The Foundation

We are the largest nonprofit fighting poverty, disease, and inequity around the world. Founded on a simple premise: people everywhere, regardless of identity or circumstances, should have the chance to live healthy, productive lives. We believe our employees should reflect the rich diversity of the global populations we aim to serve. We provide an exceptional benefits package to employees and their families which include comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage with no premiums, generous paid time off, paid family leave, foundation-paid retirement contribution, regional holidays, and opportunities to engage in several employee communities. As a workplace, we’re committed to creating an environment for you to thrive both personally and professionally.

The Team

Vaccines are a core priority of the Gates Foundation and can save millions of lives a year when delivered effectively. The mission of our Immunization Program Strategy Team (PST) is to urgently reach children, adolescents, and adults — no matter where they live — with the vaccines they need. Our goal is a world free of vaccine-preventable diseases, achieved by working with countries, development and humanitarian partners, and civil society organizations to make sure that vaccines and immunization are effectively prioritized and delivered. We aim to create robust and resilient immunization programs that are critical to primary health care and ensure that there are sufficient affordable supplies to meet demand. All our work on vaccines and immunization contributes to IA2030, a vision and commitment by the global community to extend the full benefits of immunization to all by 2030.

Your Role

Application Deadline: 3/12/24

As the Senior Program Officer for Humanitarian Immunization and Polio, you will collaborate with internal and external stakeholders to implement investment approaches to improve immunization coverage and equity in select subnational geographies. Your experience in supporting health services, outbreak response, immunization campaigns, and surveillance in low-resource and humanitarian settings will help you support programs reaching underserved populations, with an emphasis on Somalia and other countries in the team’s portfolio. You will strive to mainstream gender-transformative approaches in your work and encourage partners to improve their gender practices.

You are a systems thinker who is dedicated to achieving outcomes, enjoys finding innovative solutions to complex problems, and is open to exploring new insights. Your diplomacy and communication skills will help you forge trusting relationships with government technical staff, implementing partners, and donors in the immunization sector.

This position is based in London and reports to the Senior Manager, Routine Immunization Strengthening Program (RISP), on the Immunization Program Strategy Team.

What You’ll Do

• Stakeholder Collaboration: Develop deep, trusting relationships with key country-level partners such as Ministry of Health technical managers, donor organizations, humanitarian and development actors, civil society representatives, and implementing partner staff. Proactively shape and pursue opportunities for co-managed and co-financed collaborations with government and other donors.
• Investment Management: Manage grants and contracts aimed at improving immunization coverage and equity in select sub-national areas. Work closely with grantees and contractors to ensure strong alignment on investment goals and high-quality proposals, budgets, and reports. Track the progress of country-level investment portfolios using data and evidence for strategic adjustment
• Gender Change Agent: Mainstream gender-intentional or transformative approaches in every grant and contract managed. Advocate for immunization stakeholders to implement strategies reducing gender-related barriers to immunization.
• Innovation and Risk-Taking: Identify and implement innovative approaches to improve immunization coverage and equity and long-term sustainability. Encourage and test new insights, encouraging collaborators to question the status quo, take risks, and learn from failures.
• Sustainability and Transition: Support planning for the eventual transition and closure of foundation-supported programs and investments, ensuring clear communication, monitoring, and problem-solving focused on long-term sustainability.
• Surveillance and data: Supervise polio surveillance and data on routine immunization and polio vaccination efforts in coordination with Gavi Alliance and GPEI partners, providing feedback and technical guidance on intensified AFP and environmental surveillance efforts and routine immunization strengthening. Participate in GPEI-led outbreak review and assessments as required.
• Strategy Support: Contribute to developing and adjusting team strategy, translating country-level realities to global policy.
• Leadership Reporting & Engagement: Support foundation leadership engagements, advocacy, and reporting.
• Diversity, Equity & Inclusion: Embed diversity, equity, and inclusion principles into day-to-day work, interactions with colleagues, and the portfolio of investments managed.

Your Experience

• An advanced degree in health, public health, medicine, management, health economics, public policy, health programming, or related fields (e.g. MSPH, MHA, MBA, MPH, MD, PhD) is preferred. Equivalent experience will also be considered.
• Significant experience in outbreak response, vaccine delivery, and/or health emergency programs in low-resource and humanitarian settings with an emphasis on program management, emergency response, and program operations.
• Demonstrated ability to work with diverse partners and teams including elected officials, government technical staff, public health specialists, donor representatives, and humanitarian partners.
• Proficiency in designing and implementing strategies, particularly in immunization, outbreak response, and public health programming in humanitarian or conflict situations.
• Country-level familiarity with immunization and polio funding and planning processes, goal setting, implementation, and evaluation of activities.
• Fluency and confidence in implementing gender-intentional and progressive approaches to reduce gender-based barriers to immunization.
• Effective change agent with the ability to advocate and drive successful change.

Other Attributes

• Travel: Expect up to 50% international travel.
• English language skills are required; advanced knowledge of French is preferred.
• Ability to develop and maintain strong partnerships and relationships, manage conflicts, and build consensus.
• Comfortable in various cultural, political, geographic, and operational situations.

Hiring Requirements

As part of our standard hiring process for new employees, employment will be contingent upon successful completion of a background check.

Candidate Accommodations

If you require assistance due to a disability in the application or recruitment process, please submit a request here.

Inclusion Statement

We are dedicated to the belief that all lives have equal value. We strive for a global and cultural workplace that supports ever greater diversity, equity, and inclusion — of voices, ideas, and approaches — and we support this diversity through all our employment practices.

All applicants and employees who are drawn to serve our mission 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, and prior protected activity.