Program Officer, Affordable Housing

Location: Tulsa, OK

Work Arrangement: Hybrid (3 days in office; relocation to Tulsa required)

Employment Type: Full-time, Exempt

About the Employer

The Ruth Nelson Family Foundation (RNFF) is a Tulsa-based, private foundation committed to disrupting intergenerational poverty by strengthening housing, health, and learning systems. The Foundation seeks to deploy capital with urgency and discipline to advance economic mobility for Tulsa families. Affordable housing is foundational to the Foundation's work. RNFF believes that increasing supply, preserving affordability, and stabilizing families requires more than grantmaking—it requires deploying a mix of capital, aligning cross-sector partners, and developing leaders to build a network of local housing advocates and developers.

Role Summary

The Program Officer will be responsible for developing, managing, and evaluating a portfolio of grants and initiatives to fulfill RNFF's mission, especially its commitment to increasing access to affordable housing in Tulsa. This role is ideal for a community development leader, housing developer, housing finance professional, or nonprofit leader ready to deploy significant housing investments in Tulsa. The ideal candidate will have real-world understanding of capital stacks, public subsidies, construction realities, and the regulatory environment. As a key member of a small team, this individual will serve as a thought partner to staff and Trustees, reporting to the Program Director.

What You'll Do

Contribute to the design, implementation, and iteration of RNFF's affordable housing strategy, develop issue-area specific priorities, frameworks, and funding approaches.
Analyze and overcome gaps in the housing ecosystem, such as predevelopment capital, operating subsidies, land, capacity, and policy constraints.
Recommend strategic "big bets" that can unlock stalled projects, de-risk innovation, or influence public policy.
Oversee the lifecycle of a portfolio of grants, from sourcing and due diligence to reporting and evaluation.
Evaluate grant applications and development proposals for mission alignment and impact potential.
Assess strengths and opportunities of key nonprofit business areas including finance, management, program evaluation, fundraising and development, and governance.
Conduct site visits, reference checks, due diligence, and risk analysis.
Recommend RNFF investments to fill gaps, leverage public and private funds, and accelerate housing production.
Prepare written grant recommendations for review by staff and Board of Directors.
Partner with developers, intermediaries, lenders, and public agencies to move projects forward.
Monitor grants for compliance and regularly assess portfolio performance, identifying successes and opportunities for greater impact.
Support the Program Director with the development of reports to aggregate grant results and communicate the Foundation's impact in the community.
Develop the measurement, learning, and evaluation strategy for the Foundation's affordable housing work.
Contribute to a culture that fosters a supportive, accountable, and high-performing team and provide opportunities to educate and share expertise with staff and community partners.
Support cross-team collaboration with grants administration, communications, and operations.
Cultivate relationships with nonprofit leaders, funders, policymakers, and stakeholders.
Represent RNFF at conferences, events, and collaborative tables, elevating the Foundation's mission and impact.
Act as a connector and convener within and beyond the Foundation's priority issue areas.
Speak, write, facilitate, present, and plan or host events with the goal of uplifting grantee partners and calling other funders in, not out.
Provide strategic insight on the issues facing Tulsa County and how the Foundation can leverage solutions via grantmaking and mission-aligned investments.
Bring deep knowledge and curiosity about the Foundation's core areas of investment and stay abreast of research, innovations, and best practices relevant to RNFF's mission.
Identify high-leverage opportunities to use RNFF's dollars, influence, and partnerships to drive systemic change.
Recommend and design new initiatives, collaborations, and special projects that extend the Foundation's reach.
Collaborate with finance and grants management to ensure thoughtful, equitable, and compliant allocation of funds.

Required Qualifications

7+ years' experience in community development, affordable housing development, housing finance, or philanthropy.
Understanding of LIHTC deals, layered financing, public-private partnerships, or preservation transactions.
Familiarity with pre-development risk, construction timelines, and operating realities.
Strong collaboration, facilitation, and relationship-building skills.
Exceptional organizational, analytical, and written communication abilities.
A collaborative, humble, and equity-driven approach to leadership.

Preferred Qualifications

Knowledge of Tulsa-area issues, opportunities, and philanthropy.
Experience with trust-based and/or capacity-building grantmaking models.
Ability to build trusting relationships with diverse populations and personalities.
Familiarity with the theory of systems change.
Familiarity with private foundation operations, compliance, and governance.
Self-directed and willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done.
Team player who collaborates with coworkers and community partners.
Continuous learner who is curious and engaged.
Passionate about issues of social, economic, and racial justice.
Active listener with a positive attitude and great sense of humor.

Compensation

$140K–$200K annually, commensurate with experience.

Ruth Nelson Family Foundation jobs

Program Officer, Affordable Housing