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 goal of the Enterics, Diagnostics, Genomics, & Epidemiology (EDGE) Team is to accelerate the reduction in childhood deaths from diarrheal diseases in low- and lower-middle-income countries (LMICs), and to eliminate typhoid as a public health problem globally. We also aim to enhance the development and use of diagnostics for infectious diseases, to develop low-cost and optimized approaches to pathogen surveillance in LMICs and to improve the quality of data and modelling for public health decision making. Guided by the burden of disease and the threat of outbreaks, we work with partners to develop vaccines, diagnostics, and tools for detection and surveillance of pathogens for safe and effective delivery to our populations in need. Vaccines are being developed or optimized to target rotavirus, bacterial causes of diarrhea (including Shigella and cholera), and enteric fever (typhoid and paratyphoid). We also focus on extreme volume manufacturing of diagnostics, developing low-cost point-of-care molecular diagnostics and improving specimen collection devices. Surveillance tools in development include tools for pathogen detection and genomic surveillance from clinical samples and wastewater to optimize global and local surveillance for outbreak and endemic pathogens.

Your Role

We seek a self-starter who can integrate a diverse set of perspectives to build consensus, structure, and drive forward progress on complex topics, and provide both technical and operational capacity to the Enterics program. As a key member of the Enterics Program, the Senior Program Officer (SPO), is accountable for managing and leading a portfolio of investments and partnerships on priority product development efforts in support of the Enterics Program priorities within the EDGE team.

You will provide product development leadership, program management, strategy development and communications on EDGE team priorities, Product Development Partners, and other foundation partners. You will also partner closely with the Deputy Director, Enteric & Diarrheal Diseases, to contribute to the continued development of the team’s strategic vision, including participating in the setting of the overall strategy and goals for the group.

The Senior Program Officer (SPO) will lead a portfolio of translational and product-development investments focused on next-generation enteric vaccines and tools, with an emphasis on gut function, mucosal immunity, immune memory, and mechanisms of protection. The SPO will apply deep scientific and strategic expertise to accelerate an understanding of immune and nutritional parameters that influence robustness and durability of enteric vaccines.

The SPO will partner across scientific, clinical, epidemiological, and implementation domains to guide investments from concept through proof-of-mechanism and late-stage development, ensuring that products ultimately meet the needs of children and populations with the highest burden of enteric disease.

What You will Do

• Apply scientific, technical, and strategic business expertise to identify, develop, and manage a portfolio of focused, performance-based grants and contracts; including alignment of internal and external stakeholders, review of letters of inquiry and grant proposals as well as providing clear, concise and insightful written analyses and recommendations for funding decisions.
• Partner closely with team leadership, including the Director and DD Enteric & Diarrheal Diseases, to communicate and implement the overall Enteric Program strategy.
• Bring forward innovative ideas for enabling more rapid, cost-effective and geographically diverse development of vaccines and biologics
• Active search for, and creation of, opportunities to develop new partnerships and between external partners that will advance GH programs
• Manage information related to grant portfolio and domain-level data (Enterics), such as documenting key activities and decisions; inputting into key business processes and performance measurement tools; preparing materials for communication with foundation leadership.
• Consult, provide thought partnership, and support to grantees and other partners to maximize the impact of projects, including the design of suitable epidemiological studies and the creation of well-integrated vaccine development plans, which may include clinical study designs, statistical analysis plans, and clinical assays for vaccine clinical studies.
• Drive facilitation, project management, stakeholder management, and follow-up on action items for cross-cutting initiatives led by the Enterics Program.
• Represent the foundation and program to the external world as relates to position responsibilities:
• 1) Forge collaborations with key global experts in vaccine development.
• 2) Work with external advisors to maintain innovative approaches to vaccine development.
• 3) Represent foundation interests in developing networks for the program

• This role will require the ability to travel up to 30% domestically and internationally.

Your Experience

• PhD and/or MD with 15+ years of experience working in at least two or more of the following areas: intestinal function, mucosal immunology, enteric diseases, and nutritional clinical research.
• Demonstrated expertise in immune memory formation or mucosal immune architecture and understanding of compartment-specific immunity or in gut physiology is desirable
• An understanding of regulatory requirements necessary for various phases of vaccine and biologics development
• Experience working in or with partners in low- and middle-income settings and ability to navigate geography specific contexts.
• Proven program and stakeholder management skills: ability to coordinate inputs from many people; to track progress against targets and identify barriers to progress; to plan agendas and facilitate meetings; and to organize, evaluate, and communicate information.
• Demonstrated ability to work with flexibility, efficiency, and enthusiasm in a fast-paced and complex internal and external environment.
• Demonstrated experience in scientific writing and data analysis, written and oral communication skills, and experience advocating and communicating with a broad and diverse audience.
• Experience with business and technical due-diligence assessments of potential investments. Ability to synthesize technical and programmatic information toward strategic decision making.

Other Attributes

• Tolerance for ambiguity and ability to apply structure to simplify complex problems.
• Strong judgment with a demonstrated ability to independently address complex issues, multiple tasks, confidential information, and competing priorities with skill, discretion, a strong attention to detail, flexibility and diplomacy.
• Intellectual quickness, curiosity, discipline, resourcefulness and resilience.
• Demonstrated passion for the Foundation’s values with a commitment to deliver results against our mission.

The salary range for this role is $238,400 to $369,400 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 $262,200 to $406,400 USD. As a mission-driven organization, we strive to balance competitive pay with our mission. New hires salaries are typically between the range minimum and the salary range midpoint. Actual placement in the range will depend on a candidate’s job-related skills, experience, and expertise, as evaluated during the interview process.

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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.