, and civil society.
  • Critical thinking and analytical problem-solving to interpret monitoring data and make evidence-based recommendations.
  • Time management and multi-project prioritization in fast-paced, deadline-driven environments.
  • Leadership and mentoring skills to coach junior staff, consultants, and partner teams.
  • Cultural sensitivity, emotional intelligence, and ability to work effectively across diverse geographies and contexts.
  • Negotiation and influence to secure partner buy-in and resolve contract/implementation challenges.
  • Adaptability and resilience to operate in changing political, operational, or funding environments.
  • Facilitation and workshop design skills for multi-stakeholder learning events and capacity-building sessions.
  • Attention to detail and high standards for quality assurance in documentation and reporting.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

  • Bachelor’s degree in International Development, Public Policy, Business Administration, Public Health, Environmental Science, Economics, or a related field.

Preferred Education:

  • Master’s degree in International Development, Public Policy, Public Administration, Business Administration (MBA), or a technical discipline relevant to the Xenon portfolio.

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • International Development
  • Public Policy / Public Administration
  • Monitoring & Evaluation / Statistics
  • Public Health / Epidemiology
  • Business Administration / Finance
  • Environmental Science / Sustainability

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 3–7 years of progressive experience managing grants, programs, or projects in nonprofit, philanthropic, government, or international development settings.

Preferred: 5+ years of demonstrated experience in grant management, program design, M&E, budget oversight, and direct partner engagement, including experience with donor-funded projects and multi-stakeholder partnerships. Prior experience in a sector relevant to Xenon’s mission (e.g., climate, health, education, governance, technology for development) is highly desirable.

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