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 in advancing the foundation’s goals of reducing inequities in global health and development in India, supporting the Government of India (GoI). 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 have formed fruitful partnerships with government devoted to our shared goals, with priority emphasis on the states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh and 4 diffusion states. Our goals and operating model require leveraging the vast network of internal and external foundation partners.

The Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD) Program Strategy Team (PST) plays a lead role in advancing the Global Health Division’s goal of addressing diseases with a major impact on people in the developing world, but receive little attention and funding. Where proven tools exist, we support sustainable ways to ensure effective their delivery. Where they don’t, we invest in research, development, and deployment of new interventions, such as vaccines, drugs, diagnostics, and vector control. We also support efforts to accelerate progress through coordinated, mass drug administration (MDA) interventions, public-health surveillance, screen and treat programs and vector control. Diseases included in the global portfolio: Guinea worm, human African trypanosomiasis, visceral leishmaniasis (VL), lymphatic filariasis (LF), onchocerciasis, trachoma, schistosomiasis and soil-transmitted helminths.

In India, the NTD program focuses on elimination of LF and VL. There are over 650 million people in India at risk for lymphatic filariasis (LF), a disease easily prevented through consumption of medicines during mass drug administration campaigns, also known as MDA. With respect to visceral leishmaniasis (VL), India has maintained an incidence rate of <1 case per 10,000 over the last year, on the pathway to verifying elimination of the disease as a public health problem. For VL, ensuring current case rates continue to decline is critical in the final push to reach elimination. The introduction of triple drug therapy into India’s existing LF MDA program has proved pivotal to accelerating elimination efforts. There is now good momentum to continue this success, to include strengthen the quality of existing MDA programs and ensuring implementation of quality morbidity management efforts. Elimination of LF and VL in India is critical to the success of the global goal of ending the epidemic of NTDs by 2030.

Application deadline: September 6th, 2024.

Your Role

This position is a part of ICO’s health team and will reports to the ICO Deputy Director for Infectious Diseases and Vaccine Delivery. The Program Officer (PO) will be dedicated to the LF elimination strategy (80%) and the VL elimination strategy (20%) in the foundation’s India Country Office (ICO). The incumbent will work in close collaboration with the DD, two other dedicated NTD Program Officers, ICO-Program Officers representing state teams and other cross-cutting portfolios, Seattle-based staff, and multiple external stakeholders including government and grantees.

This individual will partner, develop, and manage a portfolio of grants and contracts to support the GoI to deliver on its LF and VL elimination goals. The person will be responsible for working with partners in the field, diagnosing real time challenges and identifying solutions to move the elimination and integration goals forward. Specifically, they will own and manage grants in the areas of technical support to the GoI for elimination program management, program monitoring, strengthening government planning and review mechanisms, community engagement and demand generation, and advocacy. Strategic ownership and management of investments will be required at national and state levels. This position will have expertise in NTDs, working within the local Indian context, grant-making and management skills, ability to think in an integrated fashion, as well as strong expertise in program implementation and project monitoring and evaluation.

What You’ll Do

• Plan, manage and execute a wide range of activities in support of partner and GoI implementation of activities which will lead India to elimination of LF and VL.

• Implement critical thinking and management in the field, diagnosing real time challenges and contributing to solutions to ensure delivery of the government's elimination goals.

• Collaborate on strategy planning, develop investment opportunities, and manage grants and external relationships.

• Work with the teams based out of ICO and PST to explore opportunities for integration to maximize delivery outcomes.

• Review letters of inquiry and grant proposals; provide clear, concise and insightful written analyses and recommendations for funding, including drafting and editing proposal summaries and progress reports for existing grants for review by foundation leadership.

• Consult with grantees to achieve desired impact of grants; conduct frequent site visits, provide technical guidance, convene meetings and apply and evaluate milestone-based performance objectives.

• Manage internal processes and portfolio progress while ensuring appropriate documentation, grant budgeting and reporting and improve operational efficiency and effectiveness.

• Prepare and write briefs and synthesize existing literature on VL and LF. Provide written analysis of key topics for foundation management and fulfill data requests from leadership.

• Prepare technical documents such as concept notes, terms of reference, factsheets, memos, op-eds and presentations for leadership (ICO and Seattle).

• Lead meetings with grantees to take stock of progress and deliverables. Review progress reports and summarize developments for both programs.

• Ensure key data and grant findings based on the deliverables submitted are documented to identify program gaps and for better execution of the LF initiative as per the strategic goals.

Your Experience

• Medical degree with post-graduation in public health with minimum 5 years of experience, or equivalent experience.

• Proven program management and implementation experience, including knowledge and experience with microplanning and plan execution.

• Strong competence working within a highly matrix environment where impact is achieved through collaboration with diverse colleagues/teams as well as externally within a network of stakeholders (e.g., grantees and partners).

• Demonstrated ability to work with a wide variety of partners (e.g. government, development, etc.) from a diverse range of geographies, cultures, across sectors and expertise.

• Knowledge of infectious diseases/NTDs; preferably both lymphatic filariasis and visceral leishmaniasis.

• Proven experience with grant/investment design and management.

• Understanding of strategies for quality data collection in a variety of settings and sites.

• Understanding of logistics (drug supply, diagnostics) management.

• Experience with quality data acquisition.

• Experience with analyses, writing and verbal skills for communicating with a broad and diverse audience.

• Effective as a collaborator in complex internal and external organizations.

• Comfortable in a wide range of cultural, geographic and operational situations, demonstrating culturally sensitive behavior with a diverse range of people.

• Ability to work with efficiency and diplomacy.

• Successfully worked in India for a significant period; gaining an appreciation for the complexities of implementing and managing field-based programs.

• Experience working with governments, Ministries of Health, NGOs and Academic Institutions, as well as with regional, multi-country institutions such as WHO.

• Proven ability to influence others in a constructive manner and to build and sustain collaborative relationships.

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, ability to convey complex strategies to audiences of varying levels.

• Ability to travel up to 40% domestically, and up to 10% internationally.

*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.