Vice President of Programs

The Heinz Endowments (“the Endowments”), a private family foundation based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, seeks a strategic and collaborative leader to serve as its Vice President of Programs (“Vice President” or “VP”). With a mission of growing an exemplary sustainable Pittsburgh region where everyone prospers and belongs, the Endowments supports a range of efforts rooted in strengthening its regional community through advancing the arts, preserving the environment, generating economic opportunity for all, and deepening civic engagement. The Vice President will serve as a key member of the executive leadership team and a strategic partner to the President, responsible for guiding the foundation’s programmatic vision and ensuring strong execution across all grantmaking portfolios.

The Endowments is in a period of meaningful evolution. Building on a legacy of deep community investment, the organization is refining its strategies, infrastructure, and internal operations to be more focused, coordinated, and accountable to its goals. This includes clarifying programmatic priorities, strengthening the integration of learning and evaluation into decision-making, and effectively coordinating grant resources with brand utilization to support this more outcomes-driven approach. These shifts are designed to sharpen the Endowments’ ability to support transformative change in Pittsburgh, southwestern Pennsylvania, and, where possible, beyond to deepen understanding of its impact over time.

The Vice President will lead, develop, and inspire a team of experienced programmatic leaders, providing strategic guidance and mentorship to foster their professional growth while fostering collaboration across portfolios and ensuring that strategies are responsive to both community priorities and organizational goals. The VP will be instrumental in implementing a management culture that helps teams translate broader goals into tangible activities by ensuring program areas are working cohesively, communicating clearly with external stakeholders, and aligning their grantmaking to measurable results. The VP will cultivate high-performing teams while sustaining an inclusive organizational culture, reinforcing the foundation’s values through its work and partnerships.

The ideal candidate will bring a depth of experience in strategic philanthropy, exceptional communication and team leadership skills, deft management capacity, and a deep commitment to working in partnership with communities to address complex challenges. The VP will play a central role in shaping the next chapter of one of the nation’s leading place-based foundations as it continues to evolve its work in service of a more just, vibrant, and sustainable Pittsburgh.

Isaacson, Miller, a national executive search firm, is assisting The Heinz Endowments in this recruitment. All inquiries, nominations, and applications should be directed in strict confidence to the search firm as indicated below.

APPLICATIONS, INQUIRIES, AND NOMINATIONS

Screening of complete applications will begin immediately and continue until the completion of the search process. Inquiries, nominations, referrals, and CVs with cover letters should be sent via the Isaacson, Miller website: https://www.imsearch.com/open-searches/heinz-endowments/vice-president-programs.

Electronic submission of materials is strongly encouraged.

Andy Lee, Managing Partner

Damla Williams, Senior Associate

Isaacson, Miller

The Heinz Endowments is an Equal Opportunity Employer that welcomes and encourages a diverse pool of candidates in this search.