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 China Country Office (CCO) is responsible for overseeing foundation programs and partnerships in China, working in close partnership with program strategy teams (PSTs) and other foundation offices. In the global health product innovation domain, we advance global health through scientific discovery, technological innovation, and public/private partnerships in China. We focus on health problems significantly impacting developing countries with limited attention and funding. We work with our partners to accelerate research translation, development, and commercialization of medical products (e.g. pharma, vaccines, diagnostics, vector control products). We support global strategies to prevent, control, and eliminate priority infectious diseases, including vaccine-preventable diseases, malaria, tuberculosis, HIV, and pneumonia, and develop interventions to improve maternal, neonatal, and child health (MNCH). We work closely with and support functional teams in Discovery & Translational Sciences, Vaccine Development, and Integrated Development as well as selected PSTs, including Malaria, TB/HIV, pneumonia, MNCH Discovery & Tools, and the Enteric, diagnostics, genomics & epidemiology team.

Your Role

The Senior Program Officer (SPO), Health Innovation Partnerships, will play a pivotal role in managing the strategy, partnerships, and coordination between the foundation and major global health product development grantees in China. This role focuses on fostering innovation and accelerating the development and commercialization of health products aimed at serving low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), including pharmaceuticals, vaccines, biologics, diagnostics, nutritional products, and vector control products.

The postholder will work primarily with global health product development grantees in China and foundation’s funding partners associated with China’s local governments, to ensure strategy alignment, effective partnerships, and program coordination. The SPO will lead program monitoring and evaluation of activities, analyze grantees’ institutional and governance effectiveness, generate insights and drive changes through engaging with their executive leadership. The postholder will facilitate coordination with various internal and external partners in China and around the world, including foundation’s PSTs, pharmaceutical industry, biotechnology companies, academic research institutions and governmental and non-governmental funders, and global health Product Development Partners (PDPs).

All activities require the ability to develop and implement complex grants and work plans, and to work in close collaboration with multiple external partners and internal colleagues, to ensure the integration and coordination of their work with the foundation's overall global health strategy. The SPO will also contribute significantly to strategy shaping and execution.

This postholder will be based at the CCO’s office in Beijing, and report to the Deputy Director, Health Innovation Partnerships.

What You’ll Do

• Strategic Grant Development: Negotiate, plan, develop, implement a portfolio of performance-based grants, including aligning with partners, co-creating end-to-end product innovation plans and staged milestones, reviewing inquiries and grant proposals, and providing clear, concise, and insightful written analyses and recommendations for funding.

• Partnership Management: Apply strategic and management expertise to optimize workflow between multiple foundation program and functional teams and external grantees and funding partners in both public and private sectors.

• Trust Building: Facilitate communications among partners from public and private sectors, from industry and research organizations, and with scientific and non-technical backgrounds.

• Monitoring and Evaluation: Design and implement an M&E framework to assess grantees’ institutional and governance effectiveness, program progress, and partnership risks. Effectively communicate the assessment with executive leaders.

• Implementation Support: Provide thought partnership and insights to grantees to ensure effective execution of foundation-funded programs. Engage and consult internal and external subject matter experts, generate insights, and advocate for problem-solving solutions.

• Identify Program Opportunities: Proactively identify areas of alignment and collaboration that fit foundation’s global health product innovation priorities. Build and engage a network of internal and external subject matter experts, to support strategy prioritization and conduct partner due diligence.

• Other duties as assigned.

Your Experience

The ideal candidate enjoys working on complex projects and collaboratively craft solutions with transformational potential. We seek a self-motivator who can integrate diverse perspectives to build consensus, drive progress, and provide technical and operational capacity to the product development portfolio. Additionally, we are seeking the following:

• MD or PhD in healthcare or pharmaceutical related subjects, or a master’s degree with exceptional experience.

• Strategy and Consulting Experience: Minimum of 8 years of professional experience, with minimum 5 years in a leading management consulting firm, with extensive experience in serving healthcare or pharmaceutical industry. Alternatively, minimum 5 years of professional experience in strategy planning and management roles, or in a Chief-of-Staff position, of a biotech or pharmaceutical company. Work experience in multinational companies strongly preferred.

• Healthcare Product Development Expertise: Familiarity with healthcare product development processes. Experience in healthcare product development strategy or portfolio management is strongly preferred.

• Demonstrated ability to quickly learn new disease areas and technologies.

• Proven ability to engage, network, and generate insights with subject matter experts in healthcare or pharmaceutical fields. Experience in global health is a plus.

• Experience working with China's government-funded health innovation organizations is a significant advantage.

• Experience in building startups or establishing new institutions is a plus.

• A track record in a role requiring collaboration (both internally and externally), prioritization and results-orientation in a fast-paced, complex organization.

• Ability to coordinate inputs from many people; to track progress against targets and identify barriers to progress; plan agendas and facilitate meetings; and organize, evaluate, and communicate information.

• Demonstrated ability to work with flexibility, efficiency, passion in a fast-paced environment, and a commitment to deliver results.

• Demonstrated excellence in scientific writing, and experience advocating and communicating with a broad and diverse audience.

• Exceptional listening, verbal, and written communication skills, able to effectively calibrate input and synthesize information to connect with diverse audiences.

• Fluency in both Chinese and English languages required.

Other Attributes

• Comfortable in a wide range of cultural, geographic and operational situations, demonstrating culturally sensitive behavior with a diverse range of people and a deep commitment to development issues and high standards of personal integrity.

• Willingness to travel up to 30% domestically and internationally.

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

Application deadline: 31 July 2024

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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.