Strategy Officer, U.S. Program (USP) Office of the President

Strategy Officer, USP Office of the President, 18-month LTE

job requisition id

B018599

The Foundation

We are the largest nonprofit fighting poverty, disease, and inequity around the world. Founded on a simple premise: that people everywhere, regardless of identity or circumstances, should have the chance to live healthy, productive lives. By building a global and cultural workplace that supports greater diversity, equity, and inclusion — of voices, ideas, and approaches — together with our employees and partners, we can help all people improve their lives from poverty and health to education. As an organization we offer full healthcare premiums coverage, generous paid time off, contribution to your retirement fund, several employee communities, and a commitment to embedding diversity, equity, and inclusion into everything we do.

The Team

The U.S. Program (USP) Office of the President (OOP) aims to amplify USP’s impact by aligning and delivering cross-team strategic and operational resources and insights while fostering a high integrity culture. 

Our mission is to:  

• Ensure optimal impact of division programs and operations, and high standards of stewardship through performance management and the strategic allocation of resources.   

• Deliver division-wide supports to program teams to bolster capacity and drive the implementation and associated change management of programmatic and operational initiatives.  

• Partner with program teams to ensure alignment of strategic priorities (programmatic and operational) and actively establish understanding of USP progress and learning across USP and foundation leadership. 

We do this by: 

• Orchestrating change and learning with agility and rigor for collective success 

• Leading special initiatives driven by the president 

• Enabling co-chair and leadership learning 

• Strengthening strategic thinking and planning 

• Developing and implementing strong, efficient strategy and operational systems and processes  

• Improving strategy, planning, and resource allocation through performance management, measurement, learning and evaluation (MLE), and thought partnership 

• Fostering a high integrity culture 

• Cultivating an environment of inclusivity in which our people can do their best work  

• Modeling high integrity in a fair, consistent and open manner 

• Utilizing continuous improvement and regular feedback loops to develop our division, teams and people  

• Supporting our colleagues in ongoing professional and personal development

This position reports to the Deputy Director, USP OOP.

*This role is a limited-term position for 18 months.

Your Role 

As Strategy Officer in the USP OOP, you will serve as a facilitator of integrative work spanning across program strategies that could include early learning, K-12 education, higher education, and economic mobility, as well as key business processes. You will provide strategic thought partnership, project management, facilitation, and analytic capability to support the scoping, management, and successful implementation of cross-cutting work across the division. You will support and work in partnership with program staff to improve the coordination and integration of related program efforts and facilitate the development and alignment of work across multiple program teams.  

What You’ll Do

Own the planning and execution of large, sophisticated and/or strategically significant cross-cutting programmatic and/or operational initiatives ensuring priority initiatives deliver the expected scope, value, and impact with timeliness and quality.

Provide thought partnership on project definition and objectives, planning/scoping the work, organizing, and designing appropriate solutions in collaboration with programmatic and/or operations staff. 

Manage strategy development process with a customer-focus orientation, effective communication, and emphasis on relationship management; customer / client management experience preferred.

Lead development of materials to drive project execution (e.g., strategic narratives, theories of change/action, decision roadmaps, results frameworks, project plans).

Capture and synthesize relevant information (both internal and external), provide analytic contributions, and surface key strategic questions, develop processes and procedures for soliciting feedback and input to advance the alignment of interests across multiple teams, and produce key findings and recommendations in consultation with colleagues. 

Employ strategic tools and frameworks and a learning and evaluation approach to develop and assess options, ensure logical reasoning, and challenge assumptions.

Regularly contribute to team development in one or more of the following areas:  team vision and goal refinement, professional development, training, onboarding, team social events and retreats, team DEI work, etc. 

Participate in foundation-wide activities (e.g., learning sessions, all-staff meetings, performance reviews).  

Your Experience

Deep knowledge of strategy development and end-to-end project management (including process design, team structure, critical thinking, and stakeholder management). 

Experience supporting strategy development and implementation of programs and initiatives grounded in the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Understand and value inclusion and seek input from a variety of sources and are a flexible and practiced problem solver.

Experience and expertise in identifying novel ways to use a variety of quantitative and qualitative inputs to inform complex decisions.

Ability to optimally facilitate, lead, and summarize divergent points of view to advance the thinking of the group and successfully synthesize and communicate key takeaways for diverse audiences. 

Demonstrated program management skills and a successful track record working in a self-guided manner, managing multiple priorities and working towards demanding timelines. 

Experience successfully using informal influence and non-positional leadership to accomplish work. Able to build trust, you are a team leader and player who motivates and educates other team members and understands the value of interpersonal relationship building 

Accustomed to highly unstructured and ambiguous situations.

Excellent organizational, facilitation, oral, and written communication skills.

Excellent active listening skills with the ability to understand the perspective of a variety of stakeholders. 

Ability to learn new content quickly, identify connections and second-order implications, and demonstrate proficiency with internal/external teams.  

Ability to question and challenge colleagues in constructive manner. Ability to reconcile multiple diverse viewpoints and often to negotiate across internal partners. 

Excellent software skills with Microsoft Office applications, including a demonstrated ability to convey complex information using supporting tables, graphs, and other visual representations.  

BA/BS required 

Advanced degree with 5+ years of experience, or equivalent experience, backgrounds in education or related field a plus. 

Preferred experience within strategic planning functions and/or strategy consulting firm experience.

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

The typical salary range for this role is $115,360.00 to $214,240.00 USD. The exact offer will be determined by a variety of factors such as the candidate’s individual skills, qualifications, and experience relative to the requirements of the role.

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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.

Depending upon your work location, we may require proof of full vaccination against COVID-19 and any recommended booster doses. All employees based in the United States are to provide proof of full vaccination upon hire and any recommended boosters, subject to applicable laws.

Candidate Accommodations

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