Senior Program Officer - Innovative Health Tools

 Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

Senior Program Officer - Innovative Health Tools

Position Summary

Located in New Delhi, the Senior Program Officer Innovative Health Tools (SPO, IHT) will support the Deputy Director, Digital & Health Innovation, in designing and operationalizing grants to improve India’s capabilities in upstream R&D. This would involve investments to strengthen India’s role in the areas of vaccines, drugs, biologics, devices, diagnostics, and scientific/disease data. This role would have a 3-fold objective: build domestic capability for new product development with a focus on diagnostics (for example, novel multiplex assay platforms), devices (for example, wearables to measure heart-rate), seed platforms for innovation (for example, by designing and operationalizing Grand Challenges on multiple topics), help understand implementation research approaches and pathways to scale innovation and further our understanding of health and biotech markets in India.

This work would involve high levels of both internal and external engagement. Internally, this role would need to liaise with Program Strategy Teams and Functional Teams based in Seattle, and with ICO colleagues. Externally, the SPO would be expected to interface with govt. stakeholders, NGOs, private sector Indian companies/startups in the vaccines, pharmaceuticals, devices, and diagnostics space.

The SPO will also provide strategic leadership, have relevant product development expertise at least in some of the areas of interest, project management, and analytical support to key strategy projects in the R&D space, and related foundation initiatives. This role will report to the Deputy Director, Digital & Health Innovation, India Country Office.

Leadership & Culture

Our culture shapes our choices about what we do and how we do it. We believe that energized people, working well together, fueled by great leadership in an inclusive environment can do extraordinary things.

Core Responsibilities

·         Conceptualize, articulate, and shape priorities in R&D for public health in areas of Foundation interest for India (with impact on other geographies of interest)

o    Monitor and track science and technology trends relevant to public health.

o    Connect with key users of such tools such as relevant health professionals, women, etc as part of understanding how these are used or likely to be used.

o    Understand product development processes, from conceptualization to product launch.

o    Analyze opportunities based on the latest and most innovative thinking in the field.

o    Identify opportunities and build investment case for foundation engagement in health R&D in India.

o    Collaborate with DD in strategic planning and initiation of projects/programs.

·         Develop and manage grants and contracts portfolio to meet strategic objectives.

o    Identify and select partner institutions and shape scope and strategy for selected grants and contracts to meet selected strategic objectives.

o    Establish and maintain relationships with key institutions to foster ownership and collaboration to facilitate adoption and scaling of new/innovative products.

o    Develop strategies and contribute to review of grant proposals and write proposal summaries.

o    Apply and evaluate milestone-based performance objectives and help to make go/no-go decisions about specific projects and product candidates.

o    Review interim and final reports; write final evaluation.

o    Work with product development partnerships and other key external partners to enhance implementation of program strategy and tactics.

o    Collaborate with Program Strategy Teams, Functional Teams, Integrated Development, Innovation Introduction and ICO teams on building domestic capacity for new product development and scaling.

o    Serve as a partner and resource to grantees to facilitate accomplishment of objectives.

·         Contribute to foundation knowledge capture, evaluation, learning, and dissemination.

o    Keep manager and colleagues informed of progress of grant portfolio.

o    Define pathways for the research, introduction and scaling of new/innovative products that further progress towards Foundation and Government of India’s common priorities.

o    Synthesize and document learnings across related grants and contracts.

o    Develop reviews, summaries and informative reports for team, program, and Foundation leadership (e.g., Presidents, CEO, Co-Chairs and other Foundation leadership) that summarize key activities, progress and issues, around grant portfolio.

o    Partner with various programs to share learnings and expertise.

o    Support monitoring and evaluation activities as defined within the India Country Office, Global Health division and the Foundation.

·         Represent the foundation and program to the external world related to position responsibilities.

o    Speak and participate in public events, forums, and meetings.

o    Leverage opportunities to disseminate the knowledge and products developed by grantees to extend their impact.

o    Represent foundation interests in building networks for the program.

Core Knowledge and Skills

·         Broad understanding of global health/development issues and some global health/development experience is preferable.

·         Experience with strategy development, execution, measurement, review and adjustment required; customer / client management experience preferred.

·         Excellent oral, facilitation, and written communication skills.

·         Demonstrated ability to function successfully in a politically demanding environment.

·         Excellent quantitative/financial knowledge, including experience creating complex models, with a demonstrated ability to extract appropriate data to convey complex information using supporting tables, graphs, and other visual representations.

·         Excellent organizational skills demonstrated ability to lead teams through a complex and ambiguous task.

·         Ability to be independent and work effectively and with sensitivity across barriers such as language, culture, and distance.

·         Excellent software skills with Microsoft Office applications. Ability to quickly learn new software modules.

·         Commitment to the foundation’s core values, mission, and programs with an approach that is consistent with the foundation’s guiding principles and holding self to the highest ethical standards.

·         Experience working in a matrix environment preferred.

·         A sense of humor

Education and Experience

·         At least 10 years of professional experience in doing research or product development in Diagnostics/Devices in Life Sciences or in the relevant pharmaceutical/biotechnology industry. Policy experience is a plus.

·         Masters in Medicine, Biological Sciences, Public Health or Engineering required. PhD is preferred.

For more information and online application click here