Foundation Summary

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 Sue Desmond-Hellman 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 (GD), Global Health (GH), Global Growth & Opportunity (GGO), and Global Policy & Advocacy (GPA) Programs is to increase opportunities for people in the developing world to lift themselves out of illness, hunger, and poverty, and to help deliver targeted healthcare solutions in these regions.

The India Country Office (ICO) plays a leading role in advancing the foundation’s goals of reducing inequities in global health and development in India, supporting the Government of India. The ICO reports into the Global Development Program, but its initiatives encompass almost the entire range of strategies that reside in our Global Development, Global Health, Global Growth & Opportunity, and Global Policy & Advocacy Programs, spanning from R&D to delivery to strengthening systems and the enabling environment. Our New Delhi office oversees the foundation’s work in India, which includes partnerships with India’s central and state governments, nonprofit organizations, community groups, academic institutions, and the private sector. We began our work in India more than a decade ago with an initiative to curtail the spread of HIV. Since then, the scope of our work in India has expanded tremendously to include maternal, neonatal, and child health; health and nutrition services; vaccines and routine immunization; family planning; control and elimination of infectious diseases; agricultural development; sanitation; and financial services for the poor. Because our mission and India’s strategy for the future are closely aligned, we have formed fruitful partnerships with government devoted to our shared goals. Given our focus on improving conditions for the poorest populations, we make significant investments in two priority states — Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

Given our vantage point across programs, our technical experts look for holistic, integrated, or cross-cutting solutions that overcome system impediments effectively and efficiently. We encourage staff and partners to put the user at the center of our program solutions and to design integrated program models that break silos and best meet human needs. We look at every layer of the healthcare system – from community to front-line workers to public facilities to private sector – to identify delivery solutions and insights that help to change behaviors, to introduce and scale high impact interventions, and to generate higher level overall system performance. Our goals and operating model require leveraging the vast network of internal and external foundation partners.

Position Summary & Responsibilities

Located in New Delhi, India, the Strategy Officer (SO) will lead high-impact projects in collaboration with program leadership. Potential projects span strategy development and execution planning for current initiative areas; portfolio strategy development and the facilitation of associated prioritization and tradeoff discussions; identification of thematic challenges and strategic options; strategic partnership support; and the strategic application of innovation to our work. The SO will provide leadership, strategic thought partnership, project management, and analytical support to key strategy projects. This role will report to the Deputy Director, Strategy Planning & Management. Note that on a project by project basis, this role will occasionally report (in an indirect capacity) to other Team members who lead key program areas (Director, Deputy Director, Senior Program Officers).

Key responsibilities will include:

Support strategy development process for defined projects
Collaborate with DDSPM and programmatic staff to design the overall process for strategy development
Act as day-to-day manager of strategic process
Oversee development of materials to drive project execution – e.g. analyses, project plans, meeting materials, ultimate strategy document outputs
Facilitate discussions with internal team, external experts, and other global health/development partners
Employ strategic tools to develop and assess options, ensure logical reasoning, and challenge assumptions
Manage strategy development process with a customer-focus orientation – e.g., effective communication – and emphasis on relationship management
Bring creative solutions to manage group process – e.g., managing conflict and driving alignment
Provide recommendations to improve overall foundation strategic planning and management process based upon experience supporting teams and/or projects.
Support strategy execution planning
Collaborate with ICO leadership and other foundation strategy staff to support process for strategy execution planning
Oversee development of materials to drive the strategy execution planning process – e.g. analyses, project plans, meeting materials, ultimate execution plan outputs
Manage the strategy execution planning process that is focused on enabling program teams to align the investments, staff resources and voice/influence necessary to implement their strategies and achieve their impact goals.
Design and perform analytical work in support of strategy development and execution planning process
Identify and design required analytical work
Develop analytical methodology and analyze data to support decision-making – collating information required from literature and existing public databases on finance, health, and development
Participate in the development and use of tools to facilitate strategy development and processes associated with budgeting, portfolio management, and other areas as needed

Perform problem-solving work in support of strategy projects
Provide project management and analytical support to cross-cutting strategy projects
Develop, execute, and manage external partnerships and contracts as needed
Contribute and participate in ongoing improvement of the ICO’s strategy work regarding overall approach, tools and processes, resource allocation, continuous improvement, linkage with program operations, linkage with other programmatic teams, etc.
Participate in foundation-wide activities (e.g., learning sessions, all staff meetings, performance reviews)

Qualifications

A minimum of seven + years of professional experience with three years of experience in strategic planning functions preferably at a top tier strategy consulting firm.

MBA or other advanced degree in a relevant field such as Business, Engineering, or Sciences preferred.
Broad understanding of global health/development issues and some global health/development experience is preferable.
Experience with strategy execution, measurement, review and adjustment is preferable
Excellent oral, facilitation, and written communication skills.
Demonstrated ability to function successfully in a politically demanding environment
Excellent quantitative/financial knowledge, including experience creating complex models, with a demonstrated ability to extract appropriate data to convey complex information using supporting tables, graphs and other visual representations.
Excellent organizational skills, demonstrated ability to lead teams through a complex and ambiguous task
Ability to be independent and work effectively and with sensitivity across barriers such as language, culture and distance
Excellent software skills with Microsoft Office applications. Ability to quickly learn new software modules
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.
Experience working in a matrix environment preferred
A sense of humor.
As part of our standard hiring process for new employees, employment with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will be contingent upon successful completion of a background check.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is dedicated to the belief that all lives have equal value. We’re committed to creating a workplace where employees thrive both personally and professionally. We also believe our employees should reflect the rich diversity of the global populations we aim to serve—in race, gender, age, cultures and beliefs—and we support this diversity through all of our employment practices.

All applicants and employees who are drawn to serve the mission of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will enjoy equality of opportunity and fair treatment without regard to:

* Race
* Color
* Age
* Religion
* Pregnancy
* Sex
* Sexual Orientation
* Disability
* Gender Identity
* Gender Expression
* National Origin
* Genetic Information
* Veteran Status
* Marital Status
* Prior Protected Activity
As part of our standard hiring process for new employees, employment with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will be contingent upon successful completion of a background check.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is dedicated to the belief that all lives have equal value. We’re committed to creating a workplace where employees thrive both personally and professionally. We also believe our employees should reflect the rich diversity of the global populations we aim to serve—in race, gender, age, cultures and beliefs—and we support this diversity through all of our employment practices.

All applicants and employees who are drawn to serve the mission of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will enjoy equality of opportunity and fair treatment without regard to:

* Race

* Color

* Age

* Religion

* Pregnancy

* Sex

* Sexual Orientation

* Disability

* Gender Identity

* Gender Expression

* National Origin

* Genetic Information

* Veteran Status

* Marital Status

* Prior Protected Activity

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