Division: Global Development Program
Department: Agricultural Development
Location: Seattle
Foundation Overview
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, the foundation is led by CEO Jeff Raikes and co-chair William H. Gates Sr., under the direction of Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett.
Group Summary
The goal of the Global Development Program (GDP) is to increase opportunities for people in the developing world to lift themselves out of hunger and poverty and to help deliver targeted healthcare solutions in these regions. Our strategies focus on Agriculture Development; Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene; Financial Services for the Poor; and Family Health which includes Maternal, Newborn and Child Health, Family Planning, and Nutrition. These strategies are supported by functional teams that focus on Vaccine Delivery and Integrated Delivery. GDP also has Special Initiatives that focus Urban Poverty, Emergency Relief, Global Libraries and Value for the Money.
Within the Agricultural Development program, the Agricultural Policies team supports data collection and availability, research and policy analysis, and dialogue to help policy makers and other stakeholders assess the impact of alternative national and international agricultural policies and expenditure decisions. We also measure the progress of our grants to ensure they are delivering anticipating benefits to smallholder farming families.
Responsibilities
The Senior Program Officer (SPO) will be a leader and a team player in the implementation of these programmatic goals, with a specific mandate to manage a sub-initiative responsible for supporting better agricultural policies in Sub-Saharan Africa. The SPO will work closely with the full Agricultural Development team and with the Global Program Advocacy team to develop and execute a granting strategy, forge and development strong working partnerships, and develop grants.
The SPO will play a critical role in managing high impact and complex grants and partnerships. S/he will be responsible for overall grant development and management across the sub-initiative. This includes strategically developing and managing a portfolio of grants requiring high-level grant management skills and monitoring and evaluation core to the overall Agricultural Development strategy.The SPO will bring a depth and breadth of experience in relationship management; particularly in building strong working partnerships with other donors / actors in the agricultural development field, with African governments, and with multinational African institutions including NEPAD, CAADP and the Regional Economic Communities..
Key responsibilities include:
The statements in this description represent typical elements, criteria and general work performed.
They are not intended to be construed as an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties and skills for this job.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.We are an equal opportunity employer dedicated and focused on diversity.
Requisition Number
4314BR
Department: Agricultural Development
Location: Seattle
Foundation Overview
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, the foundation is led by CEO Jeff Raikes and co-chair William H. Gates Sr., under the direction of Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett.
Group Summary
The goal of the Global Development Program (GDP) is to increase opportunities for people in the developing world to lift themselves out of hunger and poverty and to help deliver targeted healthcare solutions in these regions. Our strategies focus on Agriculture Development; Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene; Financial Services for the Poor; and Family Health which includes Maternal, Newborn and Child Health, Family Planning, and Nutrition. These strategies are supported by functional teams that focus on Vaccine Delivery and Integrated Delivery. GDP also has Special Initiatives that focus Urban Poverty, Emergency Relief, Global Libraries and Value for the Money.
Within the Agricultural Development program, the Agricultural Policies team supports data collection and availability, research and policy analysis, and dialogue to help policy makers and other stakeholders assess the impact of alternative national and international agricultural policies and expenditure decisions. We also measure the progress of our grants to ensure they are delivering anticipating benefits to smallholder farming families.
Responsibilities
The Senior Program Officer (SPO) will be a leader and a team player in the implementation of these programmatic goals, with a specific mandate to manage a sub-initiative responsible for supporting better agricultural policies in Sub-Saharan Africa. The SPO will work closely with the full Agricultural Development team and with the Global Program Advocacy team to develop and execute a granting strategy, forge and development strong working partnerships, and develop grants.
The SPO will play a critical role in managing high impact and complex grants and partnerships. S/he will be responsible for overall grant development and management across the sub-initiative. This includes strategically developing and managing a portfolio of grants requiring high-level grant management skills and monitoring and evaluation core to the overall Agricultural Development strategy.The SPO will bring a depth and breadth of experience in relationship management; particularly in building strong working partnerships with other donors / actors in the agricultural development field, with African governments, and with multinational African institutions including NEPAD, CAADP and the Regional Economic Communities..
Key responsibilities include:
- Lead a small team to develop, manage and implement grant strategies as well as execute and manage a portfolio of complex contracts and grants.
- Review letters of inquiry and grant proposals, provide written analysis and recommendations for funding, including drafting and editing of proposal summaries and progress reports for existing grants for review by Foundation leadership.- Consult with grantees and other partners to maximize impact of projects. This may include site visits, providing operational guidance and convening meetings of key stakeholders.- Develop relationships with other multi- and bi-lateral donors within the agricultural development field.
- Manage internal processes and portfolio progress while ensuring appropriate documentation, grant budgeting and reporting.
- Represent the foundation to key program-related external constituencies. This will likely include both formal and informal public presentations such as making speeches, attending international conferences and other meetings as necessary.
- Contribute to the design of new strategies, collaborations and implementation plans to ensure long-term sustainability and impact of the foundation's agricultural development strategy.
- As a people leader, s/he is responsible for hiring the talent needed to achieve our goals, ensuring successful employee onboarding, communicating performance expectations and creating goal alignment, integrating project and change management initiatives, coaching, measuring progress and holding people accountable, supporting employee development, and recognizing achievement and lessons learned.
- Six plus years of experience coupled with an advanced degree in economics or agricultural economics.
- A PhD is preferred as is demonstrable experience working with and on behalf of agricultural development issues in the developing world.
- Demonstrated success in leadership roles developing and managing policy organizations, programs or initiatives requiring a combination of strong analytical, writing, social and management skills
- Significant experience in Sub-Saharan Africa as well as a deep understanding of key agricultural policy issues is required
- A strong network and experience working with and across a diverse set of scientific, policy and donor communities including experience interacting with African government officials.- Experience developing, managing and implementing projects, including partnering with grantees on the definition of objectives and deliverables and monitoring and evaluation of results
- Ability to work persuasively, tactfully and efficiently in a team-based environment with a high degree of complexity and ambiguity.
- Ability to travel up to 30% domestically and internationally.
- High standards of personal integrity and sense of humor required.
The statements in this description represent typical elements, criteria and general work performed.
They are not intended to be construed as an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties and skills for this job.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.We are an equal opportunity employer dedicated and focused on diversity.
Requisition Number
4314BR
