Interim Senior Program Officer, Program Advocacy and Communications, Family Planning / Maternal, Newborn and Child Health

This is an interim backfill role to cover for an employee who will be out on parental leave.  The duration of the assignment is targeted for 11 months starting in April. However, the start and end dates may change.

Group Summary

The Program Advocacy and Communications team works in partnership with program teams and other teams in Global Policy and Advocacy (GPA) to achieve their policy and finance goals by:

• Developing and coordinating the execution of advocacy and communications strategies.
• Leveraging leadership and foundation voice to implement communications and advocacy strategies.
• Developing and managing a grant portfolio dedicated to achieving communications and advocacy outcomes.
• Directly advocating with sector leaders, influencers, media and government officials in order to achieve communications and advocacy outcomes.
• Leading issue-specific communications in service of communications and advocacy goals.
• Developing policy recommendations or proposals in partnership with programmatic and regional offices.

Leadership & Culture

Our culture shapes our choices about what we do and how we do it. We believe that energized people, working well together, fueled by great leadership in an inclusive environment can do extraordinary things. We expect foundation employees to intentionally and consistently embody our four agreements; show respect, offer trust, be transparent, and create energy.

Position Summary

The Senior Program Officer (SPO) for Program Advocacy and Communications will own the foundation’s communications efforts focused largely on Family Planning and Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (FP/MNCH). The role will work across FP/MNCH global, regional, and country priorities to develop targeted communications strategies to generate awareness, raise resources, form partnerships, elevate voices and spur policy changes – with a specific focus on supporting a woman’s right to bodily autonomy and increased ability to access a range of contraceptive options; galvanizing civil society in donor and developing nations to increase political dedication to health and development issues, specifically FP/MNCH/women’s health; shaping international financing channels for health and development issues and support the evidence-base to encourage sound decision-making; and influencing policymaker decision-making via external communications and media relations efforts.

The SPO will also lead on an integrated women’s health communications approach that will require coordination across relevant issues, including FP, MNCH, Nutrition, Primary Health Care (PHC), Gender Equality and more. This will involve executing on an integrated communications plan, which includes women’s health messaging, champion building efforts, engagement with senior leadership and more. Additional responsibilities may include supporting the rollout of the Foundation’s new Primary Health Care (PHC) strategy and associated communications activities.

Lastly, the SPO will also strategically develop and lead a portfolio of communications and champion building grants and contracts requiring high-level grant management skills, monitoring and evaluation. As a key advisor on strategy initiatives, the SPO will contribute to the continued development of the team’s advocacy and communications strategic vision, while collaborating closely with team leadership to set the overall strategy and goals for the team. The SPO will also act as an advisor to the FP/MNCH program teams on both incorporating critical communications elements into major programmatic grants and supporting grantees from a communications standpoint around critical moments.

Core Responsibilities

• Lead the implementation of multiple communications strategies to complement advocacy goals to generate the attention, resources, and policy changes vital to achieve the foundation’s FP, MNCH and women’s health programmatic strategies, and PHC where required. Oversee agency and consultant support to help implement communications and champion building objectives.
• Lead, resource, and implement a communications portfolio that aligns with foundation strategy and is operationally coordinated with other foundation programs. Contribute to the design of new strategies, collaborations and implementation plans to ensure long-term sustainability and impact.
• Lead on the development of creative content for foundation channels, including long-form pieces, event videos, social media content and op-eds; work with communications colleagues in Seattle and across regions to pitch potential content opportunities and be responsible for the creative process from start to finish with support from vendors.
• Track and analyze key media and communications trends relevant to FP, MNCH, women’s health, and PHC where required. Develop compelling media and content pitches; lead in the briefing and preparation of foundation spokespeople (and occasionally grantee voices).
• Lead a portfolio of grants and contracts to advance the communications and advocacy outcomes in support of the FP and MNCH strategies, including reviewing letters of inquiry and grant proposals and provide clear, concise and insightful written analyses and recommendations for funding. Counsel advocacy and PST colleagues on potential inclusion of communications elements into grant proposals.
• Lead all aspects of the communications coordination across FP/MNCH partnerships and assist in developing and handling partnerships and alliances to advance and refine policy, advocacy, and communications strategies.
• Collaborate with grantees and other partners to improve impact of projects and ensure communications grants are meeting strategy goals. This may include: site visits, providing operational guidance and convening meetings of key partners.
• Collaborate extensively across internal teams at the foundation, incorporating External Communications, Melinda’s foundation team, Pivotal (Melinda’s private office), the Gender Equality team, communications colleagues across PAC, FP/MNCH PSTs and more.
• Represent the foundation to key program-related external constituencies, as appropriate
• This role is responsible for high quality interactions and clear and consistent communications with grantees and partners in the field.

Position Reports to: Deputy Director of FP/MNCH/PHC PAC

Core Knowledge and Skills

We are looking for a team member who has knowledge of and experience working on FP/MNCH/PHC issues. They will bring a depth of experience in developing policy, advocacy and communications strategies, with an emphasis on strategic communications. Experience working on FP/MNCH or GE issues and communications in a developing country context is a plus.

Specifically, the effective candidate will have:

• Extensive communications strategy experience, creative content management, excellent writing and editing skills, and a proven capacity to translate sophisticated health and development issues into compelling persuasive writing.
• Experience in developing, leading and implementing creative external communications strategies and campaigns, with experience tailored to FP/MNCH/women’s health or gender equality communications and campaigns preferred; ability to manage multiple vendors, the development of a variety of deliverables and provide insightful feedback in a timely and effective manner.
• Knowledge of global health and development issues as well as a deep dedication to the sector with a preference for knowledge of FP/MNCH; ability to learn new concepts quickly and communicate effectively with different audiences.
• Experience developing and using communications tools and working with partners to achieve advocacy goals and policy change at the global and/or country level;
• Understanding, experience and expertise in health policy issues and advocacy efforts across donor and lower-middle-income countries, working with civil society organizations, coalitions, governments, influencers and the media;
• Experience in leading the conception, design and management of communications strategies, content, campaigns, initiatives and programs in support of policy initiatives, advocacy programs and events; ability to strategically assess opportunities, execute on communications plans and own the expectations and inputs of a variety of different personalities;
• Experience developing, running and implementing projects, including working with partners on the definition of objectives and deliverables and monitoring and evaluation of results; ability to present ideas to internal audiences and articulate vision/goals and desired outcomes to all levels of leadership;  
• Shown ability to lead and influence others in a constructive manner and to build and sustain collaborative relationships; ability to present publicly in meetings, defend different strategies or approaches and keep various parties abreast of both the work in play and the ultimate results/impact;
• Ability to work with flexibility, entrepreneurship, and diplomacy both individually and as part of a complex team effort;
• High standards of personal integrity; and comfortable in a wide range of cultural, geographic and operational situations, demonstrating culturally sensitive behavior with a diverse range of people.

Education and Experience

• Advanced degree with 7+ years of communications and advocacy experience, or equivalent experience.
• Comprehensive experience working in either the public or non-profit sectors, and comprehensive experience linking communications with advocacy work, ideally in FP/MNCH or global health issues.

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Comment postuler:

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