Job Description
CAMRIS is an international development and research firm that realizes innovative solutions to health and development challenges through high-quality, cost-effective program and research management services. With experience working in more than 80 countries, we combine our proven systems with today’s most effective, evidence-based best practices to improve the lives of people around the world.
Title: Innovation Advisor
Location: Washington DC
GS: 14 Equivalency
Application Deadline: Open until Filled
In order to fully evaluate your eligibility, your resume must include relevant paid and non-paid experience showing dates held with month, year and hours worked per week for each position.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
The Center for Innovation and Impact (CII) in USAID’s Bureau for Global Health encourages business-minded approaches and accelerates impact against some of the world’s most important health issues. CII invests seed capital in the most promising efforts and applies a rigorous, market-oriented approach to cut the time it takes to transform ideas from the drawing board into impact on the ground.
To achieve its goals, CII:
- Serves as a catalyst, driving innovation and partnerships;
- Works with internal and external partners to help prioritize and scale innovations and existing interventions that align with the Agency’s priorities in global health;
- Supports rapid introduction of and/or access to these priority interventions;
- Leverages a human-centered design approach to ensure that populations in need and end-users are always the focus of our work; and
- Seeks not only to develop best practices in innovation, introduction and uptake across sectors, but also to push the boundaries of current thinking to improve the health and efficiency of the marketplace.
TEAM:
At CII, we strive to live up to our values, which emphasize pushing through ambiguity and risks, driving innovation, crowding in new voices, leading with empathy and through collaboration, staying humble, and bringing our authentic selves to work every day. We put under-served populations at the center of our work, always seeking to bring new voices to the table and to work with diverse partners. We welcome applications from a broad range of candidates, including whose personal or professional backgrounds bring a nontraditional perspective to global health, business, and development.
ROLE:
USAID/CII is seeking a highly motivated, entrepreneurial individual with outstanding problem solving, analytical and communication skills to play a key role catalyzing and accelerating the development, introduction and scaling of groundbreaking innovations for health. The Innovation Advisor will work with CII’s Innovation Team to: (1) Source and support innovations with the highest potential for impact to come to scale; (2) Strengthen innovation capabilities at USAID within technical offices and Missions; and (3) Scan for current and future trends in global health innovation. In short, this role involves a mix of promoting transformative innovation as well as furthering incremental and adjacent forms of innovation within USAID. The Advisor will be joining CII as the team looks to build on the success of past Grand Challenges –
Saving Lives at Birth,
Zika and Future Threats, and
Fighting Ebola – that have collectively supported over 150 innovations. The Advisor will be part of a dynamic, entrepreneurial team that will continue to help shape the direction of CII, building partnerships with thought leaders globally and pushing new boundaries in this critically important area of development.
This role will require creative thinking and business-savviness, and experience to both develop and implement innovative and impactful programs that accelerate progress towards USAID’s global health priorities. The candidate will possess, or will be expected to rapidly develop, extensive knowledge and strategic perspectives on particular innovations and interventions, and to think creatively on partnerships and collaborations that would help to foster their success and maximize their impact.
Specific activities may include supporting the development of innovative partnerships across sectors; analyzing market barriers and inefficiencies; supporting the entry of innovative solutions and the development of new product introduction strategies to ensure products reach those most in need; sourcing and assessing innovations for their applicability across a variety of health areas (e.g., COVID-19, Maternal and Child Health); meeting with innovators to better understand their products, plans and needs (e.g., funding, access to markets); supporting user research and segmentation; and identifying and applying cutting edge technologies and approaches (e.g., artificial intelligence, futures visioning), especially from the private sector or non-health sectors, to relevant global health challenges. To do so, the Innovation Advisor will develop strategic and analytical tools to address introduction and uptake challenges, apply them to intervention-specific challenges, and advise on the dissemination of the approach and learnings for broader application across product categories and health sectors.
The Innovation Advisor will build and guide strong relationships internally with technical and mission staff and support relationship building externally with key stakeholders, including senior executives at manufacturers, product developers and other implementing organizations as well as senior officials from foundations and governmental, multilateral and nongovernmental organizations.
- Work within CII’s Innovation team, helping to set priorities for CII, live CII’s team values, seize opportunities, and effectively support Global Health Bureau priorities;
- While working independently, support a diverse portfolio of innovators, identifying opportunities for scale up and technical assistance (e.g., human-centered design, business-model design, market assessments, etc.);
- Work closely with the Innovation Team to help build and support a community of innovators, including contributing ideas and resources;
- Identify and develop initiatives, partnerships, and/or activities that support innovations;
- Manage key relationships with implementing organizations, manufacturers, and developers, as well as senior officials from foundations and governmental, multilateral and nongovernmental organizations to advance product introduction and uptake priorities;
- Keep abreast of major developments in global health innovations and identify how these developments could further USAID’s global health priorities, examining innovations across programming, science and technology, service delivery approaches, and demand-side creation;
- Assess, adapt, and apply cutting edge technologies or approaches, especially from the private sector or non-health sectors, to relevant global health challenges;
- Disseminate lessons learned and promote new advances both within USAID and to external audiences, including developing internal resources and participating in and presenting at international and domestic meetings, workshops, and conferences;
- Prepare reports, project plans and templates as needed;
- Support CII in building key relationships with private sector partners, foundations, donors, and other stakeholders to advance USAID’s global health priorities;
- Identify and support opportunities and new initiatives as priorities within CII evolve;
- Prepare briefers, talking points, reports, project plans, and templates as needed; and
- Contribute to bureaucratic responsibilities such as supporting Agreement Officer’s Representatives/Contracting Officer’s Representatives (A/CORs) for USAID mechanisms as necessary.
- Master’s degree and nine (9) years of relevant work experience or equivalent years of education and relevant work experience.
- Function well independently and on teams, and have a commitment to excellence and producing results; the Center places great value on the following personal qualities: resourcefulness, responsibility, tenacity, energy, sense of humor, and a positive attitude.
- Exceptional analytical and communication (written and verbal) skills.
- Demonstrated ability to analyze and synthesize information, and to develop priorities, solutions, and strategies to address issues and gaps;
- Strong leadership and interpersonal skills with the ability to build relationships and communicate effectively with people of varied professional, cultural, and educational backgrounds.
- Entrepreneurial mindset, including ability to think strategically, operate independently, self-motivate, be flexible, and set and achieve ambitious targets.
- Ability to work effectively in high-pressure situations, juggle multiple tasks simultaneously, problem solve in a fast-paced environment, and set priorities.
- Ability to understand incentive structures and engage and persuade senior-level executives and other stakeholders.
- Ability to absorb and synthesize a broad range of information, including financial, regulatory, clinical, demographic and scientific information.
- Detail-oriented with strong organizational and project management skills.
- High level of proficiency in Microsoft Office, particularly Excel, PowerPoint and Word.
- Willingness to travel both domestically and internationally (when conditions, such as the prevalence of COVID-19, allow).
- S. Citizenship or permanent residency and ability to obtain and maintain, at a minimum, a Facilities Access clearance.
Preferred
- Significant professional experience in strategy/management consulting, business, marketing, corporate development, or other fields that require understanding of marketplace dynamics, product introduction and uptake, or analysis
- Experience working in innovation, especially in global health
- Demonstrated knowledge of or keen interest in global health
- MBA degree
This is an opportunity for employment or a contract, but we reserve the right to make no selection or award.
CAMRIS International offers competitive salaries and comprehensive benefits. Please submit your resume online at www.camris.com. CAMRIS is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, protected veteran status, disability status, or any other characteristic protected by any applicable federal, state, or local law.
