Foundation Overview Guided by the belief that every life has equal value, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation works to help all people lead healthy, productive lives. In developing countries, it focuses on improving people's health and giving them the chance to lift themselves out of hunger and extreme poverty. In the United States, it seeks to ensure that all people-especially those with the fewest resources-have access to the opportunities they need to succeed in school and life. Based in Seattle, the foundation is led by CEO Sue Desmond-Hellmann and co-chair William H. Gates Sr., under the direction of Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett.
Group Summary The Integrated Delivery team aims to advance the outcomes of the Global Health and Global Development Programs via efforts to improve overall and equitable coverage of impactful interventions - with an emphasis on supporting primary health care system performance. The team includes expertise spanning a range of delivery-related topics. These experts are deployed in response to requests from program strategy teams to support specific investments, activities, and strategies. Our expertise includes user/market research, new product launch, supply chain design, information communication technology, data & metrics, health economics, and operations research/program effectiveness.
Given our vantage point across programs, our technical experts look for holistic, integrated or cross-cutting solutions that overcome system impediments effectively and efficiently. We encourage staff and partners to put the user at the center of our program solutions, and design integrated and efficient program models that best meet human needs – breaking the silos. We proactively identify delivery challenges across program strategy teams and develop and manage strategies and investment portfolios to advance foundation outcomes. The Integrated Delivery team is accountable for contributions to program strategy outcomes, and also indicators related to primary care system performance, improved integration, and demonstrating performance in designing, introducing, and scaling high impact interventions.
Responsibilities We are looking for a senior marketing and communications leader with the skills and experience to serve as the Senior Program Officer (SPO) for behavior change communication (BCC) and social norms change within the Integrated Delivery team. This position will have a specific focus on issues surrounding women and girls and will be responsible for defining and articulating a vision and approach to changing social norms, using multiple approaches and levers, including – but not limited to – BCC. This position will also improve the foundation's ability to implement programs that motivate healthier behaviors and lifestyles, and activate, expand, and/or generate demand by partnering with our program teams to apply best-in-class BCC principles and methods more consistently in their work. Candidates should have proven expertise in creating, developing, and implementing BCC campaigns with measurable behavior change outcomes in low-income settings, as well as familiarity with designing and implementing programs to change social norms. This SPO will also serve in a technical advisory role, working with diverse stakeholders within the foundation as well as externally with our grantees and government partners. S/he will ensure programs are designed to drive desired and measurable behavior change and change social norms so as to improve program outputs.
Key areas of work will include:
Portfolio Management and Execution
- Scope, shape, propose, and manage a portfolio of demand related activities and investments to support programmatic goals involving behavior change and changing social norms.
- Develop projects with clear, measurable outcomes and milestones that clarify expectations up-front and enable nimble course-correction.
- Analyze and synthesize lessons and results to improve the overall operating model for behavior and social norm change.
Strategic Planning and Evaluation
- Identify and gather quantitative/qualitative information to measure progress against strategic goals.
- Contribute to the evolution of the Integrated Delivery team, vision, strategic objectives, priorities, processes, organizational structure, etc.
- Provide input into strategic plans and participate in annual planning to drive demand and social norm change, BCC, uptake and delivery.
- Commit to performance development and provide mentorship.
Communications and Thought Leadership
- Prepare action-oriented communication materials to build awareness of demand, BCC, and social norm change within the foundation and support activities listed above.
- Communicate effectively with senior management through memos, meetings, and field visits to reinforce the value of BCC and social norm change.
- Represent the foundation's vision for demand, behavior and social norm change in development to key external constituencies, including participation in conferences and meetings.
Qualifications - 10+ years of experience in designing, developing and implementing commercial marketing and/or BCC campaigns with measurable outcomes
- Experience working with women's groups or adolescent girls; familiarity with theories of women's empowerment is preferred
- 5+ years as a project leader in low income market settings preferred
- 2+ years in a low income country context, or the equivalent experience implementing BCC campaigns or changing social norms focused on disadvantaged groups in a cross-cultural setting in an upper or middle income country. Ideally will have conducted several projects in these markets/settings with users from the two lowest-income quartiles, strongly preferred
- Expertise in user research, concept testing, design of marketing and communications strategies, and execution of strategies with excellence, both as a practitioner and project lead. Expertise in 360 degree communications plans, including mass, mid, and interpersonal media, desired
- 5+ years of experience in designing, implementing, and evaluating comprehensive plans to drive social norms change
- Strong partnership network of marketing, advertising, communications, BCC, and social norms organizations and professionals
- Demonstrated experience in building capability and training among interested parties but with different objectives and incentives
- Familiarity working in the health field (pharma, medical devices, consumer health products) highly desired
- Strong technical assistance and interpersonal skills and ability to support internal and external partners to achieve their objectives
- Comfortable in a wide range of cultural, geographic and operational situations, demonstrating culturally sensitive behavior with a diverse range of people
- Ability to orchestrate effective decisions across a broad range of issues and stakeholders, assess progress, analyze gaps, and make necessary changes
- Innovative and open-minded approach; ability to question and challenge colleagues including managers and partners in a constructive manner
- Demonstrated ability to work with flexibility, efficiency, and diplomacy in a complex, fast-paced environment
- Ability to think/act like an investor; creative and generative thinker
- Excellent visual, written and oral communication skills to convey complex situations in a clear and concise manner with a broad and diverse audience
- Ability to travel up to 30% domestically and internationally
- Self-motivated and self-managing
- A sense of humor
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.