President & CEO

About Robert Sterling Clark Foundation

The Robert Sterling Clark Foundation (RSCF) is a private foundation headquartered in New York City that supports people and organizations working to build a more just, equitable, and vibrant New York City. The foundation maintains a strong commitment to leadership development and invests in the people who lead change and the relationships that help them do their work effectively. The foundation practices trust-based philanthropy through sustained relationships with grantee partners, flexible support, and a willingness to listen and learn. Its approach recognizes that nonprofit leaders understand their organizations and communities, and that a funder can be most useful when it responds to their priorities. Alongside grants, the foundation offers opportunities for peer learning, convening, and connection. RSCF has helped advance trust-based philanthropy nationally while maintaining a strong focus on New York City. Its small team works closely with nonprofit leaders and philanthropic peers to share learning and strengthen the sector. Over the past decade, under the leadership of previous leadership, RSCF has deepened its commitment to supporting leadership, promoting equity, and defining and expanding trust-based philanthropy through practices including sustained collaboration with grantee partners and providing support beyond financial grants. The foundation is also exploring how its investment portfolio can more fully support its mission with an expansion to impact investing.

About this Role

The President & CEO will report to the Board of Trustees and lead the foundation through its next chapter. This position represents an opportunity to build on trusted relationships and a distinctive approach to philanthropy while examining how the foundation can have the greatest impact in the years ahead. The President & CEO will oversee strategy, grantmaking, staff leadership, financial stewardship, and external engagement. Success will require comfort moving among diverse responsibilities: speaking on the national stage about trust-based philanthropy or nonprofit leadership development, listening to grantees, coaching colleagues, reviewing budgets, and helping the board make consequential decisions. The foundation seeks a leader who combines emotional intelligence with sound judgment, clear expectations, and consistent follow-through. The role is hybrid with offices in New York City, and the ideal candidate will understand the realities of nonprofit leadership and bring the confidence to lead a foundation whose influence depends on the quality of its relationships. The foundation values relationships, flexibility, and learning, with team members collaborating across functions and bringing their experience to a broad range of work. The President & CEO should enjoy leading in a small organization and be prepared to contribute directly alongside colleagues.

Responsibilities

• Work with the board and staff to articulate the foundation’s next phase of strategy, drawing on its leadership development work, grantee relationships, and learning from the field
• Translate strategy into clear priorities, realistic plans, and shared goals
• Help trustees assess progress, understand tradeoffs, and make timely decisions
• Build a candid, productive relationship with the board chair and individual trustees
• Prepare clear materials, communicate emerging issues early, and follow through on decisions
• Bring together differing perspectives, address disagreement directly and respectfully, and clarify the respective responsibilities of governance and management
• Guide grantmaking with staff and the board, ensuring that funding decisions reflect the foundation’s mission, available resources, and understanding of community needs
• Sustain trust-based practices through accessible communication, meaningful relationships, and support that respects grantees’ expertise and time
• Maintain direct relationships with grantee partners and participate in learning conversations, convenings, and other opportunities to understand their work
• Assess how to balance continuity for existing partners with openness to new organizations, ideas, and relationships across New York City
• Strengthen the foundation’s approach to learning and assessing progress, using grantee perspectives and appropriate evidence to inform decisions without imposing unnecessary reporting burdens
• Lead and develop a small, experienced team of five people, preserving a culture of care and collaboration while providing clear supervision, decision-making authority, and accountability
• Set priorities with staff, clarify roles and workloads, and establish consistent practices for feedback, professional development, and performance conversations
• Remain accessible and engaged in day-to-day work
• Identify where additional expertise, systems, or outside support would help the team deliver effectively
• Oversee the foundation’s budget, grant commitments, financial reporting, and long-term sustainability in partnership with staff, trustees, and external advisers
• Work with the board and investment advisers to oversee the endowment, understand portfolio performance and risk, and advance the foundation’s investment philosophy
• Ensure dependable operational systems, appropriate internal controls, and timely coordination of audits, required filings, human resources policies and protocols, and legal and regulatory compliance
• Represent the foundation with credibility and care among nonprofit leaders, philanthropic peers, and other partners in New York City and nationally
• Communicate the foundation’s purpose and learning clearly through conversation, writing, convenings, and public engagement
• Develop relationships beyond existing networks, creating opportunities for collaboration and introducing grantee partners to resources and people who can support their work
• Contribute to the continued development of trust-based philanthropy and leadership development, bringing curiosity and openness to perspectives that differ from the foundation’s own

Requirements

• Significant senior leadership experience in a nonprofit, foundation, or related organization, with responsibility for staff, strategy, and financial management
• Demonstrated commitment to equity and to the principles of trust-based philanthropy, reflected in how they lead, allocate resources, and engage partners
• Experience working effectively with a governing board and translating organizational priorities into goals and accountable execution
• Strong financial literacy, including the ability to oversee budgets and work productively with investment, accounting, and legal advisers
• Experience with endowments or mission-aligned investing is valuable
• Understanding of New York City’s nonprofit and civic landscape, or a demonstrated ability and commitment to develop that understanding and build relationships across the city
• Experience supporting leadership development, peer learning, or organizational change
• Ability to build trust and relationships through careful listening, follow-through, and treating people with respect regardless of their role or access to resources
• Recognition of power dynamics in philanthropy and ability to create room for honest feedback
• Strategic thinking and ability to connect the foundation’s mission to practical choices about resources and priorities
• Ability to test assumptions, learn from experience, and adapt without losing sight of long-term goals
• Entrepreneurial mindset to see opportunities and pursue them with creativity and resourcefulness
• Ability to try new approaches, form creative partnerships, and look for ways to expand the foundation’s reach
• Ability to lead people, develop others, set clear expectations, and address difficult issues directly
• Capacity to balance shared leadership with the responsibility to make decisions and ensure that work gets done
• Strong communication skills to explain complex ideas in plain language and listen across differences
• Ability to engage a board in substantive discussion and communicate decisions clearly to staff and partners
• Sound judgment in making thoughtful financial and organizational decisions and asking good questions of advisers
• Ability to weigh opportunity alongside risk and remain steady when circumstances are uncertain
• Willingness to acknowledge and correct mistakes

Benefits

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance with full monthly premium paid by the Foundation, coverage begins on the first day of employment
• Individual life insurance with premium paid by the Foundation during employment; employee may keep the policy and pay premiums directly upon separation
• Group disability insurance including short- and long-term disability coverage
• 403(b) retirement plan with Foundation contribution of 15% of salary as employer contribution after three months of employment
• 20 days paid time off available after the first three months of employment
• 10 paid holidays annually
• Six Summer Fridays scheduled between Memorial Day and Labor Day
• Three-month sabbatical after seven years of service as outlined in the Employee Handbook
• Hybrid work schedule with offices in New York City
• $5,000 annual professional development budget