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.
Within the Global Development program, the Water, Sanitation & Hygiene (WS&H) initiative focuses its efforts on supporting effective, sustainable and scalable ways to assist the 2.5 billion people who lack access to adequate sanitation.
Our grants fund both direct solutions, such as user-led sanitation, as well as indirect levers, such as improved information on costing to achieve sustainable service delivery. In all cases, we seek to catalyze action by others and to leverage the foundation’s particular capabilities, such as taking risks to drive innovation and engaging with a wide range of partners to achieve measurable results.
The Senior Program Officer (SPO) will play a pivotal leadership role in the WS&H initiative, taking primary responsibility for developing, executing and managing a portfolio of high-impact grants with the goal of replicating at very large scale a sustainable approach to rural sanitation.
This approach triggers demand to end open defecation and improve unsafe latrines, trains local entrepreneurs to offer affordable sanitation products and services, and improves the enabling environment supporting these activities.
Reporting to the Deputy Director leading the WS&H initiative, the SPO will also contribute to developing the WS&H strategy, enhancing external and internal relationships, improving team effectiveness, and supervising Program Officers and other staff.
Specific responsibilities will include:
Grant Making: Identify, develop, structure and execute new grants that contribute to the above goal, both directly and by guiding the work of Program Officers. Scan the sector to find the most promising opportunities. Seek input from external and internal reviewers. Work closely with potential grantees to develop projects, to define key outcomes and milestones, and to ensure that rigorous monitoring and evaluation processes are in place.
Grant Management: Consult regularly with grantees to achieve desired impact of grants and to ensure optimal learning. Conduct site visits, provide operational guidance, convene meetings of key stakeholders, and evaluate milestone-based performance objectives.
Relationship Building. Build a set of external relationships that contribute to a broader ‘movement’ supporting this particular approach to rural sanitation. Key stakeholders will include international and local NGOs, governments, multilateral organizations, and bilateral donors.
Strategy: Develop and implement an execution plan for replicating at large scale the chosen approach to rural sanitation. Contribute to updating and refining the overall WS&H strategy as needed. Assess progress against planned results and synthesize lessons learned.
External Communications: Represent the foundation to key external constituencies, including participation in conferences and meetings. Disseminate our emerging experience and approach to rural sanitation.
Internal Communications: Prepare clear, concise, and insightful written analyses on new grants and progress reports on existing grants. Communicate effectively with senior management through memos, meetings and field visits. Coordinate with colleagues in related program areas (e.g., Global Health, Agricultural Development).
Team Leadership: Supervise colleagues, potentially including Program Officers and Program Assistants, providing guidance on their work and professional development. Manage one or more cross-cutting functions that contribute to WS&H team effectiveness (e.g., knowledge management, grantee development).
Qualifications:
• BA/BS in Public Administration, International Relations, Sociology, Anthropology, Economics, Engineering or equivalent experience. Advanced degree in a related field preferred strongly preferred.
• 15 years or more relevant work experience, either in the WS&H sector in the developing world or in another development sector with transferable skills. Field experience, particularly in Africa and Asia, preferred as well as broader policy experience. Outstanding record of achievement in these assignments.
• Evidence of success in building and managing broad-based international coalitions with multiple partners to achieve concrete changes. Demonstrated capacity to conceptualize, structure, negotiate, and execute challenging projects/programs. Experience in planning and implementing strategies.
• Solid team leadership track record, including supervision and mentoring of colleagues. Ability to work collaboratively as part of a larger team.
• Experience working with a range of clients, colleagues, consultants, and other partners with broad exposure to private, public and NGO sectors.
• Strong analytical skills, including quantitative assessments and a focused approach to complex problems.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills to convey complex situations in a clear, concise manner.
• Exceptional results orientation combined with strong relationship management skills. Ability to establish priorities among multiple, competing demands and to meet deadlines. Demonstrated ability to work with flexibility, efficiency, and diplomacy in a fast-paced environment.
• Innovative and open-minded approach to all aspects of work. Ability to question and challenge colleagues, including managers, and partners in a constructive manner.
• Comfortable in a wide range of cultural, geographic and operational situations, demonstrating culturally sensitive behavior with a diverse range of people.
• Ability to travel up to 33% of time as needs dictate.
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.
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