Senior Program Officer - Local Partnerships

Are you passionate about building relationships that strengthen communities and create opportunities for learners? As Senior Program Officer – Local Partnerships, you’ll serve as a trusted representative of Ascendium in the greater Madison and Milwaukee metropolitan areas, working alongside nonprofit leaders, community organizations, and local stakeholders to identify needs, cultivate partnerships, and guide philanthropic giving that supports upward mobility.

The Senior Program Officer – Local Partnership will oversee Ascendium’s local and community-focused grantmaking portfolio. While Ascendium is a national funder, this role focuses on mission-aligned giving in our home region, ensuring it is strategic, responsive, and grounded in strong relationships with community-based organizations that provide direct services and support to learners from low-income backgrounds.

This unique role combines strategic grantmaking, portfolio management, and meaningful community engagement — helping shape how Ascendium listens, learns, and invests in our local communities. It requires residence within commuting distance to Ascendium’s Madison, Wisconsin headquarters. You’ll have a hybrid schedule, generally working in the office three days a week (Tuesday through Thursday) and remotely two days a week. This position frequently requires attendance at events outside normal working hours.

Job Responsibilities

On a day-to-day basis, you may do the following.

• Strategy and grant portfolio management
• In partnership with the Executive Chairman of the Board, the President and CEO, and other Ascendium leaders, lead the design and implementation of the organization’s local and community grantmaking strategy in alignment with Ascendium’s mission, values, and priorities.
• Manage a portfolio of grants focused on direct service, human services, and community support organizations in the local region that share a commitment to ensuring upward mobility for learners from low-income backgrounds. Ascendium does not accept unsolicited funding proposals, so this position is responsible for proactively sourcing and vetting mission-aligned opportunities while professionally and diplomatically managing expectations and declining requests when necessary.
• Regularly assess community needs, funding gaps, and emerging issues to inform grantmaking priorities.
• Ensure grantmaking balances responsiveness to community needs with clarity, consistency, and accountability to Ascendium’s broader philanthropic strategy.
• Grantmaking and due diligence
• Source, review, and recommend grants using sound judgment and rigorous due diligence practices.
• Steward grants and support grant applicants through Ascendium’s grantmaking process from prospect through to final funding agreements, ensuring compliance with policies and procedures.
• Oversee grant agreements, reporting, and monitoring, ensuring compliance with organizational policies and best practices.
• Prepare concise board-facing New Funding Proposals for local giving grants.
• Analyze outcomes and learning from the local portfolio to inform ongoing improvements.
• Community relationships and representation
• Serve as a visible and trusted representative of Ascendium in local communities.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with nonprofit leaders, community partners, and other local stakeholders.
• Participate in community meetings, events, and networks to deepen understanding of local context and strengthen Ascendium’s presence.
• Foster goodwill and awareness of Ascendium’s mission and values through thoughtful engagement and partnership.
• Build relationships with other funders in the region.
• Internal collaboration and leadership
• Collaborate with other Education Philanthropy grantmaking staff to ensure alignment and share learning between local and national strategic philanthropic efforts.
• Coordinate with Ascendium’s legal and finance units to support effective and timely grantmaking and local engagement.
• Collaborate and draw on expertise of internal learning and impact staff when needed to support program evaluation, evidence-building, and grant review of local partnerships and ensure grant reporting meets learning goals and board of directors expectations for measurable impact.
• Contribute to internal discussions about overall grantmaking impact and strategy.
• Coordinate with Education Philanthropy communications staff and Ascendium’s corporate Strategic Communications team to create effective storytelling about local community efforts, highlight grant partner stories and impact, and develop and implement local engagement beyond funding (such as convenings, grant partner support and training, etc.) that contribute to Ascendium’s philanthropic goals.

Knowledge and Skill Requirements

A highly qualified candidate will possess the following.

• Significant experience (7 to 10+ years) in philanthropy, nonprofit leadership, or a related field, with demonstrated responsibility for grantmaking or funding decisions.
• A deep understanding of community-based and human service organizations, particularly those providing direct educational and training services in the Dane County and/or Milwaukee areas.
• Strong relationship-building skills and credibility with nonprofit and community partners.
• Sound judgment, discretion, and ability to navigate complex community dynamics.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to think strategically while remaining grounded in community and learner needs.
• A high degree of professionalism, diplomacy, and sensitivity to the power dynamic inherent to relationships between funders and nonprofit organizations.
• A relationship-centered leader with clear decision-making and follow-through.
• Have a collaborative and pragmatic approach to identifying, sourcing, and stewarding partnerships.
• Experience representing an organization publicly or serving in an external-facing leadership role, along with a familiarity with collaborative and strategic grantmaking practices is preferred.

About Ascendium

Ascendium is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that has helped millions of learners pursue postsecondary education since 1967, when it was formed to help fulfill the promise of the landmark Higher Education Act of 1965. Over the years, Ascendium has grown to become the nation’s largest federal student loan guarantor, providing information, tools and counseling to help millions of borrowers nationwide avoid default and keep the door to re-enrollment open. Using our experience in the student loan industry, we’ve developed a suite of products and services that support academic achievement, financial wellness, and student loan repayment success.

We use the net proceeds from our business operations to fund our education philanthropy. Our strategic grantmaking provides funding to organizations that increase the number of low-income learners who succeed in postsecondary education and workforce training as a pathway to upward mobility. Through grantmaking and related investments in evidence-building and strategic field engagement, we seek to identify emerging innovations and reforms, validate their effectiveness, and expand proven strategies to promote large-scale, systemic change.

Other Information

Ascendium offers an outstanding benefits package designed to provide employees and their families with a high degree of security. These benefits include, but are not limited to:

• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision insurance.
• Generous time off, including up to eight weeks of paid parental leave, as well as paid volunteer time off.
• Student loan repayment assistance and tuition reimbursement.
• Ongoing training and professional development opportunities.

Ascendium provides equal employment opportunity to all individuals regardless of their race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, creed, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by state or federal law.

H-1B sponsorship (initiation or transfer) is not available for this position.


If you would like assistance with the application process, please email Ascendium Human Resources. We invite all applicants to complete the Voluntary Affirmative Action questions when submitting application materials. The questions are found at the end of the online application process. To learn more about our commitment to Equal Employment Opportunity, please visit the Ascendium Careers webpage.

Ascendium requires criminal, employment, and education background investigations before hiring.

Equal Opportunity Employer


This employer is required to notify all applicants of their rights pursuant to federal employment laws.
For further information, please review the Know Your Rights notice from the Department of Labor.