The MNCH D&T team is looking to hire an energetic, rigorous and diligent member for their team. The Program Officer (PO), will lead an innovative portfolio of nutrition investments involving approaches to understanding nutritional requirements and repletion leading to improved health outcomes for mothers and infants in early life in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). This portfolio requires a deep understanding of nutrient metabolism as part of healthy growth in pregnancy and infancy, underlying mechanisms and biochemical pathways leading to adverse health outcomes, and the interaction between under nutrition, infection and inflammation in low resource settings. This role requires the ability to work efficiently and flexibly with great attention to detail as well as strong execution capability and close collaboration with internal and external stakeholders to ensure consistent progress on a research and product development portfolio. In partnership with diverse peer groups in discovery, product development and delivery teams, the PO will work towards developing integrated nutrition interventions for specific users including lactating women, low birth-weight newborns and infants with stunting and wasting. This individual will understand nutrient requirements and role in biochemical processes at various stages of life and how they vary within the population groups of interest. The individual will apply curiosity and scientific inquiry to assess and understand the mechanisms linking specific nutrients to birth or developmental outcomes with an ability to manage investments from pre-clinical development through to human testing and transition to a public health intervention.
- Conceptualize and manage a portfolio of investments focused on understanding nutrient metabolism and nutritional product development ranging from community-level interventions on populations such as pregnant women to hospital-level interventions on populations such as low birth-weight newborns
- Provide nutrition science content expertise on food products across the portfolio
- Understand dietary requirements and metabolism of critical nutrients among target population (with special focus on pre-conception, pregnancy and early postnatal period) with a clear approach to translating biochemical pathways to intervention targets
- Participate in program execution and team work with colleagues in a way that ensures seamless integration into the overall strategy of MNCH D&T
- Leverage innovative and rigorous approaches to nutritional assessments to advance the capacity of foundation partners complementing their clinical trial and implementation work
- Effectively communicate and engage with external partners and grantees, sharing the foundation's strategies, and progressing our agendas most effectively to improve outcomes for mothers, infants and children efficiently and effectively in LMICs
- Represent the foundation to key program-related external constituencies. This includes both formal and informal presentations as necessary
- High quality interactions and clear and consistent communications with grantees and scientific partners in the field. Up to 20% of time may be required for domestic/international travel.
- This role requires asking critical questions and forging new directions in the field of nutrition. Critical thinking and willingness to explore data that question the prevailing wisdom is a must
We believe that energized people, working well together, fueled by great leadership in an inclusive environment in which they thrive, will do phenomenal things.
Core Knowledge & Skills
We are looking for people who enjoy the challenge of working on complex projects and collaboratively creating solutions that have the potential for transformational change. We seek an experienced execution-oriented professional with a deep understanding of nutrition science, global health and familiarity with the principles of nutrient metabolism, clinical trials and intervention development in addition to the following:
- Research background and experience in nutrient analysis, metabolic effects of foods and development of interventions to improve maternal/newborn health.
- An ability to think strategically, design laboratory and field-based research that is scientifically rigorous and catalytic to global policy and program change and apply a mechanistic understanding to the development of public health interventions. Experience working in global settings and in networking and collaborating with global partners, stakeholders and institutions.
- An ability to work collaboratively with team members to identify priority areas for investment and to shape ideas and proposals into successful programs.
- The capacity to identify and activate interconnections with related areas in industry research, public health, product development, food regulatory frameworks and global policy.
- Excellent oral and written communication skills with a broad and diverse audience.
- Nutrition science research background with applications in industry, global health or product development
- Clinical nutrition experience (RD/certified nutrition specialist) and/or global health training with an accompanying degree (MPH, MS, MHS) preferred
- Robust understanding of the dietary requirements of different micro- and macronutrients in the context of health and diseases
- Demonstrated ability to work effectively across traditional disciplinary boundaries in a highly collaborative manner
- Ability to execute efficiently, learn new content quickly, identify connections and second-order implications and demonstrate competence with internal/external teams
- Ability to work independently and manage multiple priorities and demanding timelines
- Comfortable with unstructured and ambiguous situations; ability to proactively resolve challenges
- Experience and evidence of innovation in the conception, design, review and management of strategies, initiatives and programs