Program Officer, Office of the Director, Africa at Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Your Role 

• The Program Officer in the office of the Director, Africa, advances the programmatic objectives of the Africa team through supporting its internal program and management functions, as well as collaboration across the foundation and with external partners. The role will entail exposure to programmatic work across the Africa team, as well as strong engagement with the team’s leadership to strengthen the management functions and integration of the team’s work. It will include a programmatic role in reviewing and managing grants out of the Director’s office, will enhance the ability of the Africa team to manage incoming and outgoing senior visits and trips, and will help to support management of the program assistants’ cohort in the Africa team.
• This role will report to the Senior Advisor to the Director, Africa and work closely with the Director Africa in managing all these activities for the collective benefit of the Africa team and wider foundation. 

What You’ll Do 

• Support the senior advisor in ensuring that all significant events and  landmarks on the Africa team calendar, both internal and external, are registered and brought to the attention of the Africa team and other internal  partners for timely preparation and management.
• Collaborate with colleagues across the Africa team and foundation to prepare executive and Co-Chair visits to the region, schedule regular preparatory discussions and ensure that teams submit high quality briefing documents for executive visits and trips in a timeous fashion.
• Play a welcoming role for visits of senior colleagues to the regional office as needed, arrange learning sessions for the team where appropriate.
• Support the Senior Advisor to prepare briefing documents for external meetings for the Director, Africa, liaising as needed with internal and external  partners to prepare speaker inputs etc. Help to coordinate Africa team participation and input for external meetings and events.
• Assist where needed to manage regular leadership meetings and learning sessions, aiding with the setting of the agenda, outreach and preparation to presenters, taking and review of minutes.
• Under the guidance of the Senior Advisor, serve as Program Officer for grants funded by the Director's Reserve, co-designing and structuring the grant proposals and budget according to foundation practice, engaging with the external partners and other co-funding teams across the foundation, and monitoring and ensuring sound implementation of the grants.
• Support preparation of weekly grant reviews for the Director, Africa, ensuring that the correct information is provided from investment officers and that submissions are made timeously, including preparation and follow up from Africa team concept review consultations.
• Help to anchor the Africa team's work on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, collaborating with the DEI Working Group and liaising with the DEI & Gender and sub-group leads. Ensure that the DEI work is regularly communicated to Africa team leadership and across the wider team for input and engagement.
• Help support the management of the cohort of program assistants across the entire Africa team, working to ensure a high and consistent standard of performance; support the assignment of assistants in the regional office and identifying appropriate development initiatives for the program assistants.
• Collaborate with hiring managers, HR and the strategy portfolio management team to enhance the onboarding process for new hires in the Africa team, ensuring consistency and a positive experience for new hires.
• Help to support the implementation of special projects or change management initiatives across the team, collaborating where needed with the HR and strategy and portfolio management teams.

Your Experience 

• Master's/MBA in a relevant field such as business administration, management, international development or other relevant social sciences.
• Minimum of 5 years of professional experience desired, preferably in a regional or international development organization, business or consulting firm.
• Programmatic experience designing and managing projects in the areas of relevance to the foundation. Understanding of how to create development impact and collaborate with internal and external  partners to meet programmatic outcomes.
• Building partnerships and working collaboratively with others to meet shared/joint objectives, both internally and externally. Ability to orchestrate effective decisions across a broad range of issues and partners and work with a sense of team spirit.
• Results oriented. Works with a sense of purpose, enjoys creating and managing processes that increase transparency and management impact. Not afraid to propose innovative ways of doing things that can improve team effectiveness; able to manage ambiguity and novelty.
• Communication skills. Communicates in complex situations in a clear and concise manner with a broad and diverse audience. Excellent written and verbal skills with strong attention to detail.
• Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI). Comfortable in a wide range of cultural, geographic and operational situations, demonstrating culturally sensitive behaviour with a diverse range of people; diverse international working experience and commitment to promoting an environment that promotes DEI norms and practices.

Other Attributes

• Ability to travel frequently.
• Proven experience of having designed and managed a complex set of projects and programs within a  hard-working, fast-paced environment across the African continent.
• Strong interpersonal skills; ability to take and receive feedback in a constructive manner.