Senior Program Officer, Advocacy, Child Survival (REACH)

Company: Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
Location: Washington
Posted on: September 3, 2024

Job Description:

The FoundationWe are the largest nonprofitfighting poverty, disease, and inequity around the world. Founded on a simple premise: people everywhere, regardless of identity or circumstances, should have the chance to live healthy, productive lives. We believe our employees should reflect the rich diversity of the global populations we aim to serve.We provide an exceptional benefits package to employees and their families which include comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage with no premiums, generous paid time off, paid family leave, foundation-paid retirement contribution, regional holidays, and opportunities to engage in several employee communities.As a workplace, we're committed to creating an environment for you to thrive both personally and professionally.The TeamThe 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 partners 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, and Gender Equality programs and Foundation Communications to build the environment in which all people have the opportunity to lead healthy and productive lives.

The Program Advocacy and Communications (PAC) team works in partnership with program teams and other teams in GPA to achieve their policy and finance goals by:
* Developing and coordinating the execution of advocacy and communications strategies.
* Using 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.Your Role As the Senior Program Officer (SPO) you will lead the development and coordinate the execution of the policy and financing advocacy strategy for the Resiliency through Azithromycin for Children (REACH) program to achieve the expected results in key geographies. You will work towards using the child health and child survival framework towards finding opportunities for alignment with the REACH program (mass drug administration of azithromycin for impact on child mortality).You will understand and shape domestic and global financing channels finding opportunities for mobilizing and using resources. This position will work closely with dynamic partners and platforms towards identifying and addressing policy and financing barriers and working to achieve scale and impact in priority geographies.You will work closely with the REACH Programme strategy team and the regional and country teams, philanthropic partnerships team as well as other cross foundation teams. The work involves collaboration with a range of external foundation grantees and partners, including government advisors at both federal and subnational levels.The SPO will develop and manage a portfolio of grants and contracts requiring high-level grant management skills, monitoring and evaluation, focused on policy and financing advocacy supporting adoption and scale in child survival and the expected results for the REACH program.You are a strategic problem solver who can critically and creatively work to leverage opportunities to advance country-specific outcomes by addressing policy and financing barriers. You are an effective communicator who is able to effectively collaborate and connect a range of external foundation grantees and partners to integrate and elevate REACH in-country and donor agendas, communicate high-impact evidence and data and influence actions and trust at all levels. You will explore opportunities to align the REACH program with child health strategies and accelerating impact for child survival.What You'll Do

• Develop and lead the execution of a policy and financing advocacy strategy for REACH linking with child survival and child health towards impact and scale in key geographies
• Track and analyze key trends in child health policy and financing relevant towards achieving the REACH program goals
• Develop and manage a portfolio of strategic investments to meet the goals of the REACH program
• Support communications activities working closely with the communications team to build salience and visibility for REACH and child survival
• Leverage existing multi-stakeholders partners and platforms to build trust and jointly plan expansion within existing and new countries
• Support partners to implement strategies that support the packaging and dissemination of compelling communication and tactics context-specific communication tools and packages to increase support and trust in the REACH intervention
• Maintain an in depth understanding of policies and financing trends for child health programs using innovative interventions towards fast tracking reduction in child mortality
• Engage with the program teams to align on policy and financing priorities and metrics for impact
• Foster, maintain and manage existing partnerships and alliances and identify new partners to help support and advance the objectives of the REACH strategy
• Develop and manage partnerships and alliances to advance and refine policy, advocacy, and communications strategies based on field and financial data, particularly related to REACH and child health
• Represent the foundation to external constituencies. This could include formal and informal presentations such as making speeches, attending conferences, committee representation and other meetings.
• Write informative briefings and reports, and other materials on key areas and other relevant issues for foundation leadership.Your Experience
  • Outstanding knowledge, experience and expertise in technical advocacy and communications related to policy and financing advocacy, including understanding of child health programs and achieving scale and impact through innovative interventions. Work experience in the African continent is an added advantage
  • Experience and/or proven track record in engaging with government partners and diverse partners on development and health with a focus on child survival programs
  • Proven expertise in successful resource mobilization efforts for child survival programs and a good understanding of the key partners in this area.
  • Experience in working with financing mechanisms at country level and across a wide group of partners is a plus specifically for mobilizing investments for child health programs.
  • Experience communicating around complex policy and advocacy efforts, and in working with governments, academic institutions, NGOs, the private sector (in addition to the media and government), and professional associations preferred. Hands-on experience including interaction with senior level policy makers, coalitions, and private sector partners.
  • Understanding of the key issues concerning child health or broader health and development areas, as well as financing for new interventions with a spotlight on child health innovations including addressing risk mitigation strategies.
  • Understanding of bilateral and multilateral institutions and mechanisms including how they fund development programs at national and regional level with specific reference to child health programs
  • Experience in strategic portfolio development, including setting of strategic direction for programs aligned with policy goals.
  • Experience or high ability to work in a complex, matrixed environment - requiring cultural awareness, and a collaborative nature that knows the benefits of seeking consensus.
  • Demonstrated ability to provide vision and influence others in a constructive, optimistic manner, while building and sustaining collaborative relationships.
  • Outstanding project and team management skills including demonstrated 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.
  • Ideally, candidate will have experience managing a grant portfolio; either as a grantee - receiving and reporting on a grant or as a grant manager - with direct responsibility for grant making and management.
  • Ability to work with flexibility, entrepreneurship, and diplomacy both individually and as part of a complex team effort. A proven ability to effectively manage and adapt within a changing environment.
  • Ability to travel up to 25% domestically and internationally.
  • Advanced degree in public policy, finance, international relations, public health, development or a related field.
  • 7+ years of related experience, or equivalent experienceThe salary range for this role is $204,600 to $317,100 USD. We recognize high-wage market differences in Seattle and Washington D.C., where our offices are located. The range for this role in these locations is $222,900 to $345,500 USD. As a mission-driven organization, we strive to balance competitive pay with our mission. New hires salaries are typically between the range minimum and the salary range midpoint. Actual placement in the range will depend on a candidate's job-related skills, experience, and expertise, as evaluated during the interview process.#LI-AD1Hiring RequirementsAs part of our standard hiring process for new employees, employment will be contingent upon successful completion of a background check.Candidate AccommodationsIf you require assistance due to a disability in the application or recruitment process, please submit a request .Inclusion StatementWe are dedicated to the belief that all lives have equal value. We strive for a global and cultural workplace that supports ever greater diversity, equity, and inclusion - of voices, ideas, and approaches - and we support this diversity through all 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.

Keywords: Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Washington DC , Senior Program Officer, Advocacy, Child Survival (REACH), Accounting, Auditing , Washington, DC