Associate Program Officer, Seattle

Associate Program Officer - Global Development
Division Global Development Program
Department Special Initiatives
Location Seattle
Foundation Overview Guided by the belief that every life has equal value, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation works to help all people lead healthy, productive lives. In developing countries, it focuses on improving people’s health and giving them the chance to lift themselves out of hunger and extreme poverty. In the United States, it seeks to ensure that all people—especially those with the fewest resources—have access to the opportunities they need to succeed in school and life. Based in Seattle, the foundation is led by CEO Jeff Raikes and co-chair William H. Gates Sr., under the direction of Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett.
Group Summary The goal of the Global Development Program is to increase opportunities for poor people in the developing world to lift themselves out of hunger and poverty.

We support efforts in the following areas:
Agricultural Development: helping poor farmers increase their productivity and incomes;

Financial Services: making a wide range of financial services—particularly safe places to save—more widely available to people in developing countries

Policy, Advocacy, and Special Initiatives: increasing awareness of global development issues; identifying and promoting powerful solutions; and advocating for more effective investments;

Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene: investing in effective sanitation approaches that will contribute to a world where children and families lead healthier, more productive lives;

Global Libraries: providing free access to computers with the Internet through public libraries in emerging countries.
Responsibilities
Working closely with the Special Initiatives team, the Associate Program Officer (APO) will be responsible for managing a portfolio of grants to advance the goals of the Urban Poverty Learning Initiative. The APO will manage and support collaborations with countries, international organizations and policymakers to achieve the initiative’s objectives. APO duties include:

• Develop, recommend and secure approval for grants that meet program and portfolio objectives and budget.
• Partner with grantees to develop projects and define key outcomes and milestones.
• Evaluate potential grantees’ organizational, operational and financial capacity to ensure successful implementation.
• Consult with grantees to achieve desired impact of grants through monitoring performance of grant, site visits, technical guidance, convenings of key stakeholders, and milestone-based performance objectives.
• Collaborate with team members to manage internal processes, portfolio progress, documentation, and grant budget information and reporting.
• Review letters of inquiry and grant proposals; provide recommendations for funding including drafting and editing proposal summaries for submission to the Special Initiatives and foundation leadership teams.
• Serve as a point of contact on grant-related issues for key stakeholders.
• Establish and manage government relationships and partnerships in support of the program efforts and to provide information and perspectives to assist in the successful implementation of the grants.
• Identify and develop relationships with non-governmental and private sector partners to successfully implement and sustain the program.
• Research and produce in-depth analysis, background and briefing papers for senior leadership on key issues related to the Urban Poverty Special Initiative.
• Represent the foundation to key program-related constituencies, including both formal and informal presentations, conferences and other meetings as necessary.
Qualifications
• A minimum of 5 years experience in a program officer, evaluation, technical officer, business manager or similar role, responsible for managing or evaluating programs with an international focus.
• Master’s level education in a related field required, with additional graduate studies strongly preferred.
• Ability to work independently, manage multiple priorities and tight timelines as well as work collaboratively as part of a complex team effort
• Experience evaluating the operational and financial capacity of a wide range of organizations and institutions
• Real world experience with program design or implementation in developing countries
• Strong analytical and written and verbal communication skills
• Experience working with an organization experiencing rapid change
• Ability to travel up to 30% of time internationally.

Preferred:
• International grant-making experience and/or project monitoring and evaluation experience
• Experience managing the execution of performance-based contracts, grants or cooperative agreements
• Experience collaborating with government officials in situations requiring excellent consultative and negotiation skills
• A healthy sense of humor is appreciated.

As part of our standard hiring process for new employees, employment with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will be contingent upon successful completion of a comprehensive background check.

http://www.gatesfoundation.org/jobs/Pages/job-search.aspx