The primary purpose of this job is to support the Africa team with the development, integration, implementation planning and evaluation of the foundation’s strategies in Africa, as well as exploring new pathways to contribute to continent-wide impact at scale. The focus of foundation’s work in Africa is in women’s and children’s health issues, agricultural development, nutrition, urban sanitation and financial services for the poor. The focus of the Africa team is to enable collective impact for the foundation in Africa by influencing policy and finance towards key development priorities, strengthening capacity and enabling systems for delivery, and innovating and leveraging cross-cutting enablers for impact at scale. The Strategy Officer will lead high-impact projects that span strategy development and execution planning for the Africa team’s regional and country programs, including integrating cross-foundation efforts and undertaking new areas of exploration. The Strategy Officer will also provide strategic thought partnership, project management, and analytical support to senior Africa team leadership. The Strategy Officer will be based in Johannesburg, South Africa and will report to the Deputy Director of Strategy Planning and Management (DDSPM) for Africa.
- Support strategy development that optimizes foundations resources in support of country and continental impact
- Collaborate with the SPM team to design the Africa team’s overall process for strategy development and act as the day-to-day manager of the strategy process
- Oversee development of materials to facilitate the strategy development process – e.g. analyses, project charters/plans, meeting materials, ultimate strategy document outputs
- Facilitate discussions with internal teams, external experts, and other global health/development partners
- Employ strategic resources to develop and assess options, ensure logical reasoning, and challenge assumptions
- Guide a customer-focused strategy development process – e.g., effective communication and emphasis on relationship management
- Bring creative solutions to develop group processes – e.g., managing conflict and driving alignment
- Provide recommendations to improve overall foundation strategic planning and management process.
- Support strategy implementation planning that translates strategies into coherent portfolio level bodies of work and investment plans
- Collaborate with the SPM team to design the process for strategy implementation planning
- Oversee development of materials to strengthen the strategy implementation planning process – e.g. analyses, project plans, meeting materials, ultimate implementation plan outputs
- Guide the strategy implementation planning process that is focused on enabling teams align investments, staff and voice necessary to implement program strategies and achieve impact for the foundation.
- Design analytical work in support of strategy development and implementation planning
- Identify and design required analytical work
- Develop analytical methodology and analyze data to support decision-making - collating information required from literature and existing public databases on finance, health, and development
- Participate in the development and use of tools to facilitate strategy development and processes associated with budgeting, portfolio management, and other areas as needed
- Support research, analysis and program development in support of projects with cross-cutting relevance for the Africa team (e.g., China-Africa, private sector engagement, capacity and institution strengthening, economic growth and job creation, etc.)
- Contribute and participate in ongoing improvement of the SPM team including priority setting, staffing composition, operational processes, performance development, etc.
- Participate in foundation-wide activities (e.g., learning sessions, all staff meetings, performance reviews)
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 and Skills
- Broad understanding of global health/development issues and some global health/development experience is preferable.
- Experience with strategy implementation, measurement, review and adjustment is preferable
- Excellent oral, facilitation, and written communication skills.
- Experience working in a matrix environment strongly preferred
- 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 self-guided 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
- Ability to travel up to 25% domestically and internationally
- A sense of humor
- 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
- A minimum of seven years of professional experience desired, with at least three years in a strategic capacity (preferably leading projects at a top tier strategy consulting firm).