Program Support Officer - Initiatives and Challenges at Skills Outside School Foundation

Reporting Relationship: Senior Programs Manager
Employment Type: Part-time

Job Description

• The Initiatives and Challenges Program Support Officer manages the innovative process of the organization.
• (S)He will be tasked with identifying innovative potentialities and bringing them to fruition in order to best benefit the overall goals of the organization.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Brainstorms with the creative team to discover alternative solutions and approaches to old problems.
• Plans effective new ideas and innovative strategies for product development, marketing, branding, or business opportunities.
• Recognizes promising ideas and introduces them into the organization's plans and discards ideas that are ineffective, costly, or beyond the organization's mission or abilities to develop.
• Strategizes with the team to transform general ideas into workable solutions.
• Analyzes existing practices to isolate areas ripe for improvement or enhancement.
• Encourages creative thinking in the team and nurtures innovative thinking across all areas of the organization.
• Follows target audience responses to new ideas, tracks and analyzes the success of new products or services, and responds to the target audience's questions.
• Monitors research and development of other organizations to spot trends in innovation and supplement research findings in the organization's industry.
• Allocates resources to maintain the organization's existing agenda while accounting for new projects.
• Tests the progress of innovation and adjusts the pace or direction of new projects in accordance.
• Keeps all new projects in line with the company's mission and maintains consistency with the organization's message and brand.

Requirements
Education and Experience:

• Bachelor's degree is preferred but not required.
• Background in marketing, research, and development, product development, or strategy is recommended.
• Proven experience in the industry or working in a leadership role in a similar industry.
• Portfolio of past work.
• Minimum of 2 years' experience.

Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Must possess an inquisitive and creative mind.
• Must be independent and self-directed but able to work and lead a team of creative individuals.
• Superior research and analytical skills to track and predict trends.
• Must be able to work creatively within a budget and use innovation to find ways of more managing resources.
• Strong business knowledge, understanding of a variety of business practices, and familiarity with the company's industry.
• Must be able to collaborate with executives, creative teams, research and development, and project management teams.
• Must have excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to persuasively sell ideas.
• Must be willing to take calculated risks and manage expectations.