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LTE Senior Program Officer, Innovative Health Tools

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Operations
New Delhi, Delhi, India
Posted 6+ months ago

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

The India Country Office (ICO) plays a leading role advancing the foundation’s goals of reducing inequities in global health and development in India. In 2003, the foundation launched their first partnership in India, an HIV/AIDS prevention program known as Avahan. In the past decade, HIV infection rates in India have decreased by half, and Avahan has been an important part of the country’s response to the epidemic with a significant decline in disease prevalence in the program’s target states. Between 2010 and 2012, the government gradually took ownership of the program as planned.

Today, our investments span across health and development sectors, including health systems strengthening, infectious disease, vaccines, family health, family planning, agriculture, sanitation, and financial services for the poor. While we work nationally, we have a special emphasis on the states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, which have a combined population of more than 300 million. These states have a disproportionate burden of disease, and governments are eager to work with partners to improve conditions for their people. The foundation has formed partnerships with the state governments in both UP and Bihar.

The foundation has also been partnering with the Department of Biotechnology, BIRAC, Indian Council for Medical Research and private sector players to strengthen vaccine R&D in India. Our aim is to help India serve as a credible source of supply for life-saving vaccines, diagnostics and pharmaceutical products for diseases that affect the poorest. This stream of work has been critical in ensuring rollout of the rotavirus vaccine in the country, and in the scaleup of vaccines like Pentavalent, Pneumococcal Vaccine, and the Inactivated Polio Vaccine.

Application deadline: 14th June, 2024.

Your Role

Located in New Delhi, the LTE Senior Program Officer, Innovative Health Tools (SPO, IHT) will support the Deputy Director, Digital & Health Innovation, in designing and operationalizing and supporting ongoing grants to improve India’s capabilities in upstream R&D. This would involve investments to strengthen India’s role in the area of v, devices, diagnostics, and scientific/disease data. This is a Limited Term Employment of 9 months (LTE) and would have 2-fold objective:

1. Continue to support and build on ongoing investments to build domestic capability for new product development with a focus on diagnostics in multiple areas including maternal newborn and child health, infectious diseases, primary health care etc.

2. Help manage relationships and engagements both within the Foundation internally and with external partner in the areas of R&D for product development, upstream research, help understand implementation research approaches and pathways to scale innovation and further our understanding of health and biotech markets in India.

This work would involve high levels of both internal and external engagement. Internally, this role would need to liaise with Program Strategy Teams and Functional Teams based in Seattle (especially the diagnostics team), and with ICO colleagues. Externally, the SPO would be expected to collaborate with govt. partners, NGOs, private sector Indian companies/startups in the vaccines, pharmaceuticals, devices, and diagnostics space.

The SPO will also provide strategic leadership, have relevant product development expertise at least in some of the areas of interest, project management, and analytical support to key strategy projects in the R&D space, and related foundation initiatives. This role will report to the Deputy Director, Digital & Health Innovation, India Country Office.

What You’ll Do

  • Conceptualize, articulate, and shape priorities in R&D for public health in areas of Foundation interest for India (with impact on other geographies of interest)

    • Monitor and track science and technology trends relevant to public health.

    • Connect with key users of such tools such as relevant health professionals, women, etc as part of understanding how these are used or likely to be used.

    • Understand product development processes, from conceptualization to product launch.

    • Analyze opportunities based on the latest and most innovative thinking in the field.

    • Find opportunities and build investment case for foundation engagement in health R&D in India

    • Collaborate with DD in strategic planning and initiation of projects/programs.

  • Develop and manage grants and contracts portfolio to meet strategic objectives.

    • Identify and select partner institutions and shape scope and strategy for selected grants and contracts to meet selected strategic objectives.

    • Establish and maintain relationships with key institutions to foster ownership and collaboration to facilitate adoption and scaling of new/innovative products.

    • Develop strategies and contribute to review of grant proposals and write proposal summaries.

    • Apply and evaluate milestone-based performance objectives and help to make go/no-go decisions about specific projects and product candidates.

    • Review interim and final reports; write final evaluation.

    • Work with product development partnerships and other key external partners to enhance implementation of program strategy and tactics.

    • Collaborate with Program Strategy Teams, Functional Teams, Integrated Development, Innovation Introduction and ICO teams on building domestic capacity for new product development and scaling.

    • Serve as a partner and resource to grantees to facilitate accomplishment of objectives.

  • Contribute to foundation knowledge capture, evaluation, learning, and dissemination.

    • Keep manager and colleagues informed of progress of grant portfolio.

    • Define pathways for the research, introduction and scaling of new/innovative products that further progress towards Foundation and Government of India's common priorities.

    • Synthesize and document learnings across related grants and contracts.

    • Develop reviews, summaries and informative reports for team, program, and Foundation leadership (e.g., Presidents, CEO, Co-Chairs and other Foundation leadership) that summarize key activities, progress and issues, around grant portfolio.

    • Partner with various programs to share learnings and expertise.

    • Support monitoring and evaluation activities as defined within the India Country Office, Global Health division and the Foundation.

  • Represent the foundation and program to the external world related to position responsibilities.

    • Speak and participate in public events, forums, and meetings.

    • Leverage opportunities to disseminate the knowledge and products developed by grantees to extend their impact.

    • Represent foundation interests in building networks for the program.

  • 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

  • At least 7 years of professional experience in doing research or product development in Diagnostics/Devices in Life Sciences or in the relevant pharmaceutical/biotechnology industry. Policy experience is a plus.

  • Masters in Medicine, Biological Sciences, Public Health or Engineering is preferred. PhD is desirable.

  • Broad understanding of global health/development issues and some global health/development experience is preferable.

  • Experience with strategy development, execution, measurement, review and adjustment required; customer / client management experience preferred.

  • 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.

*Must be able to legally work in the country where this position is located without visa sponsorship.

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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.