The focus of the India Family Planning (FP) strategy is to expand method choice for birth spacing with a focus on 15-24 years old women through the public and private sectors aimed at accelerating progress towards the country’s FP2020 goals. The strategy supports the national government to introduce and scale up innovative approaches that increase supply and demand for spacing methods, with a focus on priority states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
The SPO will provide overall leadership to further develop and execute the India FP Strategy. S/he will develop and manage investments that support innovative approaches to improve access, especially among 15-24-year-old women; to improve method mix by introducing new contraceptive methods; and to strengthen quality of care through availability of counseling task shifting in family planning service delivery, and performance monitoring. S/he will also lead on investments that aim to change social norms, especially gender norms that impact decisions related to early marriage and child bearing, and use of newer contraceptives. The SPO will develop investments that support total market approaches for family planning, leveraging the private sector and partnerships with the government. This role also entails building institutional capability in government and other institutions to ensure sustainability of foundation-supported initiatives and continuous innovation in the delivery of family planning. S/he will also manage relationships with senior technical officers of national and state governments, donors, and implementing partners to ensure coordination and collaboration for greater collective impact
- Lead further development of the Family Planning strategy for the India Country Office (ICO) of the foundation, in alignment with the foundation’s broader/global Family Planning Program strategy and with other program strategies relevant to India
- Develop and manage investments (grants and/or contracts) to execute activities in support of programmatic goals, while ensuring that interventions and investments can be replicated and sustained at scale.
- Work in partnership with foundation colleagues in India and Seattle to build and manage relationships with donors, government, private sector, implementers, and other external partners to develop innovative results-driven plans and interventions
- Collaborate with the foundation’s Bihar and Uttar Pradesh initiative teams state Technical Support Units, and other implementing partners to ensure that the family planning program is being implemented in alignment with strategic priorities.
- Manage investment in the National Technical Support Unit (TSU) to provide technical assistance to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW) in alignment with its strategic priorities; and develop and implement a strategy to transition key technical assistance capabilities to a new institutional mechanism to be owned and sustained by the government.
- Collaborate with the Monitoring, Learning, & Evaluation (MLE) team at ICO to ensure high quality results frameworks, monitoring, and evaluation of grants and to enhance use of data to improve program performance and to inform strategic decisions and future investments.
- Use data and learning from foundation-supported investments and global evidence to consult with grantees and other partners to ensure continuous learning that shapes strategy, policy, and programs.
- Organize partners meetings, convene technical and strategic consultations as needed
- Conduct thorough analyses of grants and contracts, grantee progress reports; write high quality briefing documents and portfolio reviews that synthesize results and learnings for leadership and the FP team.
- Provide impactful thought leadership on a wide range of family planning and reproductive health issues that shape national polices and shape the global discourse and practice.
- Passion for solving complex problems related to delivery of health care, particularly improving access to quality family planning and reproductive health services for women and girls
- Results-driven and self-motivated with ability to inspire the pursuit of excellence
- Strong, multi-disciplinary, multi-sectoral strategic planning and management skills
- Extensive experience in designing and implementing innovative and impactful approaches to health care delivery, including family planning/reproductive health, through the public and private sectors
- Strong understanding of data, and ability to use diverse kinds of data to design and manage strategy and investments
- Knowledge of the family planning context in India and the region; and familiarity with related areas of health systems, policy and financing; gender and rights; and socio-economic determinants of health.
- Experience in engaging government, donors, and implementing partners (including the private sector) to develop and effectively manage strategic partnerships
- Proven ability to structure and manage high-return, well-risk-mitigated grants, with clear milestones and outcomes; with experience in developing this skill in others.
- Excellent analytical thinking and communications skills, including writing and public speaking skills with a fluency in Hindi and English
- Familiarity with policy, advocacy, and strategic communications for advancing programmatic goals
- Demonstrated ability to work in a highly matrixed and diverse work environment, and also effectively engage diverse external stakeholders
- Work on complex matters or unique issues requiring diplomacy and judgment
- Ability to travel up to 40% of time domestically and internationally
Qualification
- 15 + years of experience in family planning & reproductive health in diverse contexts including substantive experience in India. Additional, relevant experience in strategic planning, investment, and/or policy and advocacy is preferred.
- Experience in a Global Firm/Multinational company
- As part of our standard hiring process for new employees, employment with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will be contingent upon successful completion of a comprehensive background check.