Senior Program Officer, Neglected Tropical Diseases, Program Advocacy and Communications

Foundation Summary

At the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation we believe that by creating an environment for our employees to personally and professionally thrive, we will have maximum impact toward our missions to achieve our vision.

To learn more about our vision and missions, please visit our website at www.gatesfoundation.org.

To learn more about career opportunities at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, please visit our Careers site at www.gatesfoundation.org/careers.

Division Summary

The mission of the Global Policy & Advocacy (GPA) division is to understand and shape the public policy debates affecting the foundation's work, build support for its major program and policy objectives, and develop partnerships and alliances that can advance the foundation's objectives nationally and globally. Because the foundation's resources alone are not enough to solve the challenges ahead, GPA also supports advocacy efforts to engage diverse stakeholders and promote innovative solutions that advance our program goals. We work in close partnership with grantees, our colleagues in the Global Health, Global Development, Global Growth & Opportunity, U.S. and Gender Equality programs and Foundation Communications to build the environment in which all people have the opportunity to lead healthy and productive lives.

Group Summary

The Program Advocacy and Communications (PAC) team works in partnership with program teams and other teams in Global Policy and Advocacy (GPA) to achieve their policy and finance goals by:

• Developing and coordinating the execution of advocacy and communications strategies.
• Developing, when required, resource mobilization strategies in collaboration with relevant teams.
• Leveraging leadership and foundation voice to implement advocacy strategies.
• Developing and managing a grant portfolio dedicated to achieving advocacy outcomes.
• Directly advocating with sector leaders, influencers, media and government officials in order to achieve advocacy outcomes.
• Leading issue-specific communications in service of advocacy goals.
• Developing policy recommendations or proposals in partnership with programmatic and regional offices.

Leadership & Culture

Our culture shapes our choices about what we do and how we do it. We believe that energized people, working well together, fueled by great leadership in an inclusive environment can do extraordinary things. We expect foundation employees to embody our four agreements intentionally and consistently; show respect, offer trust, be transparent, and create energy.

Position Summary

The Senior Program Officer (SPO) will serve as the PAC strategy lead for Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD) advocacy. They will be responsible for leading efforts in partnership with teams across the foundation to build, implement and evaluate advocacy, communications, and resource mobilization strategies that support the objectives of the NTD program team. In addition, the SPO will work within an integrated team covering Infectious Diseases that includes HIV, TB, Malaria, NTDs, and their related financing entities, and will be expected to develop a working knowledge of advocacy related to other infectious diseases and allocate approximately 10% of their time to advocacy issues beyond NTDs. They will also be accountable for participating in both individual and group learning and work to increase the diversity, equity and inclusion of the foundation and of our work.

Core Responsibilities

• Partner with the Infectious Diseases PAC team, programmatic leadership team, country and regional offices (in particular the Africa Regional Office and the India Country Office (for coverage of Asia-Pacific)), and the GPA division to update and implement the NTD advocacy and communications strategy.
• Serve as the initiative lead for the NTD GPA initiative, including leading all internal relationships with other internal teams.
• Develop, negotiate, and manage a portfolio of investments, including oversight of portfolio budget and all related grant making processes (e.g., investment reviews, strategic alignment, grantee engagement, etc.).
• Develop and oversee a long-term resource mobilization strategy (to be implemented via grantees).
• Conduct research and analysis to strengthen investment decisions.
• Serve as a point of contact on portfolio-related issues for internal and external partners.
• Provide clear, concise and insightful written analyses and recommendations for funding.
• Form partnerships with people and organizations – in both the public and private sector – to improve implementation of advocacy strategies and tactics.
• Conceptualize and lead high impact and complex partnerships, grants, coalitions, and advocacy campaigns.
• Represent the foundation and foundation strategies to external constituencies. This could include formal and informal presentations such as making speeches, attending conferences, committee representation and other meetings. May serve on boards and working groups.
• Write and produce informative briefings, reports, email updates, and other materials on relevant issues for foundation leadership.
• Participate in cross PAC efforts to evolve our structure, strategies and culture to improve our impact.
• Participate in and learn from the program strategy team, and GPA and PAC Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) efforts to ensure that we are continuing to make progress towards realizing our commitments (https://www.gatesfoundation.org/about/careers/culture-and-values/dei-commitment-statement).
• Participate in cross PAC efforts to enhance our integration, accelerate impact, and maintain a cohesive and dynamic culture.

Position Reports to: Deputy Director, Infectious Diseases, Program Advocacy & Communications.

Core Knowledge and Skills

• Understanding of the role of advocacy and communications efforts to increase awareness of global health and development issues and shape political and financial support for health and development goals in the developing world with governmental and non-state organizations.
• Experience working on advocacy in Asia-Pacific and the African continent.
• Experience with advocacy on international development issues, including interaction with senior level policy makers, civil society organizations, coalitions, and governments.
• Connection and networks with communities working in infectious diseases, desirable.
• Experience supporting innovative resource mobilization strategies and initiatives. Experience strategizing, preparing, and pitching investment cases, either in the non-profit or for-profit sector, and raising funds is a plus.
• Understanding of bilateral and multilateral finance institutions and mechanisms including how they make policy and fund development programs at national and regional level.
• Proven ability to provide vision and influence others in a constructive, optimistic manner, while building and sustaining collaborative relationships.
• Outstanding project and team leadership skills including proven ability to lead teams and organizations from strategy development through execution, develop shared goals and execution plans, facilitate meetings, manage budgets, developing partner consensus, and work both autonomously and collaboratively.
• Experience managing a portfolio of grants (ideal) either as a grantee, receiving and reporting on a grant or as a grant manager, with direct responsibility for grant making and management.
• Experience driving processes to make tradeoffs and prioritize effort to improve impact.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, able to effectively synthesize information to reach diverse audiences and build consensus.
• Experience working in an environment with ambiguity while helping teams adapt to change.
• Willingness to travel up to 30% of the time when COVID-19 protocols allow.

Education and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in public policy, international relations, public health, development or a related field with 7+ years progressive senior level experience leading advocacy initiatives in global health and development.
• Applicants for this role will only be considered if they possess current USA Work Authorization, and do not require employer-sponsored VISA support to begin or remain in this role.

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Hiring Requirements

As part of our standard hiring process for new employees, employment will be contingent upon successful completion of a background check.

Depending upon your work location, we may require proof of full vaccination against COVID-19 and any recommended booster doses. All employees based in the United States are to provide proof of full vaccination upon hire and any recommended boosters, subject to applicable laws.

Accommodations

If you require assistance due to a disability in the application or recruitment process, please submit a request to hr@gatesfoundation.org.

Inclusion Statement

We are dedicated to the belief that all lives have equal value. We’re committed to creating a workplace where employees thrive both personally and professionally. We also believe our employees should reflect the rich diversity of the global populations we aim to serve—in race, gender, age, cultures and beliefs—and we support this diversity through all of our employment practices.

All applicants and employees who are drawn to serve our mission will enjoy equality of opportunity and fair treatment without regard to race, color, age, religion, pregnancy, sex, sexual orientation, disability, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, genetic information, veteran status, marital status, and prior protected activity.