Policy Advisor, Global Health

  • Senior-level, Full-time staff position
  • Posted on 13 October 2021

Job Description

Position Overview

The Policy Advisor, Global Health will join the UN Foundation’s global health team to lead its engagement with the New York-based UN community and key partners, around a growing portfolio of work on global health security and the nexus of global health and other global priorities, including climate change, the SDGs, and multilateral solutions to enhance collective preparedness and response to future health threats. S/he will be responsible for leading the Foundation’s global health engagement with New York-based diplomatic missions and the UN System as well as building and maintaining related relationships in the research, business, NGO, and wider policy communities. S/he will have a track record in critical thinking, policy entrepreneurship, and practical experience with a demonstrated ability to build trusted relationships with diverse diplomats, experts, and other stakeholders. S/he will combine a sophisticated appreciation of the institutional landscape in global health with a proven capacity to navigate both policy substance and key relationships. S/he will bring fresh perspective and ideas to support the UN and its partners in:

Developing fresh thinking, dialogue, and coalitions to tackle critical global health challenges
• Increasing understanding of, and novel approaches to, the linkages between health and the broader 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development,
• Cultivating, diversifying, and supporting coalitions committed to global health leadership and solutions among diplomatic and other partners.

The Policy Advisor, Global Health will be expected to nurture relationships and collaborate with staff of diplomatic missions that are leading health-focused groupings in New York as well as with health leads in the UN System based in New York, and other key partners. S/he will also contribute to generating ideas and opportunities to link action on global health in New York to wider arenas for global health action, including Geneva and regional and other global fora (ex. G7, G20).

Over the coming years, the Policy Advisor will help shepherd a growing body of work for the UN Foundation on health security, including tracking future risks and trends that shape opportunities for collective action to prepare or respond to global health threats.

The Policy Advisor, Global Health will report to the Vice President for Global Health Strategy, with a dotted line to the Senior Vice President / Head of the NY Office. S/he will work closely with staff across the Foundation, especially issue teams (climate change, SDGs, and gender), policy planning, and advocacy.

This role is based in New York, New York.

Essential Functions

  • Lead UNF’s global health engagement with the New York-based UN community, including UN System health leads, diplomatic missions, and other partners to deepen support for, and generate fresh ideas and coalitions to advance, global health priorities in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals
  • Lead the conceptualization and execution of convenings and other tools to engage diplomatic missions in New York to build knowledge, shared understanding, and relationships to address global health priorities such as global health security, Universal Health Coverage, primary healthcare and health systems strengthening, and antimicrobial resistance (AMR)
  • Help shape strategies for engaging wider constituencies among business, civil society, and other stakeholders to amplify and reinforce that work
  • Track policy debate and developments related to global health and health security taking place in the UN and New York communities to shape the Foundation’s programmatic, advocacy, and related work
  • Work across the Foundation to advise and help shape UNF’s portfolio of work to strengthen global health security and improve collective response to future global health challenges
  • Provide thought leadership and work with UNF’s communications and executive leadership to identify communications opportunities and develop best-in-class content to advance global health and health-related goals

Selection Criteria

  • Track record of analytic skill and policy savvy in global health. Direct experience on multilateral policy on health security or pandemic preparedness and response a significant plus
  • Master’s degree in Social Sciences, Public Health, International Relations, International Development, or other relevant qualification
  • With 8-10+ years previous years’ work experience related to global health or health security policy or advocacy, especially in a multilateral context
  • Proven ability to build strategic relationships and partnerships with and across diverse actors, including diplomatic community, multilateral actors, and policy influencers
  • Superb communication skills, including excellent writing, editing, and presentation abilities.
  • Demonstrated political and diplomatic skills
  • Practical experience with the United Nations and other multilateral cooperation efforts and/or deep knowledge of international policy development and delivery
  • Detail-oriented with strong project and time management skills, including ability to manage multiple and fast-paced projects and tasks simultaneously
  • This role is US based in New York, New York
  • Ability to work under pressure and handle stress
  • Ability to meet regular attendance/tardiness policy

Benefits & Compensation

For full-time, benefit eligible employees, UNF offers an excellent range of benefits, including:

  • a choice between two health plans through UnitedHealthcare (PPO or HDHP with HSA)
  • dental insurance
  • vision insurance
  • flexible spending accounts
  • 403b retirement savings plan with a generous matching contribution
  • group term and supplemental life insurance
  • short-term disability
  • long-term disability
  • health club discounts
  • commuter subsidy
  • back-up care
  • employee assistance program

Additionally, all benefit eligible employees have 12 paid holidays, 20 vacation days, 10 sick days, 3 personal days, and 8 weeks of family leave care.

About the Organization

The UN Foundation, a public charity, was created in 1998 with entrepreneur and philanthropist Ted Turner’s historic $1 billion gift to support UN causes and activities. We are an advocate for the UN and a platform for connecting people, ideas and resources to help the United Nations solve global problems. We help the UN take its best work and ideas to scale—through advocacy, partnerships, constituency building and fund-raising. *Partnerships because we have learned what can be achieved when the public and private sectors work together through the United Nations; *Advocacy because we know the leverage and impact that sound policy can have on the kind of social, economic and environmental change the UN seeks; *Community-building because the UN was created for “we the people,” and all of us can give back and contribute to a better world; and *We need new and additional resources to power solutions to global challenges. Under the direction of our distinguished Board of Directors, we also work closely with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the United Nations Office for Partnerships. Find out more about our Board of Directors or our relationship with the United Nations.

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