Program Officer – New Vaccine Introduction Support
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Delhi
Permanent
Full-time
17 days ago
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 In India the foundation, over the past 2 decades, has been working with India's Central and State governments, community groups, nonprofit organizations, academic institutions, the private sector, and development organizations, to achieve our shared goals. Our strong networks and ability to convene intellectual resources from many sectors and regions of the globe allow us to address complex challenges as they emerge or evolve. With a particular focus on Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, we work with partners to develop impactful and sustainable solutions to improve the quality and coverage of key services for the poor and vulnerable. We also work in the states of MP, Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, and Maharashtra to support programs in the Global Growth Opportunities portfolio (urban sanitation, agricultural development, and digital financial inclusion), and gender equality. On NTDs, we work in the high endemic geographies of Visceral Leishmaniasis and Lymphatic Filariasis for elimination of these diseases in India. We support government of India's immunization efforts to increase coverage and equity with a focus on zero dose and urban geographies. In addition, we work with our partner organizations to support government of India in introducing and scaling up new vaccines of public health importance. India has much to offer the world, as part of its development cooperation agenda and beyond, in a manner of potential benefits not only to other countries but much to India through stimulating the 'Make in India' initiative. India has made strides in several areas, spanning systems, technologies, innovations, manufacturing, and others. There has been an interest in these from across several countries in Africa, Southeast Asia, and in some cases the BRICS and G20 countries, in learning and application to their own context. We believe that cross-border knowledge exchange and diffusion of practices through our deep learning acquired working with the states in India will help advance the foundation's goals at an accelerated pace. Application Deadline: April 22, 2024. Your Role This position of Program Officer - New Vaccine Introduction Support, will be based out of India Country Office (ICO) to support the Foundation's efforts to enable a broad group of partners towards evidence-based decision-making regarding introduction, scale-up, product switch, optimization of schedule and evaluating effectiveness/ impact of available/novel vaccines of public health importance. The Program Officer (PO) will work in the infectious diseases and vaccine delivery cluster of ICO's health team to develop and implement strategies for the above. They will work in close coordination with the Foundation's Seattle based Immunization, Vaccine Development, Program Advocacy & Communication, Program Strategy Teams (PST), as well as teams based in India Country Office (ICO), New Delhi. The role will report to Deputy Director, Infectious Diseases and Vaccine Delivery. What You'll Do Establish collaborations with child health policy makers and program managers in government at central and state levels to provide critical input around informed decision making regarding introducing available/novel vaccines of public health importance into the universal immunization program. Build strategic alliances and collaborative relationships with other partners including donors, multilateral and bilateral agencies, international and national academic and research organizations and implementing organizations. Provide strategy inputs to ICO and Seattle based teams in a matrix organizational setting, including approaches and/or studies that would facilitate introduction, scale-up and sustenance of available/novel vaccines, in India's Universal Immunization Program (UIP). Facilitate generation, synthesis and utilization of critical evidence related to vaccine issues related to optimization of schedules, switch to newer products, evaluation of vaccine effectiveness/ impact. Understand the regulatory environment for new vaccines and related products and develop appropriate support on behalf of the Foundation. Work closely with the ICO's immunization team to achieve coverage and equity goals for these vaccines in India. Facilitate development and management of a portfolio of Foundation investments (grants and contracts) in support of the immunization strategy, including reviewing letters of inquiry, soliciting proposals, selecting grantees, and preparing proposal summaries to submit to Foundation leadership. Lead, plan, manage and perform a wide range of activities in support of strategy planning, prospect and develop sophisticated investment opportunities, grant management and external relationship management. This would include - prioritizing work to highest impact activities, ensuring evidence for policy changes. Review letters of inquiry and grant proposals; provide clear, concise, and informative written analyses and recommendations for funding, including drafting and editing proposal summaries and progress reports for existing grants for review by foundation leadership. Consult with grantees to achieve desired impact of grants; conduct site visits, provide technical mentorship, convene meetings and apply and evaluate performance objectives. Manage internal processes and portfolio progress while ensuring documentation, grant budgeting and reporting. Improve operational efficiency and effectiveness to have the greatest time and health impact. Prepare and write briefs for internal partners and synthesize existing literature. Provide written analysis of topics for foundation management. Assist in providing project briefings and updates to Foundation leadership. Represent the Foundation in government and partner meetings, conferences, and workshops. Your Experience Bachelors in biological or medical sciences with advanced degree in public health/preventive medicine/epidemiology (MD/MPH/ MSc/ PhD etc.) is desirable. Minimum 5 years of experience in immunization programs and child health in a developing country setting, preferably India. Strong analytical and public health interpretation skills, in a cogent and cohesive way to inform policy decisions. An understanding of immunization policies and programs in India and associated decision-making processes. Ability to build strong relationships with multiple, diverse, and geographically dispersed partners as well as government officials. Knowledge in transitioning pilot and demonstration projects to full-scale country-wide implementation, by either using existing community healthcare infrastructure or identifying areas of the health systems to be strengthened in order to scale implementation. Ability to work with flexibility, efficiency, enthusiasm, humor, and diplomacy both individually and as part of a complex team effort within a matrixed organization. Knowledge of technical and functional areas of business, including an ability to design workflows and processes, assess effectiveness and efficiency and areas for process improvement. Strong analytical, writing and verbal skills for communicating with a broad and diverse audience. Demonstrates excellent individual judgement and can act independently but also knows when to pull in resources. Comfortable in a wide range of cultural, geographic and operational situations, demonstrating culturally sensitive behavior with a diverse range of people. Growth mindset - curious about innovative approaches, able to change direction, willing to seek feedback and course correct. Willingness to travel both nationally and internationally up to 40% of the time. 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.
