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Interim Senior Program Officer

This job is no longer available

Seattle, WA, USA
Temporary / Seasonal

This is an interim backfill role to cover for an employee who will be out on parental leave.  The duration of the assignment is targeted for 18 months starting in August 2019. However, the start and end dates may change.

To accelerate and increase the impact of the foundation’s nutrition strategy, the foundation has launched a new approach of directly engaging with food and beverage companies that have the potential to address the affordability, accessibility and demand for nutritious products. The foundation’s private sector nutrition strategy is two pronged: we will focus on (1) improving the nutritional quality of products already widely consumed by lower-income consumers; and (2) increasing the affordability and appeal of nutritious products for lower-income groups by finding innovative ways to cut costs, such as boosting local production and new retail and distribution models to increase reach.

The Senior Program Officer/Program Officer will report to the Deputy Director, Private Sector Partnership Development for Nutrition.

Areas of Responsibility: 
  • Make and manage investments for the private sector partnerships portfolio in service of the strategy’s learning agenda to test new innovations to lower cost and increase access to nutritious products among lower-income consumers in Sub-Saharan Africa and South/Southeast Asia.
  • Engage with leading food & beverage manufacturers, building out pipeline of opportunities to partner with companies to test new innovations to increase affordability of and access to nutritious foods. Support development of potential partnership projects with companies, working closely with company counterparts and other internal and external collaborators.
  • Manage working relationships with technical assistance partners supporting company partnerships, covering: consumer intelligence, business model innovation, marketing intelligence, measurement, learning and evaluation, product development, nutrition technical support.
  • Identify and manage engagements with independent experts to advise the Private Sector Partnerships team.
  • Manage the external communications presence for the Nutrition Private Sector Partnerships program in close collaboration with the foundation’s PAC team and external comms agency. This includes management of social media presence such as LinkedIn and Twitter.  
  • Review portfolio progress against strategy goals and learning agenda. Prepare analysis and briefing materials for leadership.
  • Develop new investment concepts to address knowledge and capability gaps and engage in annual IPP process.
  • Facilitate cross-team engagement with internal stakeholders, including other PSTs engaging with the private sector, to collaborate and share information and learnings.
Educational Background: 
Typical education and experience would include a bachelor’s or other advanced degree with 10+ years of relevant professional work experience with strong preference given to candidates with MBA degrees
and/or experience in the FMCG/CPG sector with P&L responsibilities the decision on SPO / PO level will be made based on qualifications of selected candidate.
Skills/Experience: 
  • Strong familiarity with foundation investment tools and processes. Should have experience structuring and managing ER grants and other complex grants and contracts.
  • Exceptional communication skills, both verbal and written. Demonstrated ability to navigate with fluency across a range of settings, from traditional development s to business environment contexts.
  • Ability to provide thought partnership and strategic insights while simultaneously providing detail-oriented oversight of execution.
  • Demonstrated ability to effectively engage with and influence senior-level decision-makers.
  • Comfortable with ambiguity and functioning in fast-paced, fluid environment. Strong capabilities to oversee multiple, complex work streams.
  • Sense of humor is a must, as is humility and strong commitment to working as part of a close-knit team.
  • Ability to travel domestically and internationally ~30% of the time.

Organization Info

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

Overview
Headquarters: 
Seattle, WA, United States
Annual Budget : 
More than $500M
Founded: 
2007
About Us
Mission: 

Guided by the belief that every life has equal value, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation works to help all people lead healthy, productive lives. In developing countries, it focuses on improving people’s health and giving them the chance to lift themselves out of hunger and extreme poverty. In the United States, it seeks to ensure that all people—especially those with the fewest resources—have access to the opportunities they need to succeed in school and life. Based in Seattle, Washington, the foundation is led by CEO Dr. Susan Desmond-Hellmann and Co-chair William H. Gates Sr., under the direction of Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett.

We work with partner organizations worldwide to tackle critical problems in four program areas. Our Global Development Division works to help the world’s poorest people lift themselves out of hunger and poverty. Our Global Health Division aims to harness advances in science and technology to save lives in developing countries. Our United States Division works to improve U.S. high school and postsecondary education and support vulnerable children and families in Washington State. And our Global Policy & Advocacy Division seeks to build strategic relationships and promote policies that will help advance our work. Our approach to grantmaking in all four areas emphasizes collaboration, innovation, risk-taking, and, most importantly, results.

Programs: 
  1. Global Health
  2. Global Development
  3. United States
  4. Global Policy & Advocacy

Listing Stats

Post Date: 
Jun 9 2019
Active Until: 
Jul 9 2019
Hiring Organization: 
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
industry: 
Nonprofit