Back Senior Program Officer, Nutritious Food Systems

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 TeamThe Global Growth & Opportunity (GGO) division works to catalyze sustainable and transformative socio-economic change. In the face of inequities and market failures, GGO seeks to realize the potential of untapped markets, and ensure that economic and social benefits reach everyone. We focus on the areas of Agricultural Development; Financial Services for the Poor; Water, Sanitation & Hygiene; and Global Education. We seek solutions that are sustainable, transformative, and inclusive with an eye toward applying technology innovations as well as data evidence to drive change in the world’s developing countries.

The Agricultural Development (AgDev) team aims to catalyze a country-led, inclusive, agricultural transformation process by developing and scaling products, services, policies, and system-wide innovations that benefit small scale producers, empower women, and improve nutritional outcomes. We want farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia to be empowered with the knowledge, tools, and technologies to improve their livelihoods and lift themselves and their families out of poverty. The Adaptative & Equitable Food Systems pillar within the AgDev team seeks to increase women’s empowerment and climate adaptation in food systems and the consumption of healthy diets.

Your Role

In this role, you will contribute to the strategic evolution of the Nutritious Food Systems portfolio within the AgDev team and will manage a large portfolio of grants and contracts requiring skills in active grant making and management, monitoring, and evaluation. As a key advisor for nutrition on the AgDev team, you will contribute to the team’s strategic vision of ensuring equitable consumption of safe, affordable, nutritious diets year-round in pursuit of inclusive agricultural transformation.

What You’ll Do

• Partner with foundation colleagues and external partners to implement and assess the Nutritious Food Systems portfolio. Advance a forward-looking strategy for Nutritious Food Systems and the whole of AgDev that generates demand for nutritious foods; improves market function for nutrition, including addressing food loss and food safety; and works to integrate nutrition activities and objectives across AgDev investments.
• Negotiate, execute, and manage a complex grant portfolio. Provide clear, concise, and insightful written analyses of investments and recommendations for funding.
• In partnership with the Director and Deputy Director, contribute to strategy and operational planning in the Adaptive & Equitable Food Systems pillar, including strategy setting, tracking of progress against defined metrics, and annual investment planning.
• Understand the linkages between and implement coordinated work on improving women’s empowerment, nutrition, and climate adaptation in food systems.
• Liaise with other internal program teams, particularly Nutrition, Maternal, Child, and Newborn Health, and Program Advocacy and Communications, to ensure strategy alignment and cross-team collaboration, capitalizing on opportunities of mutual interest, and communicating a unified foundation approach to nutrition.
• Regularly consult with grantees and other partners to maximize impact of projects and ensure grants are contributing to strategy goals. This may include conducting site visits, providing technical and operational guidance, and convening meetings of key stakeholders.
• Represent the foundation on key program-related external constituencies, as appropriate, and serve on external bodies (e.g. technical advisory groups, steering committees) related to area of expertise.
• Remain up to date on the literature and advances in the field of the nexus of agriculture, food systems, and nutrition.
• Ability to travel internationally and domestically approximately 25% of the time.
  

  Your Experience

  • Advanced degree in nutrition, agriculture, food systems, public health or related field
  • 15+ years of post-terminal degree experience working at the intersection of agriculture and nutrition
  • Recognized by the global professional community as a specialist within food systems, with a deep understanding of agriculture-nutrition pathways, barriers to the increased consumption of healthy diets within agricultural development, underpinnings of multi-sectoral approaches to improve nutrition, and policy-related efforts to build resilient, equitable nutritious food systems in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia
  • Specific experience working at the intersection of climate change, gender, and nutrition
  • Demonstrates multi-sectoral critical thinking and analytical skills
  • Capability to lead and influence others in a constructive manner and to build and sustain collaborative relationships
  • Excellent problem solver with experience in strategy development
  • Strong initiative, organizational skills, and ability to work autonomously and cross-functionally while remaining flexible to changing tasks, priorities, and roles and responsibilities
  • Ability to communicate technical concepts and synthesize information for diverse audiences, including leadership, program staff, governments, grantees, and external partners, both written and verbally
  • Previous residence or extensive work experience in a Sub-Saharan African or Asian country or countries preferred
    

    The salary range for this role is $169,700 to $254,500 USD. We recognize high-wage market differences in Seattle and Washington D.C., where our offices are located. The range for this role in these locations is $185,000 to $277,400 USD. As a mission-driven organization, we strive to balance competitive pay with our mission. New hire salaries are typically between the salary range minimum and midpoint. Actual placement in the range will depend on a candidate’s job-related skills, experience, and expertise, as evaluated during the interview process.
    
    #LI-BR1

    📚 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗚𝗲𝘁 𝗮 𝗝𝗼𝗯 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗨𝗡 𝗶𝗻 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟯! 🌍🤝 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗡𝗘𝗪 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗿𝘂𝗶𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗚𝘂𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗨𝗡 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟯 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗨𝗡𝗛𝗖𝗥, 𝗪𝗙𝗣, 𝗨𝗡𝗜𝗖𝗘𝗙, 𝗨𝗡𝗗𝗦𝗦, 𝗨𝗡𝗙𝗣𝗔, 𝗜𝗢𝗠 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀! 🌐

    ⚠️ 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐋𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐍𝐨𝐰: 𝐏𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐢𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐚 𝐣𝐨𝐛 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐍𝐎𝐖!

    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.