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 East Africa team sits within the broader Africa team and works to enable the foundation’s ambitious goals of scaling evidence-based interventions that target a range of diseases and socio-economic challenges across East Africa (EA). The team implements its responsibility through direct country engagement to deploy interventions and delivery models, and by building the partner architecture to replicate successful interventions and models across multiple countries.

Application deadline: February 21st, 2025.

Your Role

The Associate Program Officer, East Africa (APO EA) will provide critical support to the East Africa regional team across a range of activities organized in two main work areas – 1) Technical research and analyses to inform  program design and investments and 2) project management support including supporting external grantee/partner engagement, internal engagement and leadership visits to EA and, an effective coordination of, knowledge management and relationship management of select work products streams.

The Associate Program Officer will provide this support to EA program leadership and staff of the Africa regional health and advocacy teams, in close coordination with the Strategy, Planning & Management (SPM) team.

The APO may also be required to support special projects on behalf of the leadership team and program officers such as driving the identification and implementation of process improvements in our program operations.

The role will report to the Deputy Director, East Africa.

What You’ll Do

Research, analysis, investment, and program design:

Conduct technical research and analysis to inform investment, initiative and program strategy design and decision making to advance the priorities of EA and Africa team.

Synthesize and translate outputs from the research and analysis from grantees and third parties into insights, concepts, and practical next steps to inform strategic or implementation shifts for EA and the Africa team, with an eye towards incorporating, gender, diversity, equity and inclusion in the design and implementation of investments and strategy developments in EA.

Support timely requests from the Africa regional team and program strategy teams for research and analysis support related to political economies, learning agendas and impact of our work in EA.

Support program activities as assigned by program leadership and staff and ensure the timely processing and the delivery of required materials.

Project management:

Organize and facilitate internal partner meetings with program teams; Draft  summaries of grant activities and budgets as requested, update country profiles, and support documentation and dissemination of minutes and pertinent information to staff across Africa.

Organize and facilitate external grantee/partner/donor coordination meetings, including writing briefing documents; organize workshops and learning sessions; coordinate field and site visits, including preparing documents and overseeing logistics.

Track and coordinate follow-ups on requests for assistance and support from the Africa team; establish regular coordination within the Africa team around grants, contracts, budgets, reporting tools.

Support effective coordination of/participation in cross-team coordination mechanisms such as country working groups, investment coordination forums, etc.  

Manage special projects as assigned by leadership.

Your Experience

A minimum of 3 years of relevant experience in international development, public health management or the private sector is desirable.

MBA, MPH, MPA, MA or other advanced degree in a relevant field is desirable.

Prior experience in supporting research and analysis to inform the design of development programs in the foundation's programmatic areas preferred.

Experience working in or living in more than one East African country and fluency in Swahili and English is a plus.

Strong research and analysis skills, including experience working with analytical models

Demonstrated ability to convey complex information using supporting tables, graphs and other visual representations.

Ability to synthesize data and evidence to elicit and communicate implications for program design.

Strong relevant work experience in roles for developing, implementing, and managing projects/programs.

Ability to work with a wide range of internal and external partners to incorporate new information.

Must possess strong oral and written communication skills to represent leadership and staff of the Africa regional team effectively and accurately, as needed, to a variety of audiences as well as draft and proof-read written documents.

Innovative and open-minded approach to all aspects of work.

Demonstrated proficiency using Microsoft Word, Outlook, Excel, PowerPoint, SharePoint is required.

Experience in learning and mastering new software applications.

Other Attributes

Solid teammate who can operate independently. Strong relationship management skills to manage confidential information and situations with flexibility and diplomacy, while cultivating trust within the team

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

Ability to travel up to 25% of time as required.

*Must be able to legally work in the country where this position is located without visa sponsorship.

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.