This is limited term opportunity with a duration targeted for 18-24 months starting in September 2019. However, the start and end dates may change.
As a Senior Program Officer (SPO), you will work as a core part of the leadership team of the Gender Equality Special Initiative within the GPA Office of the President. This effort aims to capitalize on the opportunity represented by the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the Generation Equality Forum being planned to accelerate progress towards gender equality.
You will have leadership responsibility for examining gender data and theories of change to identify and scope potential new areas of investment to accelerate progress to gender equality and preparing the foundation to launch any new investment areas. This will include scoping of an effort to fast track women’s leadership in key sectors and organizations. Other areas to scope are to be decided in a partnership between this SPO, the Director, the Gender Equality Steering Committee, and outside advisors. You will be encouraged to think about medium- and long-term investment areas that are higher risk (i.e. less certain to succeed) learning areas for the foundation but that have the potential for transformative acceleration in the pace towards achieving gender equality.
- Lead team of consultants and internal matrixed staff to review data, evidence and theories of change for key levers to accelerating progress on gender equality. Identify areas of work to scope potential investments and announcements for the foundation. Grounded in data and evidence, propose areas for investments, identify initial sets of investments, build leadership support for proposed investment strategy and, if approved, develop announcements for these efforts.
- Within the above broader mandate, serve as the foundation’s lead in scoping and early execution of an effort to fast track women’s leadership in key sectors and organizations. Building on initial interest and investments in fast tracking women’s leadership in global health, examine key sectors and organizations that drive norms and decision making in global health and development and scope a multi-sector long-term investment strategy that accelerates progress towards gender equality in leadership in these sectors.
- Partner closely with the Philanthropic Partnerships Team (PPT) to develop philanthropic vehicles and partnerships with a goal of crowding in a diverse range of financial support for any new efforts. Partnering with the PPT team from the conception phase of any idea to try to create investment areas and investments that are attractive to and have early stage agreement from multiple philanthropists reflecting the long-term and large-scale nature of the types of investments we hope come from this initiative.
- Manage learning process for leadership and co-chairs. Recognizing that the areas proposed in this initiative will be new or significantly-expanded investment areas for the foundation, you will partner with the Director for planning and executing a learning agenda for the foundation’s leadership. This learning agenda will include written and in-person briefings on the data and evidence examined, the investment areas proposed with business justification, and presentation of initial portfolio and potential announcement proposals.
- Participate as a member of the GESI leadership team and contribute to the ongoing shaping and implementation of the initiative. You are expected to contribute to planning, strategy development, management, and leadership efforts across the initiative.
- Advise Director and other foundation leadership on long-term placement of new initiatives. As we announce any new investment areas, you will work with the Director and foundation leadership to advise on where new investment areas should be placed permanently within the organization.
We are looking for people who enjoy the opportunity of working on complex problems and collectively building solutions that have the potential for transformative change in the lives of people around the world. We seek a natural collaborator with a deep commitment to women’s empowerment globally. You should be prepared to work across a diverse set of disciplines, bridging a wide range of expertise all the while being a teammate, with a proven ability to work with flexibility, efficiency and diplomacy in an exciting, challenging environment. Additionally, we seek:
- Strategic thinker with demonstrated ability to use quantitative and qualitative data to present options for decision making, highlight tradeoffs, and propose recommendations.
- Deep understanding of our work from both a program and operational perspective. While you do not need to be a gender equality authority, you should have a working knowledge of the foundation’s work in this area and have an ability to quickly build a network of advisors and establish opinions on what areas to start exploring for potential investment and where the foundation has potential comparative advantage(s).
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills, ability to effectively synthesize information and tailor it to leadership needs. Able to communicate clearly with diverse set of partners and quickly establish trust and credibility with senior-level audiences (co-chairs, CEO, Presidents).
- Outstanding people skills and a demonstrated ability to lead and manage others in a constructive encouraging manner, to build and sustain collaborative relationships, and to influence a wide range of individuals from diverse backgrounds and at different levels.
- Experience in a dynamic environment with demonstrated ability to juggle multiple and competing demands and establish priorities, while providing continual attention to detail.
- Calm under pressure with ability to lead and inspire confidence through ambiguity or change.
- Ability to handle highly confidential issues and information, exercising appropriate discretion.
- Must be able to legally work in the country where this position is located with visa/work sponsorship.
- Preference for demonstrated experience using strategic and analytical skills (e.g., roles in strategy/management consulting, strategy, finance).
- Experience working in the field of gender equality a plus.