Associate Program Officer, East Africa at Gates Foundation

Job Description

What You’ll Do

Research, analysis, investment, and program design:
Conduct technical research and analysis to inform investment, initiative and program strategy design and decision making to advance the priorities of EA and Africa team.
Synthesize and translate outputs from the research and analysis from grantees and third parties into insights, concepts, and practical next steps to inform strategic or implementation shifts for EA and the Africa team, with an eye towards incorporating, gender, diversity, equity and inclusion in the design and implementation of investments and strategy developments in EA.
Support timely requests from the Africa regional team and program strategy teams for research and analysis support related to political economies, learning agendas and impact of our work in EA.
Support program activities as assigned by program leadership and staff and ensure the timely processing and the delivery of required materials.
Project management:
Organize and facilitate internal partner meetings with program teams; Draft summaries of grant activities and budgets as requested, update country profiles, and support documentation and dissemination of minutes and pertinent information to staff across Africa.
Organize and facilitate external grantee/partner/donor coordination meetings, including writing briefing documents; organize workshops and learning sessions; coordinate field and site visits, including preparing documents and overseeing logistics.
Track and coordinate follow-ups on requests for assistance and support from the Africa team; establish regular coordination within the Africa team around grants, contracts, budgets, reporting tools.
Support effective coordination of/participation in cross-team coordination mechanisms such as country working groups, investment coordination forums, etc.
Manage special projects as assigned by leadership.

Your Experience

A minimum of 3 years of relevant experience in international development, public health management or the private sector is desirable.
MBA, MPH, MPA, MA or other advanced degree in a relevant field is desirable.
Prior experience in supporting research and analysis to inform the design of development programs in the foundation’s programmatic areas preferred.
Experience working in or living in more than one East African country and fluency in Swahili and English is a plus.
Strong research and analysis skills, including experience working with analytical models
Demonstrated ability to convey complex information using supporting tables, graphs and other visual representations.
Ability to synthesize data and evidence to elicit and communicate implications for program design.
Strong relevant work experience in roles for developing, implementing, and managing projects/programs.
Ability to work with a wide range of internal and external partners to incorporate new information.
Must possess strong oral and written communication skills to represent leadership and staff of the Africa regional team effectively and accurately, as needed, to a variety of audiences as well as draft and proof-read written documents.
Innovative and open-minded approach to all aspects of work.
Demonstrated proficiency using Microsoft Word, Outlook, Excel, PowerPoint, SharePoint is required.
Experience in learning and mastering new software applications.