Director, Religion, Science, and Society

Director, Religion, Science, and Society

John Templeton Foundation

West Conshohocken (Philadelphia area), PA 

Organization and Position

The John Templeton Foundation supports interdisciplinary research and catalyzes conversations that inspire awe and wonder. We are working to create a world where people are curious about the wonders of the universe, free to pursue lives of meaning and purpose, and motivated by great and selfless love.

The Religion, Science, and Society (RSS) funding area supports interdisciplinary research that engages substantively and critically with the sciences to understand how humans navigate spiritual and scientific questions within our diverse social and cultural environments.

Supported work draws from a range of intellectual, religious, and spiritual traditions and demonstrates exceptional promise to transform human knowledge.

To support our team in advancing the Foundation’s mission, we are seeking a Director, Religion, Science, and Society. This role is responsible for creating and maintaining strategic grant programs that seek to understand the religious and spiritual dimensions of human experience and apply those insights to society in meaningful and practical ways. The Director, RSS works closely with colleagues across the organization to lead an important subset of the Foundation’s core grantmaking activities. Responsibilities include leading and managing a team tasked with implementing strategic priorities and developing high impact projects and programs, with special emphasis on basic research, cross disciplinary investigations, and applied programming related to such work. Responsibilities also include collaborating with colleagues in other departments to achieve excellence and efficiency in grantmaking and administrative processes. The Director, RSS reports to the Vice President/Chief Programs Officer.

 Areas of Responsibility

• Develop and execute strategic plans for grant programs that draw from the social sciences and various intellectual, religious, and spiritual traditions and demonstrate exceptional promise to transform understanding at the frontiers of human knowledge or to meet critical methodological or conceptual challenges.
• Develop projects aligned with the strategic plans and priorities of the Religion, Science, and Society funding area.
• Participate in all aspects of the open submission proposal review process.
• Oversee the management of active grants and evaluation of closed grants in the portfolio.
• Meet deadlines for proposal development, grant monitoring, and grant closing processes. Carefully manage and monitor grant making dashboards to ensure that the team’s responsibilities are being carried out appropriately.
• Report regularly to the president and to the Board on grant making activities.
• Cultivate and expand networks within related fields that attract both leading researchers and promising younger scholars.
• Create cutting-edge funding initiatives that expand work in fields aligned with the Religion, Science, and Society portfolio and foster new opportunities of inquiry.
• Communicate the mission of the Foundation and the goals of the Religion, Science, and Society portfolio both internally and externally, especially to researchers, academic institutions, members of the media, as well as to other audiences interested in the Foundation’s mission.
• Manage the Religion, Science, and Society department staff (currently three).
• Create and manage annual department budgets.
• Create and manage programming for internal events and meetings, as requested.
• Establish relationships with and cultivate co-funding from organizations with similar funding goals.
• Organize conferences and symposia relevant to the Foundation’s mission and the department’s goals and objectives.

Qualifications, Skills, and Abilities

• Five years of relevant experience related to grants or grant-funded academic research.
• Five years of experience related to the work of the Religion, Science and Society program area.
• Masters degree required (Ph.D. preferred).
• Excellent communication and networking skills in a variety of professional contexts.
• Ability to manage a team, supervisory experience preferred.
• Ability to manage workflows and ensure the department meets required deadlines.
• Ability to synthesize information and to present effectively to various audiences.
• Ability to develop research networks through funding initiatives.
• Ability to travel for work.
• Strong personal interest in the Foundation’s mission.

Benefits

We are committed to caring for our employees and their families through exceptional benefits. We pay for 100% of employee medical, dental and vision premiums, and generously contribute to family premiums. We provide life insurance, short-term disability coverage and long-term disability coverage at no cost to employees. We offer a 401(k) retirement savings plan with an employer match and additional discretionary contributions. Paid time off includes generous vacation, sick, and personal days. The Foundation offers a unique donation program, enabling employees the ability to direct a $5,000 donation to a mission aligned organization of their choice, with no employee donation required.

Location

The position will be based in the Foundation’s offices, located in West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania. Regular in-office work is required because of the role’s responsibility to manage department staff as well as the high level of interaction and teamwork required to carry out many of its responsibilities, including developing both interdisciplinary initiatives and those within the RSS funding area, achieving efficiency in the grantmaking processes, and attending key meetings in person.  The Director, Religion, Science, and Society may request a hybrid work arrangement of up to two days remote work per week in accordance with our hybrid work policy.

West Conshohocken, PA is a short drive (~15 miles) from Philadelphia and there is a nearby commuter train station with service into downtown Philadelphia. The offices are close to residential and commercial districts with multiple restaurants.