Program Officer, Supply Chains Job – The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation – Seattle, WA, USA

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 Sue Desmond-Hellmann 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 (GDP) is to increase opportunities for people in the developing world to lift themselves out of hunger and poverty and to help deliver targeted healthcare solutions in these regions. Our strategies focus on Agriculture Development; Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene; Financial Services for the Poor; and Family Health which includes Maternal, Newborn and Child Health, Family Planning, and Nutrition. These strategies are supported by functional teams that focus on Vaccine Delivery and Integrated Delivery. GDP also has Special Initiatives that focus Urban Poverty, Emergency Relief, Global Libraries and Value for the Money. The Vaccine Delivery team aims by 2020 to avert 11 million deaths, 3.8 million disabilities, and 230 million illnesses through high, equitable, sustainable vaccine coverage and supporting polio eradication. Achieving this goal requires meeting aggressive vaccine introduction timelines and improving routine immunization (RI) systems to ensure high and sustained equitable immunization coverage. Central to improving immunization system performance and reaching more children is ensuring that vaccine supply chain and logistic systems operate effectively and efficiently to deliver safe and potent vaccines to communities in a variety of settings. The Vaccine Delivery team aims to achieve this through pursuit of 3 initiatives in priority developing countries: 1) Improved supply chain and logistics data visibility 2) ensuring countries have adequate and effective cold chain equipment, maintenance systems, and deployment plans and 3) creating high performing and efficient supply chain systems.

Responsibilities 
We are seeking looking for a Program Officer to support the implementation of the immunization SCL strategy, with an emphasis but not limited to, supporting our vaccine cold chain system goals. The ideal candidate will bring a deep analytic expertise in support of the mission, with the ability to further synthesize and communicate information to internal and external stakeholders. The Program Officer should have knowledge and experience of supply chain and logistics systems and professional experience in developing countries. The Program Officer, Supply Chain and Logistics, will have the following responsibilities:
– Quantitative analysis and strategic communication of materials to drive and track progress in priority countries across the 3 initiatives of supply chain and logistics: 1) data visibility, 2) adequate cold chain equipment, and 3) high performing efficient supply chain systems. Strategic data includes cold chain equipment market and product segmentation, status of priority country logistic management systems and visibility analytics networks, and other information specific to grants and projects. Analysis needs to be informed by data sources that the program officer identifies and curates from existing public databases and partners.
– Development of investment initiatives and grant management including direct support to partners responsible for key strategic initiatives to facilitate their success. This includes working with GAVI and other partners on the roll-out of the Global Cold Chain Financing Facility, UNICEF and WHO in establishing a global supply chain and logistics hub that codifies and disseminates best practice, Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) and their work in priority countries and market shaping, along with other partners of the SCL team.
– Provide country level support to guide and advance vaccine supply chain and logistic priorities by establishing effective and professional working relations with partners including Government, NGOs, international agencies, and other BMGF internal colleagues. Priority countries include India, Pakistan, Nigeria, Ethiopia, DRC, Chad, Tanzania and Mozambique.
– Identify potential grant partners and projects for advancing vaccine supply chain and logistics work. Analyze grant proposals and undertake grant development for high potential partners and projects. Develop projects with clear, measurable outcomes and milestones that clarify expectations up-front and enable nimble course-correction. Analyze and synthesize lessons and results
– Manage and update the metrics for supply chain and logistics team progress towards initiatives and geographies for internal and external use.
– Support the team in coordinating and collaborating with internal stakeholders on supply chains and logistic systems. In particular, this will involve working closely with the Foundation Integrated Delivery team on supply chain and logistics systems for primary health care.

Qualifications 
– A minimum of 5- 7 years of professional experience with recent experience in program planning either in the public or private sector
– Master’s degree or other advanced degree in a relevant field preferred
– Demonstrated success in planning and executing a complete supply chain system and designing and leveraging performance metrics and incentives to drive continuous improvement
– Professional experience in developing countries along with broad understanding of global health/development issues
– Innovative and open-minded approach; ability to question and challenge colleagues including managers and partners in constructive manner
– Demonstrated ability to work with flexibility, efficiency, and diplomacy in a complex, fast-paced environment
– Ability to think/act like an investor
– Comfortable in a wide range of cultural, geographic and operational situations, demonstrating culturally sensitive behavior with a diverse range of people
– Strong consulting skills and ability to support internal and external partners achieve their supply chain objectives
– Excellent written and oral communication skills to convey complex situations in a clear and concise manner, in positions requiring communication with a broad and diverse audience

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.

Requisition Number 
5443BR

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