Located in New Delhi, India, the Senior Strategy Officer (SSO) will lead high-impact strategy projects in collaboration with program leadership and support the development and tracking of strategic progress toward key decisions and milestones across the portfolio. The SSO will work directly and often independently with Program Directors as executive sponsors of projects, as well as team members across all levels to inform and shape strategies. Potential projects span strategy development for current initiative areas; portfolio strategy development and the facilitation of associated prioritization and tradeoff discussions; identification of thematic challenges and strategic options; assessment of long-term trends and their implications on program strategies; strategic partnership support; making and managing investments with key partners to synthesize data and evidence used to inform strategies; and the strategic application of innovation to our work. The SSO will provide leadership, strategic thought partnership, project management, and analytical support to key strategy projects and foundation initiatives. This role will report to the Deputy Director, Strategy Planning & Management.
- Support strategy development process for defined projects and initiatives
- Collaborate with DDSPM and programmatic staff to design the overall process for strategy development
- Lead projects that develop strategies and/or strategic recommendations for defined areas of work
- Manage strategy development process with a customer-focus orientation – e.g., effective communication – and emphasis on relationship management
- Oversee development of materials to drive project execution – e.g. analyses, project plans, meeting materials, strategic narratives, decision roadmaps, etc
- Facilitate discussions with internal team, external experts, and other global health/development partners
- Employ strategic tools to develop and assess options, ensure logical reasoning, and challenge assumptions
- Bring creative solutions to manage group process – e.g., managing conflict and driving alignment
- Perform problem-solving work in support of strategy projects
- Support strategy execution planning
- Collaborate with ICO leadership and other foundation strategy staff to support process for strategy execution planning
- Support the strategy execution planning process that is focused on enabling program teams to align the investments, staff resources and voice/influence necessary to implement their strategies and achieve their impact goals.
- Design and perform analytical work in support of strategy development and execution planning process
- Participate in the development and use of tools to facilitate strategy development and processes associated with budgeting, portfolio management, and other areas as needed
- Provide project management and analytical support to cross-cutting strategy projects
- Develop, execute, and manage external partnerships and contracts as needed
- Contribute and participate in ongoing improvement of the ICO’s strategy work regarding overall approach, tools and processes, resource allocation, continuous improvement, linkage with program operations, linkage with other programmatic teams, etc.
- Participate in foundation-wide activities (e.g., learning sessions, all staff meetings, performance reviews)
- A minimum of ten + years of professional experience with at least six years of experience in strategic planning functions preferably at a top tier strategy consulting firm.
- Broad understanding of global health/development issues and some global health/development experience is preferable.
- Experience with strategy development, execution, measurement, review and adjustment required; customer / client management experience preferred
- Excellent oral, facilitation, and written communication skills.
- Demonstrated ability to function successfully in a politically demanding environment
- Excellent quantitative/financial knowledge, including experience creating complex models, with a demonstrated ability to extract appropriate data to convey complex information through the use of supporting tables, graphs and other visual representations.
- Excellent organizational skills, demonstrated ability to lead teams through a complex and ambiguous task
- Ability to be independent and work effectively and with sensitivity across barriers such as language, culture and distance
- Excellent software skills with Microsoft Office applications. Ability to quickly learn new software modules
- Commitment to the foundation’s core values, mission, and programs with an approach that is consistent with the foundation’s guiding principles and holding self to the highest ethical standards.
- Experience working in a matrix environment preferred
- A sense of humor.