Senior Program Officer, Southern Africa at Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Your Role

• We seek an experienced professional to serve as a SPO for Southern Africa. The post holder will work with internal foundation teams and leverage an ecosystem of partners at country, regional and global levels, at the direction of the RRSA, to support the continent-wide spread and scale of the foundation’s programmatic priorities, with a focus on the Southern Africa region.
• Working closely with the RRSA, you will support the strategic direction of the team and oversee the grant management function within the team. You will work with internal teams and leverage an ecosystem of partners at country and regional levels, to support the identification of priorities, unique investments, potential for the foundation, prototyping of interventions and supporting the scale up of programmatic priorities, with a focus on the Southern Africa region.

What You'll Do
External Responsibilities:

• Support the RRSA, with strategic information, opportunity and risk identification, portfolio management and collaborative representation at internal/external fora.
• At the guidance of the RRSA, establish and strengthen critical relationships with national and regional governments in the Southern Africa region, and other key foundation partners, including funders, media, NGOs, multilateral organizations, and the private sector to boost political will and help bring in new resources to meet our priority objectives.
• Support and advocate for foundation priority strategies in the Southern Africa region: Angola, Botswana, Comoros, Eswatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Your priority countries are South Africa, Mozambique, and Malawi.
• Create and maintain high quality, productive, collaborative, and coordinated interactions and clear and consistent communications with grantees and partners in the region.
• Support the development of a robust regional internal and external communications plan. Develop the weekly and monthly regional reports as a key communication tool to engage PSTs.

Internal Responsibilities

• Gather and provide colleagues with information at country and regional level about priority issues and strategies that are important to the foundation, such as new policies, local investments, financial regulation, biotechnology, gender, and other key health and development priorities.
• Support foundation leadership trips, learning, engagement opportunities, and other appropriate activities to foundation staff visiting Southern Africa.
• Support the coordination of programmatic work in the region, in close partnership with foundation’s Program Strategy and Functional teams.
• Provide internal review of program and or functional team grants/investments, contributing expert knowledge of local context in shaping said grants/investments. Source, develop, and manage one’s own portfolio of grants/investments.
• Attend meetings to represent the foundation and advocate / help shape global, regional and country agendas in line with foundation priorities.
• Support the diversification of our portfolio from a demographic and institutional perspective, with a view to driving higher impact.
• Review other PST investments for Southern Africa with a view to identifying risks to execution, opportunities for co-investment and potential alliances between PSTs internally and other donors externally.
• Support and manage the leadership of the Southern Africa working groups, including the South Africa, Malawi and Mozambique Working Groups to ensure, collaboration, knowledge sharing and partnership with the PSTs.

Leadership and Culture

• We believe that energized people, working well together, fueled by great leadership in an inclusive environment in which they thrive, will do phenomenal things.

Your Experience

• Advanced degree (Master’s and above) in public health, management or related field with at least 10 years’ experience in a relevant developmental area (e.g. health, social development, program management).
• A minimum of 8 years’ experience in a priority program of the foundation operating at a middle to senior level in health delivery or health research and development (R&D).
• At least 3 years’ experience developing ToRs and managing grants/investments.
• Strong problem-solving approach. Outstanding interpersonal skills and humility - ability to listen and absorb perspectives from partners and synthesize into thoughtful and well-designed comprehensive grants.
• Knowledge of development issues, strategies and institutions across relevant foundation program areas and geographies, and experience working in international development organizations OR playing a role that has development focus in the private sector, for example driving Public Private Partnerships, government relations, social impact, community investment.
• Demonstrated ability to oversee the management of large/complex projects related to relevant developmental area(s) and ability to collaborate across global teams and work across time zones. Must have an understanding of global health, gender, philanthropic management, water, sanitation & hygiene, and policy, advocacy and communications experience.
• Proven experience developing collaborative relationships and effectively engaging with a wide array of partners at country and regional levels, including but not limited to government, regional entities, influencers, donors and partners/grantees on a wide range of issues. Strong experience in at least one foundation program priority is required.
• Proven ability to shape, develop, manage and scale strong partnerships, alliances and ventures both inside and outside organizations. Ability to adapt and learn from local contexts and serve as a trusted advisor to partners.
• Ability to convene, lead and influence others to align to shared strategy goals, in a constructive manner.
• Some experience with strategy implementation, measurement, and course-correction is preferable.
• Good knowledge of complex program design that involves working with multiple partners including technical experts, government, and partners, to 1) conceive and codevelop grant ideas/concepts that offer effective and implementable solutions to complex development problems, and 2) provide on-the-ground oversight of grant development and implementation activities.
• Ability to prioritize among opposing priorities and focus and achieve results.
• Excellent oral, facilitation, and written communication skills, able to effectively synthesize information to reach diverse audiences and build consensus.
• Ability to be self-guided and work effectively and comfortably with sensitivity across barriers such as language, culture, and distance.
• Demonstrated ability to function successfully in a politically demanding environment.
• Experience working in a matrix environment is strongly preferred.
• Excellent organizational skills and proven experience managing coordination mechanisms designed to lead teams through a complex and ambiguous task.

Other Attributes

• Commitment to the Foundation’s core values, mission, and programs with an approach that is consistent with the Foundation’s guiding principles and holding self to the highest ethical standards.
• Ability to travel up to 40% domestically and internationally.
• Must be able to legally work in the country where this position is located without visa sponsorship.