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 foundation’s Program Advocacy and Communications (PAC) teams, both globally and in our Africa offices specifically, work in partnership with program teams and others to achieve policy and finance goals related to our issues by:
● Developing and coordinating the execution of advocacy and communications strategies.
● Using leadership and foundation voice to implement advocacy strategies.
● Developing policy recommendations or proposals in partnership with programmatic, global, and regional offices.
● Developing and managing a grant portfolio dedicated to achieving advocacy and policy outcomes.
● Directly advocating with sector leaders, influencers, media, and government officials in order to achieve advocacy and policy outcomes.
● issue-specific communications in service of advocacy goals.
The foundation’s Africa PAC team leads this work from a cross-cutting perspective on the African continent, supporting health, economic opportunity, and gender equality outcomes. Within the global PAC team, the Global Health Innovations (GHI) cluster focuses on the health innovation platforms and systems that broadly enable the foundation’s health goals, with a particular emphasis on R&D systems that accelerate development of, access to, and initial uptake of innovations with the highest potential global health impact.
Application Deadline: 28/2/25
Your Role
The Senior Program Officer (SPO), R&D Systems Advocacy, will design and lead policy and advocacy efforts to ensure strong health innovation systems—globally, but particularly in Africa—are able to speed the development and approval of new global health tools and technologies. All with an eye toward future uptake and use. More specifically, the SPO will work with internal and external partners to advocate around:
1). Clinical research financing and infrastructure, including helping to optimize the impact, efficiency, and equity of the African clinical trials ecosystem;
2). Regulatory systems, including supporting financing and policy for ethical, faster, and more harmonized regulatory institutions at global and regional levels;
3).Health product manufacturing, including sustainable regional manufacturing agendas that support long-term innovation and access goals;
4). Accelerated and evidence-based pathways for future product introduction as new innovations are approved; and
5). The importance of global health R&D broadly, including innovation policies and effective financing; the role of public-private and South-South partnerships; and approaches to product development that supports the health needs of vulnerable populations.
The SPO will report into the foundation’s Africa PAC team based in Nairobi, while also serving as a key member of the global GHI PAC team anchored in Seattle. While the SPO will have a particular focus on partnerships and outcomes in Africa, this is a global strategy role with accountabilities across our foundation’s health R&D systems agenda. Responsibilities will include managing key relationships with relevant foundation technical teams, global donors, global health institutions, regulatory authorities, civil society, and others across the health R&D ecosystem. The SPO will also support R&D systems advocacy related to the foundation’s work in India and other key geographies where needed.
This role will report to the Deputy Director, PAC, based in Nairobi with a dotted line to the Deputy Director, Global Health Innovations PAC, who oversees the relevant global strategy. They will work closely with the full GHI PAC team, the Africa Regional team headquartered in Nairobi, and teams across foundation divisions and offices.
What You’ll Do
Within the foundation’s overall GHI policy, advocacy, and communications strategy, and as part of a dynamic and collaborative team, develop, implement and refine advocacy and communications strategies and tactics to advance R&D systems goals. These strategies and tactics may include:
○ Market-specific coalition and champion building and advocacy c paigns;
○ Policy analysis and political/economic assessments of R&D ecosystem issues and equity challenges; and/or
○ Evidence-based investments that drive policy and resources outcomes for health innovation systems.
Develop partnerships with people and organizations in the public and private sectors, including in civil society, industry, and research institutions – relevant to foundation