Senior Program Officer, Climate Adaptation, Adaptive Systems and Integration

Senior Program Officer, Climate Adaptation, Adaptive Systems and Integration
The Foundation

We are the largest nonprofitfighting poverty, disease, and inequity around the world. Founded on a simple premise: that people everywhere, regardless of identity or circumstances, should have the chance to live healthy, productive lives. By building a global and cultural workplace that supportsgreater diversity, equity, and inclusion - of voices, ideas, and approaches - together with our employees and partners, we can help all people improve their lives from poverty and health to education. As an organization we offer full healthcare premiums coverage, generous paid time off, contribution to your retirement fund, several employee communities, and a commitment to embedding diversity, equity, and inclusion into everything we do.

The Team

The Division

The Global Growth & Opportunity (GGO) division works to catalyze sustainable and transformative socio-economic change. In the face of inequities and market failures, GGO seeks to realize the potential of untapped markets, and ensure that economic and social benefits reach everyone. We focus on the areas of Agricultural Development; Financial Services for the Poor; and Water, Sanitation & Hygiene. We seek solutions that are sustainable, transformative, and inclusive with an eye toward applying technology innovations as well as data evidence to drive change in the world's developing countries.

The Agricultural Development (AgDev) program aims to catalyze a country-led, inclusive, agricultural transformation (IAT) process by developing and scaling products, services, policies, and system-wide innovations that benefit small scale producers, empower women, and improve nutritional outcomes. We want farmers in Sub- Saharan Africa (SSA) and South Asia (SA) to be empowered with the knowledge, tools, and technologies to improve their livelihoods and lift themselves and their families out of poverty.

Application Deadline: November 30, 2022

Your Role

We're seeking a Senior Program Officer, Climate Adaptation specialist to join the Adaptive Systems and Integration (ASI) portfolio team. You will help lead the strategic evolution of our climate adaptation work across the AgDev team. This will include managing a portfolio of grants and contracts requiring skills in high-level grant management, monitoring, and evaluation. As a key advisor and technical specialist, you will partner with all portfolio teams to ensure the effective integration of climate adaptation work across all our strategies and in our priority countries.

This is an exciting new role which was created to support the expansion of the foundation into this area of need. This team accelerates innovation in the systems and processes that help facilitate country-led climate change adaptation and inform decision making at the policy and meso scales for ultimate benefits at the farm level. The SPO will work with AgDev staff, consultants, external thought partners, and grantees to evaluate, learn, strategize, and help structure ASI grantmaking activities and strategy.

What You'll Do

• Advance a forward-looking strategy for climate adaptation for the whole of AgDev that is grounded in an understanding of our role in the donor landscape, realities in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, and the data and evidence base.
• Support program implementation through strategy development, partnership building, and grant making and management to promote vital gains in small scale producer household livelihoods.
• Contribute to strategy design and development to improve and advance organizational and institutional adaptive capacity in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.
• Negotiate, drive, and manage a complex grant portfolio. Provide clear, concise, and insightful written analyses and recommendations for funding.
• Provide managerial and technical support for innovation-related investments aimed at strengthening organizational-level adaptive capacity through increased use of climate risk data and analytics in alignment with or supporting development and implementation of adaptation policies.
• In close partnership with Program Advocacy and Communications (PAC), contribute to the foundation's presence on the global stage, specifically calling attention to the importance of agriculture and small-scale producers within climate adaptation.
• In collaboration with the Deputy Director, support the management of the operational aspects of our climate efforts, including strategy setting, consistent tracking of progress against agreed-upon metrics, and year-by-year investment planning.
• Consult with grantees and other partners to improve impact of projects and ensure grants are meeting strategic goals. This may include conducting site visits, providing operational guidance and convening meetings of key stakeholders.
• Engage with partners, including national and local organizations, to understand demand and priorities in climate related risk management and decision-making across a range of scales, and the financial landscape supporting climate adaptation processes.
• Work closely with meso-level and local actors to support the uptake, scaling, and adaptive management of climate risk management approaches.
• Bring a gender lens to investment development to encourage climate adaptive programming along the Gender Intentional to Transformative continuum
• Develop new partnerships with existing and emerging "proximate partners" (i.e., partners with shared identity and/or lived experience with the communities we seek to impact).

Your Experience

• Recognized by the global professional community as a climate adaptation specialist, with a deep understanding of the technical elements of climate change, the state-of-the-art evidence on risk and resilience, and relevant policy-related efforts in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.
• Technical expertise in at least two of the following areas: early warning, predictive analyses, natural resources, digital technologies, environmental economics, and/or climate data systems.
• Experience working with a diverse set of partners to effectively integrate climate adaptation into investments and strategies.
• Knowledge of the partner ecosystem (funders, implementers, public and private sector) in the climate adaptation field.
• Experience in grant and contract management, including proven ability to work effectively with grantee partners and co-funding partners, and, to analyze results frameworks to scrutinize outcomes and outputs from investments.
• Capability to lead and influence others in a constructive manner and to build and sustain collaborative relationships.
• Excellent problem solver with strategy development experience.

The ideal candidate will have had a leadership role in a variety of climate related risk management projects or programs in LMICs; possess substantial content knowledge on climate risks, climate adaptation approaches, and overall agriculture development themes; demonstrate comfort and familiarity in working with a wide range of collaborators from national partners to local leaders to the private sector; and maintains a substantial network of partners in the BMGF regions of interest. They are similarly familiar with international, regional, and country level climate policies, plans, and organizations related to agriculture and climate. Individuals who excel in this position are passionately collaborative, enjoy ambitious programs, and have a consistent track record demonstrating inclusion, flexibility, and teamwork.

Education & Experience

• An advanced degree in climate adaptation, climate science, geography, economics, natural resource management or other fields closely allied with agriculture climate adaptation plus 10+ years of experience working in related themes coupled with grant management experience.
• Applied work explicitly linking climate adaptation and agricultural risk management to small scale production systems in the Global South
• Experience working with governments and/or public-private partnerships.
• Experience in collaborative program design and management roles in LMICs
• Working experience and familiarity with the constraints and opportunities present for small scale producers in Africa and/or South Asia now and in a changing climate.

*Must be able to legally work in the country where this position is located without visa sponsorship.

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Hiring Requirements

As part of our standard hiring process for new employees, employment will be contingent upon successful completion of a background check.

Depending upon your work location, we may require proof of full vaccination against COVID-19 and any recommended booster doses. All employees based in the United States are to provide proof of full vaccination upon hire and any recommended boosters, subject to applicable laws.

Accommodations

If you require assistance due to a disability in the application or recruitment process, please submit a request tohr@gatesfoundation.org .

Inclusion Statement

We are dedicated to the belief that all lives have equal value. We're committed to creating a workplace where employees thrive both personally and professionally. We also believe our employees should reflect the rich diversity of the global populations we aim to serve-in race, gender, age, cultures and beliefs-and we support this diversity through all of our employment practices.

All applicants and employees who are drawn to serve our mission will enjoy equality of opportunity and fair treatment without regard to race, color, age, religion, pregnancy, sex, sexual orientation, disability, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, genetic information, veteran status, marital status, and prior protected activity.