Deputy Director, Health Product Access and Agencies – Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation 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. Headquartered in Seattle in Washington state, the foundation is led by CEO Mark Suzman, under the direction of co-chairs Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates and the board of trustees.

The Foundation

We are the largest nonprofit fighting poverty, disease, and inequity around the world. Founded on a simple premise: people everywhere, regardless of identity or circumstances, should have the chance to live healthy, productive lives. We believe our employees should reflect the rich diversity of the global populations we aim to serve. We provide an exceptional benefits package to employees and their families which include comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage with no premiums, generous paid time off, paid family leave, foundation-paid retirement contribution, regional holidays, and opportunities to engage in several employee communities. As a workplace, we’re committed to creating an environment for you to thrive both personally and professionally.

The Team

The Global Health Agencies & Funds (GHAF) is a newly expanded team, established to manage the strategic relationships and drive the engagements with several of the foundation’s key global health partners and funds: WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA, the Global Fund, UNITAID, and through the Islamic Development Bank Lives and Livelihoods Fund and the World Bank GFF, Anchor Trust Fund, and Pandemic Preparedness and Response Financial Intermediary Fund.

The team works to:

1. Drive internal alignment on foundation-wide strategic priorities, objectives, outcomes, and accountabilities with these global health institutions (GHIs) through individual institutional engagement strategies, and

2. Increase the strategic coherence across the GHIs on topics that are priorities for the wider foundation through cross-institutional strategies. Initial cross-institutional priority topics include a focus on product access, introduction, and scale (PAIS) and health systems strengthening (HSS).

Your Role

The Deputy Director (DD), Health Product Access and Agencies, will provide management and strategic direction for the Health Product Access and Agencies sub-team. As DD, you will shape the team’s priorities, communicate a clear rationale for the choices of the team and provide recommendations to the Director for changes in emphasis or direction. The individual will be a member of the Global Health Agencies and Funds (GHAF) management team and relied upon for ensuring overall team effectiveness. The DD will provide project briefings and updates to foundation leadership and represent the foundation in meetings with external stakeholders as well as at global and regional conferences and convenings.

This role reports directly to the Director, Global Health Agencies and Funds

What You’ll Do

Working across GHAF and engaging closely with colleagues in foundation program strategy teams (PSTs), Regional and Country Offices (R&COs), and Global Policy & Advocacy (GPA) division, this role has primary accountability for ensuring overall effective foundation engagement with global and regional health agencies and funds on product access, introduction, and scale (PAIS), and for the development and oversight of engagement strategies for all aspects of our work with global health agencies. This includes ensuring engagement is intentional, collaborative, evidence-based, and influences for impact. You’ll bring technical leadership to PAIS, including on market dynamics, procurement, and supply chain management, driving innovation, and coordinated approaches for the sustainable and affordable supply of high-quality global health commodities. You’ll also lead the foundation’s strategic engagement with key global health agencies, in particular WHO and UNICEF, ensuring our partnership across delivery, PAIS, policy, and leadership is effectively leveraged, impact-driven, and measured.

• Provides technical global leadership and drives foundation alignment and input into improving global and regional health institutions’ approaches to non-vaccine health product introduction and scale, market dynamics, and supply chain management.
• Leads a team that works across foundation PSTs, R&COs, and GPA to ensure that foundation strategic engagement in global and regional health agencies (particularly WHO and UNICEF) across all aspects of our partnership, is intentional, collaborative, and influences for impact.
• Shapes and oversees engagement strategies for our collaboration and grant-making with global health agencies (WHO, UNICEF), with robust theories of change and action, and performance measurement, working closely with the Advisor, Health Agencies, and the Director of GHAF.
• Working across broader foundation teams to ensure that investments in PAIS via global and regional health levers (agencies and funds) are focused, leveraged, and impact-oriented at the country level, defined and driven by programmatic and country priorities and impact.
• Drives to understand the whole global health lever ecosystem; sees connections and addresses conflicts.
• Builds relationships with internal and external partners.
• Serves as a thought partner and knowledge ambassador across the foundation to other internal/external groups as needed.
• Converts strategy and execution and guides team on priorities.
• Sets clear expectations for the team and coaches the team to influence.
• Tracks individual and team progress and adjusts accordingly.
• Facilitates the development of annual investment plans and budgets, and develops, modifies, and implements a strategy under the leadership of the Director. Work with foundation leadership as requested to address cross-cutting issues and improve functions and performance.
• Provide strategic guidance in crafting grants and contracts that require complex research or analytics.
• Accountable for the identification and assessment of key portfolio risks, and the development and management of mitigation/contingency plans at the portfolio level.
• This role will manage people and may be responsible for hiring the talent needed to achieve our goals, ensuring successful employee onboarding, communicating performance expectations, creating goal alignment, integrating project and change management, giving, and seeking feedback, providing coaching, measuring progress, and holding people accountable, supporting employee development, and recognizing achievement and lessons learned.

Your Experience

• Ph.D., MD, or equivalent demonstrated deep technical experience in product introduction, market shaping, and development, with 10+ years of experience.
• Technical experience in new product introduction or health product market dynamics in L&MICs.
• Experience in health product development partnerships for LICs markets, including demonstrated experience working with global health agencies and funds, and various other stakeholders including L&MIC government ministries and pharma companies.
• Mastery-level understanding of the complexities of drug development, clinical and field research, and regulatory requirements, as well as a proven ability to translate operational research findings into highly effective programs.
• Deep understanding and experience in the global health architecture, particularly the global funds and UN health agencies (especially WHO and UNICEF including in-product access, introduction, and scale.
• Proven ability to lead and influence others. Demonstrated ability to work with efficiency, diplomacy, and flexibility, particularly as part of a team. Experience managing and working in teams with diverse cultural and professional backgrounds.
• Experience in strategic planning and strategy implementation.
• Demonstrated excellence in scientific writing and/or data analysis, written and oral communication skills, and experience advocating and communicating with a broad and diverse audience.
• Experience in a role requiring collaboration in a complex organization and working with external organizations.
• The typical salary range for this role is $170,980 to $317,675 USD. The exact offer will be determined by a variety of factors such as the candidate’s skills, qualifications, and experience relative to the requirements of the role.

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.

Candidate Accommodations

If you require assistance due to a disability in the application or recruitment process, please submit a request here.

Inclusion Statement

We are dedicated to the belief that all lives have equal value. We strive for a global and cultural workplace that supports ever greater diversity, equity, and inclusion — of voices, ideas, and approaches — and we support this diversity through all 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.