Sr. Program Officer, Advocacy & Communications

Interim Senior Program Officer, Program Advocacy and Communications, Polio

Seattle, WA

This is a Limited Term Employee role to backfill someone who will be out on parental leave. The role is targeted for up to 18 months. Additional details below.

This Senior Program Officer serves as the daily lead for polio communications and key parts of the advocacy strategy. This position works closely with the PO, Program Advocacy and Communications, Polio, on advocacy and resource mobilization in donor countries and political advocacy to maintain or increase political and financial support for polio eradication. In addition, this role also partners with the core partners of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) to lead the GPEI communications strategy. As part of this role, you will strategically develop and manage a portfolio of grants and contracts requiring high-level grant management skills, monitoring and evaluation.

In addition, you will work closely with the polio program team, Global Policy & Advocacy (GPA), Communications, and external partners.

The Program Advocacy and Communications team works in partnership with program teams and other teams in Global Policy and Advocacy (GPA) to achieve their policy and finance goals by:

Developing and coordinating the execution of advocacy and communications strategies.

 Leveraging leadership and foundation voice to implement advocacy strategies.

Developing and managing a grant portfolio dedicated to achieving advocacy outcomes.

Directly advocating with sector leaders, influencers, media and government officials in order to achieve advocacy outcomes.

Leading issue-specific communications in service of advocacy goals.

Developing policy recommendations or proposals in partnership with programmatic and regional offices.

Core Responsibilities

Develop, manage and implement a communications strategy in support of the polio program and advocacy strategy.

Negotiate, execute, and manage several advocacy and communications grants and contracts in support of the resource mobilization advocacy and communications efforts of Global Polio Eradication Initiative.

Develop and execute GPEI communications strategy with grantees and other partners.

Collaborate with other foundation program teams on cross-cutting linkages and narratives for media and advocacy purposes.

Represent the foundation to key program-related external constituencies and on GPEI working groups including the Polio Advocacy Communications Team (PACT).

Leadership and Culture

We believe that energized people, working well together, fueled by great leadership in an inclusive environment in which they thrive, will do phenomenal things.

Core Knowledge and Skills

Knowledge of international global health, development, immunization and polio eradication.

Proven ability to lead and influence others in a constructive manner and to build and sustain collaborative relationships.

Excellent verbal and written communication skills, able to effectively synthesize information to reach diverse audiences and build consensus. Clear and coherent writing style.

Experience developing and managing communications campaigns and complex global strategies in support of policy initiatives, advocacy programs and events.

Knowledge of how to use and experience using communications to achieve advocacy goals and policy change.

Experience and demonstrated maturity in working with executives and global leaders as demonstrated by grace, poise, respect, and discretion. Experience in reputation management, building and maintaining the brand of executives and global leaders, together with experience staffing media interviews and other communications engagements.

Organizational knowledge and experience working with various members of foundation teams including programs, advocacy, communications and operations. Specific understanding of and good working relationships with key members of leadership and other relevant staff across the foundation. Experience navigating internal political environment successfully.

 Strategic and problem-solving thinker with ability to parse and distill complex information.

Excellent negotiating and diplomacy skills with an emphasis on collaboration and strong internal communication. Ability to remain objective when both absorbing and presenting information. Able to be an honest broker of all ideas and information without bias or over interpretation. Ability to work informally as well as formally to collaborate with others to achieve results; ability to remain credible and impartial while maintaining a personable and favorable disposition.

 Ability to understand and anticipate priorities and closely care for time-sensitive tasks in response.

Humble, dedicated, authoritative calm and credible. Able to work under pressure and prioritize effectively.

Education and Experience

Advanced degree with 7+ years of experience, or equivalent experience

Reports to: Deputy Director | PAC | Director’s Office

The duration of this interim role is up to 18 months with the exact start and end dates to be agreed upon.

The employee transfer policy applies to internal backfill positions. An employee may apply for an open position after at least 12 months in their current position. If you meet this requirement and wish to pursue a backfill opportunity, you are required to have a conversation with your manager to confirm their support before you apply. In rare cases, the requirement of a minimum of 12 months in a position may be waived if a transfer is critical to the foundation’s goals and is approved by the current manager and their HR Consultant (HR Business Partner or Generalist).

All backfill positions are posted as LTE roles. With current manager support, if selected for the role, FTEs will retain their FTE status during the backfill assignment. Managers will have the option of backfilling for the individual moving to the interim position for a similar duration via the same hiring channels and options as this position. However, current managers may be unwilling or unable to hold headcount for the duration of an interim assignment and may deny the employee’s request. In such cases, the employee may apply for the open LTE position, but if selected, would effectively be resigning as an FTE and would be hired as an LTE for the duration of the interim assignment. As an LTE, employment with the foundation is expected to end at the end of the assignment, and the employee would not be eligible for severance.

As part of our standard hiring process for new employees, employment with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will be contingent upon successful completion of a background check.