Job Description

As a member of our Government and Community Relations team, you’ll have the opportunity to help shape policy and legislation that advances our core business objectives. You’ll also be able to partner with community leaders to advance education, community life and driving safety. If you’re looking for the opportunity to make a real impact in the world, join us.

In this position…

Ford Philanthropy’s Education for the Future of Work team is seeking a highly motivated and detail-oriented Program Specialist to contribute to our mission of building a better world. This role is central to advancing Ford’s philanthropic goals by fostering robust relationships with educational partners, managing key grant programs, and developing impactful strategies to measure success. 

As a Program Specialist, you will be instrumental in supporting the entire education team, driving continuous improvement in partner evaluation processes, and enhancing current programming to identify more effective approaches. You will have the opportunity to connect Ford Philanthropy with Ford Motor Company’s broader objectives, ensuring our educational investments yield significant returns and align with enterprise goals. This position offers a chance to make a tangible social impact, engage with diverse stakeholders from students to executives, and contribute to the future of the automotive industry and workforce development on a global scale. If you thrive in a collaborative environment, possess strong analytical and communication skills, and are eager to make a difference, we encourage you to join our team. 

This role is hybrid and requires at least 4 days per week onsite at the Michigan Central Station office in Detroit, MI.

Responsibilities

What you’ll do…

• Support the team in fostering and sustaining relationships with Education for the Future of Work partners and programming, including assisting with programming needs to enhance overall program delivery.
• Manage the full lifecycle of grants within the Education for the Future of Work portfolio. This includes overseeing partnerships, conducting annual grant reviews, assess program/partner effectiveness, and ensure accurate reporting of key metrics  
• Apply a foundational understanding of Skilled Trades, high school, 2-year college, and 4-year university landscapes to inform strategic direction, improve program design, and identify new partner opportunities. 
• Develop and implement metrics to track the success of current partnerships, enabling data-driven decisions, demonstrating program effectiveness, identifying areas for improvement, and optimizing resource allocation. 
• Support the strategic development of an alumni tracking tool, focusing on the creation of a functional database and specific alumni activities. 
• Conduct research on organizations supporting skilled trades, high school, 2-year college, and/or 4-year university students, benchmarking industry best practices, to determine alignment with team strategy and inform grant making decisions. 

Qualifications

You’ll have…

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent combination of relevant education and experience.
• 3-5 years of experience in program management, grant management, partnership management, or stakeholder engagement. 

Even better, you may have…

• Demonstrated proficiency in project management methodologies and tools. 
• Excellent oral and written communication skills. 
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite, including Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook. 
• Proven ability to develop and maintain relationships with diverse stakeholders. 
• Experience working in non-profit organizations, educational institutions, corporate social responsibility (CSR) departments, corporate foundations, workforce development organizations, or Career Technical Education (CTE) programming. 
• Understanding of skilled trades and the K–12, 2‑year, and 4‑year postsecondary education systems. 
• Experience with data analysis or program evaluation, including survey design and metric development. 
• A proactive, detail-oriented, and collaborative approach to work, with the ability to operate independently and adapt to evolving priorities. 
• Ability to synthesize complex information, identify trends, and provide strategic recommendations. 
• Familiarity with database management or CRM systems (e.g., Eightfold) is a bonus. 

As an established global company, we offer the benefit of choice. You can choose what your Ford future will look like: will your story span the globe, or keep you close to home? Will your career be a deep dive into what you love, or a series of new teams and new skills? Will you be a leader, a changemaker, a technical expert, a culture builder…or all of the above? No matter what you choose, we offer a work life that works for you, including:

• Immediate medical, dental, vision and prescription drug coverage.
• Flexible family care days, paid parental leave, new parent ramp-up programs, subsidized back-up child care and more.
• Family building benefits including adoption and surrogacy expense reimbursement, fertility treatments, and more.
• Vehicle discount program for employees and family members and management leases.
• Tuition assistance.
• Established and active employee resource groups.
• Paid time off for individual and team community service.
• A generous schedule of paid holidays, including the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day.
• Paid time off and the option to purchase additional vacation time. 

For more information on salary and benefits, click here.

This position is a range of salary grades 7-8.

Visa sponsorship is not available for this position.

Candidates for positions with Ford Motor Company must be legally authorized to work in the United States. Verification of employment eligibility will be required at the time of hire.

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, age, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability status or protected veteran status. In the United States, if you need a reasonable accommodation for the online application process due to a disability, please call 1-888-336-0660.

This position is hybrid. Candidates who are in commuting distance to a Ford hub location may be required to be onsite four or more days per week. #LI-Hybrid   #LI-LC2