Program Officer for Vaccine Delivery, Strategy and Innovation

Job Description

Position Summary
In 1990, one in 10 children in the world died before the age of five. Today, it’s one in 20. By 2030, we expect that number will be one in 40, in part due to reaching more children and mothers with life-saving vaccines. Today, an estimated 1.5 million children die each year—one every 20 seconds—from vaccine-preventable diseases such as diarrhea and pneumonia. Reaching the millions of children who are missed in immunization programs is central to our work in Vaccine Delivery, and it will require new approaches, improved practices, and modern tools.

The Strategy and Innovation group in Vaccine Delivery identifies promising concepts that have the potential to fundamentally improve immunization through new approaches and technologies, invests in the development of prototypes, and applies evaluation criteria to choose if expanded testing is warranted. Viewed along a continuum, this team forms the first building block from which new immunization-related innovations are conceptualized and scaled-up across the globe.

As a Program Officer in Strategy & Innovation, you will shape a multidisciplinary portfolio of investments and projects that turn human insights into tangible solutions to reach the hardest-to-reach children and mothers. From research and strategy to prototyping and testing, you will lead diverse partners through the process to design solutions, and collaborate across Vaccine Delivery to pave a path for the most promising solutions to replicate across the globe.

Responsibilities
Clarify the challenges

• Research and understand the factors that disrupt or derail immunization, qualitatively and quantitatively using a human-centered design approach
• Summarize the root issues and problems, articulating clear problem statements that enable attentive design of tangible solutions
• Set the strategic direction for solution design challenges, including a clear articulation of the target product profile and criteria for assessment

Inspire and cultivate solutions

• Develop a stable of solution design investments, and cultivate partners with a diverse set of capabilities to address the broad spectrum of challenges
• Scan and assess new technologies and practices emerging from other fields for potential solutions
• Champion design excellence and encourage rapid-cycle approaches to improve prototypes

Assess and iterate

• ​Developenvironments and resources for rapid testing and iteration of prototypes
• Collect data and insights that improve potential solutions
• Assess and report when solutions are refined enough to be deployed and scaled

This position is located in Seattle, Washington, USA. It requires up to 30% international travel

Skills and Experience

• 5-8 years of professional experience in a design consultancy or equivalent position guiding multidisciplinary design teams
• Fluency in the human-centered design process from qualitative research and synthesis to ideation, prototyping, and implementation
• Expertise in turning insights about human behavior and needs into tangible concepts
• Solution-focused and medium-agnostic, with an emphasis on finding the correct solution to an opportunity
• Cultural sensitivity, creativity, and resourcefulness—as comfortable finding your way around the streets of Addis Ababa as you are in large corporate offices
• Experience with public health or immunization programs is a plus

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.