This Senior Program Officer will support the newly formed Global Implementation team in ensuring that the key new vaccines delivered through immunization systems are scaled across lower-income countries with urgency and effectiveness. S/he will serve as the primary point of contact for key internal and external partners across a range of our most important vaccines. S/he will meet the priorities of our key internal stakeholder groups including our program strategy teams (PSTs) in Global Health for specific diseases (e.g. pneumonia, diarrheal disease, etc.) as well as our Life Science Partnership (industry relations) team. Simultaneously, s/he will be the primary focal point for Gavi’s Vaccine Implementation team and ensure that the working groups and structures at Gavi are optimized to achieve our collective goals for these vaccines.
Key Responsibilities
- Be the primary person responsible for ensuring that the foundation supports the introduction of key new vaccines such as pneumococcal vaccines, rotavirus vaccines, inactivated polio vaccines, and human papilloma virus vaccines
- Provide input into the internal disease control strategies within our Global Programs which have vaccines as a centerpiece of their efforts
- Provide expertise in product introduction, launch approaches, system readiness to internal and external partners
- Make and manage grants which accelerate progress in our disease control objectives
- Determine how foundation efforts complement Gavi’s activities and what gaps / activities the foundation is uniquely positioned to fill
- Influence internal teams and partner organizations to take specific actions aligned with our disease control objectives in these areas
- Inject urgency into operating forums with external partners and identify opportunities to support Gavi partners to be effective in reaching our collective goals
- Serve as a resource on Gavi and its processes to Global Health PSTs and other internal partners
- Be able to represent progress to our internal leadership, to external bodies including policy-setting bodies and be a credible voice for our portfolio of work across all new vaccine introduction issues
- Be accountable for most of our new vaccine introduction goals and outcomes
Qualifications
- Minimum 12-15 years overall experience in a health-related field required with at least 5-7 years in a product-oriented organization preferred
- Product launch and product introduction experience highly valued
- Familiarity with global health organizations such as Gavi, UNICEF, and WHO highly advantageous. Immunization and vaccine knowledge strongly desired.
- Proven history of learning quickly and being able to master new issues and technical areas quickly. Comfort with and proven ability to work with technical counterparts.
- Experience in complex organizations and/or complex working environments valued
- History of being able to influence peers and teams laterally and to move groups towards a common objective without direct line authority
- Skilled communicator with commitment to manage a diverse portfolio of work and prioritize multiple projects and efforts simultaneously. Highly-organized and efficient.
- Demonstrated initiative to solve unstructured problems with limited oversight, high energy, and persistence
- Creative problem solver with a rigorous approach and a great attitude. Not afraid to explore different options for problem solving.
- Ability to develop solid working relationships at high levels quickly and strong evidence of success in effective working relationships even in complex environments
- Very strong representational skills. Able to operate with senior colleagues internally and externally with ease.
- Superior oral and skilled written communication skills will be necessary for success in this role
- Experience in developing countries a strong plus
- Ability to travel 25-30% internationally required