Associate Manager, Bespoke Initiatives

About Robin Hood

Founded in 1988, Robin Hood finds, fuels, and creates the most impactful and scalable solutions lifting families out of poverty in New York City. The largest poverty fighting organization in New York City, Robin Hood partners with top nonprofits in New York City and invests in legal services, housing, meals, workforce development training, education programs, and other vital services that give New Yorkers in need the tools they need to build better lives. The programs it funds are often the first of their kind and serve as demonstration models to identify what works before being replicated in other cities. Because its Board of Directors covers 100% of all administrative, fundraising, and evaluation costs, every dollar donated goes directly to organizations helping New Yorkers in need.

While Robin Hood’s primary focus is on New York, its impact extends far beyond the borders of the city. Its pioneering, metrics-based approach has become the gold standard for charities around the nation as Robin Hood works to understand and evaluate the impact of its partners to ensure that its philanthropic dollars are utilized to maximum impact. Robin Hood also supports its community partners and their leaders with financial and strategic support and management assistance that allows those organizations to maximize their impact.

Building on our 30 years of experience, Robin Hood is expanding our impact with an explicit focus on lifting families sustainably and measurably out of poverty through supporting the most effective community partners; influencing public policy; raising our thought leadership profile; importing and exporting effective ideas and strategies nationally; and building new collaborations with strategic partners. As New York City emerges from the worst of the global pandemic, we are focused on getting families back on their feet; getting kids back on track; and getting New Yorkers back to work.

Robin Hood also understands that if we are to support families living in poverty and find permanent pathways out of poverty and towards financial independence, we must become an effective partner with government, especially at the City and State levels. We do this by leveraging the expertise of those who are closest to the challenges of poverty, including community members, community-based organizations, and others with specialized skills and knowledge. We also aim to collaborate with New York City government to fund program and policy innovations that hold the promise of expanding economic opportunity in New York City – providing nimble “risk capital” for high-potential strategies. In this way, we seek to leverage our philanthropic investments by finding ways to advance the highest-impact strategies at scale.

Given its long-standing reputation among influencers and support of over 200 New York City non-profit organizations, Robin Hood has the unique ability to be a catalyzing force for households experiencing poverty, bringing distinct constituencies together to develop and spread the most effective strategies to advance economic mobility in New York City and beyond.

Reporting Relationship

The Associate Manager, Bespoke Initiatives is on the Knowledge and Bespoke team and will report to the Chief of Knowledge Officer and Senior Advisor to the CEO.

Position Overview

The Associate Manager, Bespoke Initiatives provides support for Bespoke projects for the Knowledge and Bespoke Department and acts as a back-up Program Officer or other roles as needed. This is an all-around utility role and reports directly to the Chief of Knowledge Officer and Senior Advisor to the CEO. Other project assignments not specifically described below may be made on an as needed basis at the discretion of the Chief of Knowledge Officer and Senior Advisor to the CEO.

Responsibilities

Key responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

• Manage day-to-day coordination and execution of selected Bespoke Initiative workstreams, including maintaining project plans, tracking milestones, identifying risks or gaps, and ensuring timely follow-through on deliverables.
• Lead planning and coordination for monthly Bespoke team meetings, including developing agendas, preparing materials, facilitating knowledge-sharing opportunities, capturing key decisions, and driving follow-up on action items.
• Partner with the Chief Knowledge Officer and Senior Advisor to the CEO to support donor engagement, including preparing briefing materials, coordinating meeting logistics, tracking next steps, and ensuring timely follow-up.
• Provide project management and operational coverage and support to Blue Ridge Labs, Learning + Tech, Capital, and other high-priority donor related initiatives and emerging projects helping to advance priorities across a complex and matrixed environment and escalating issues as needed.
• Conduct research and synthesize information to support special initiatives and exploratory areas of work, including potential climate and environmental efforts; prepare summaries, options, or recommendations for review by senior leaders.
• Provide short-term project coverage for teams with identified capacity needs, helping clarify scope, organize priorities, coordinate stakeholders, and keep work moving forward.
• Support cross-team communication and alignment across Bespoke Initiatives by maintaining project trackers, preparing status updates, documenting decisions, and sharing relevant information with stakeholders.
• Identify opportunities to improve team processes, meeting structures, documentation, and knowledge-sharing practices, and recommend practical improvements to increase efficiency and coordination.

Qualifications

• At least 2 years of relevant work experience, Bachelor’s Degree preferred

• Demonstrated ability to build rapport with a wide range of stakeholders, navigate interpersonal dynamics, and build long-term relationships across diverse teams and organizations.
• Ability to communicate directly and transparently using a variety of tools and formats, including data, visual aids, and presentations, adapting style to the audience.
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple workstreams and competing priorities, track milestones, organize a diversified workload, and follow through on deliverables in a timely and detail-oriented manner.
• Actively seeks feedback to improve and demonstrates a growth mindset, learning from setbacks and adjusting approaches accordingly.
• Ability to identify themes and opportunities across both quantitative and qualitative information to support decision-making.
• High attention to detail with a commitment to accuracy.
• Entrepreneurial mindset with a strong collaborative work ethic

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Robin Hood is committed to promoting diversity, equity, inclusion, and representation in all aspects of its work. As New York City’s largest poverty-fighting organization, Robin Hood believes that building a diverse team is fundamental to its ability to effectively serve and strengthen organizations serving the most vulnerable communities in the city, and to influence the policies that affect them.

Robin Hood believes in the potential that diversity creates – deep and responsive relationships with its community partners; the ability to solve complex problems efficiently and effectively; and, most importantly, the ability of its diverse staff to work to its full capacity.

Robin Hood builds diversity, inclusion, and equity practices into all aspects of its work. Its practices, values, traditions, and beliefs are embedded in the inclusive culture that it creates. Operationally, its formal and informal structures support a work environment that advances the professional development of staff at all levels, allows for innovation, and grounds its work as poverty fighters.

Robin Hood seeks to attract and retain staff that reflects the communities that it serves and is enhanced by its efforts at meaningful inclusion. It ensures that team members are empowered to make decisions, offer actionable feedback, and share credit for team success. Further, Robin Hood seeks to develop talent professionally and has created an intentional focus on mentorship and sponsorship, particularly of junior staff. Its goal is to encourage long term talent retention and engagement, while fostering a culture of innovation.

Robin Hood Guiding Principles

As an organization committed to economic mobility, our work is grounded in the following Guiding Principles :

• Diversity, equity, and inclusion
• Proximity and humanity
• Risk-taking and innovation

Our professional community reflects myriad demographic characteristics, perspectives, and backgrounds, which includes various identities that reflect diversity in gender identity and expression, race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, ability, and socioeconomic status. Our colleagues have access to opportunity and advancement, as we promote fair and equitable treatment and have encouraged participation by underrepresented groups. As a team, we promote a sense of belonging, high levels of engagement, and shared respect.

• Robin Hood puts people first. Always.
• Robin Hood is unafraid to take action and create solutions.
• Robin Hood is data driven and heart led.
• Robin Hood works the coat check.

Salary and Benefits

The salary range for this role is $84,000 – $90,000.

Robin Hood offers a competitive compensation package, with a salary range determined by years of experience, skills, and abilities. Each candidate’s placement within the range will be based on these factors while ensuring alignment with our commitment to equitable internal pay practices.

Our extensive benefits include medical, dental, vision, and life insurance, a 403(b) retirement plan with employer match, and a 12% employer contribution to a 401(a) retirement plan. We also support a healthy work-life balance by providing new hires with 20 days of accrued paid time off. This position is based in New York City and follows a hybrid work environment. Employees are required to work on-site three (3) days per week, with Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday designated as the standard in-office days. Beginning in January 2027, Robin Hood's in-office requirement will increase to four (4) days per week. Please note that the hybrid schedule is subject to change based on organizational priorities and team needs. Any adjustments will be communicated well in advance.