Deputy Director, Economic Opportunity at Bill And Melinda Gates Foundation

Your Role

The Deputy Director, Economic Opportunity, Nigeria is responsible for supporting the achievement of outcomes across several programmatic areas of the foundation in Nigeria, notably those representing the Global Growth and Opportunity (GGO) and Gender Equality (GE) divisions. These will include agriculture development, digital public infrastructure, inclusive financial systems; water, sanitation and hygiene; global education; women’s economic empowerment, and adolescents and social norms. The Deputy Director collaborates closely with colleagues from these program strategy teams (PSTs) to understand and support their programmatic priorities in Nigeria and seek opportunities to further enable impact in these areas. S/he manages staff that are based in the Nigeria Country Office (NCO) from these program teams and ensures strong management and performance. The postholder supports pipeline and portfolio development and provides constructive insight and advice on content and partner engagement. The Deputy Director identifies opportunities for synergy and collaboration to maximize value across these portfolios - where such opportunities exist, will develop and lead such investments.

The postholder is a people manager who leads a team of Senior Program Officers and Program Officers. Based at the foundation’s NCO in Abuja, s/he reports to the Nigeria Country Director - with a dotted line to the Director Economic Opportunity Africa - and as a member of the Nigeria Leadership Team, contributes to the strategic and operational performance of the NCO.

What You’ll Do
 

• Under the guidance of the Nigeria Country Director, and in close partnership with Deputy Directors in the country office and other program leads, develop and shape a strategy for economic opportunity in Nigeria that supports the achievement of outcomes set by PSTs, and aligns with the economic opportunity priorities of the country. As needed, support the development and/or refresh of the country strategy and its implementation.
• Develop, analyze, and manage the landscaping and tracking of portfolios, grantees and partners within the GGO division and GE division in Nigeria. Actively participate in developing and implementing joint workplans with GGO and GE program teams, and using lessons learned and strong voices from Nigeria in regional, continental, and global engagements.
• Connect the dots and bring synergies by developing an integrated “one foundation” approach across GGO and GE programs that effectively use the strengths and advantages of each program, and yield optimal results for Nigeria.
• Partner in strategy development, programmatic bodies of work, budget planning and management; develop and implement a portfolio management approach that develops strong stewardship, effective planning, and resource allocation.
• Represent the foundation to external Nigerian constituencies on topics relating to economic opportunity. This includes both formal and informal presentations such as making speeches, attending conferences and other high-level and coordination meetings as necessary.
• Participate in meetings with key internal constituencies, including the Chair, CEO, Presidents, and other programmatic team leaders. This includes both formal and informal engagements, working groups, and leadership trips.
• Serve as a member of the NCO Leadership Team, which includes helping oversee implementation of the Nigeria country strategy, annual partner and donor dialogues/convenings, support to the Director with NCO management, including office staff management, budget, reputation and leadership engagement/trips and strategy reviews.
• This role leads people and is responsible for hiring and developing the talent needed to achieve our program goals in Nigeria, 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.
• Ensure that the foundation’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion framework, as well as its gender integration approach, are applied to the economic opportunity portfolio with the purpose of enhancing impact.
• Other duties as assigned.

Experience

• Advanced degree (e.g. Master’s, MBA, PhD) in a relevant field such as international development, economics, business administration, management, or relevant social sciences is preferable.
• Minimum of 12 years of professional experience desired, with ideally 8 years in a senior program management capacity, preferably leading large scale multimillion projects across a region or multiple regions in Nigeria. Experience of working in a global organization with a high degree of complexity, would be an advantage.
• Demonstrated experience managing economic growth programs in at least one of the areas namely: agriculture development; digital public infrastructure; women’s economic empowerment; inclusive financial systems (financial inclusion); and global education.
• Significant experience working with policymakers and knowledge of major donor and multilateral institutions and priorities working on economic opportunities in Nigeria. Track record of building strong relationships with governments, donors, and the private sector, is critical.
• In-depth understanding of government, regional and international development organizations in Nigeria, that work in several of the foundation’s key economic opportunity areas (i.e. agriculture development; digital public infrastructure; women’s economic empowerment; inclusive financial systems; global education).
• A track record of building partnerships and working collaboratively with others to meet shared/joint objectives, both internally and externally. Ability to orchestrate effective decisions across a broad range of issues and partners, assess progress, analyze gaps, and make necessary changes. Ability to obtain cooperation from others; seeks and encourages win-win alternatives.
• Strategic thinking, seeing ahead to future possibilities and translating them into strategies, concrete theories of change and actions. Ability to think/act like an investor and a creative and generative problem solver. Innovative and open-minded approach; ability to question and challenge colleagues including senior managers and partners in a constructive manner.
• Managing complexity and ambiguity effectively - Making sense of complex, high quality, and sometimes contradictory information to effectively solve problems - especially in managing relations. Demonstrated ability to work with flexibility, efficiency, and diplomacy in a complex, fast-paced environment.
• Solid communication skills, including the ability to communicate in complex situations in a clear and concise manner with broad and diverse audiences.
• People management skills, including managing teams of impactful self-directed professionals and acting as a partner to team members managing specific portfolios.
• Ability to influence, expresses own ideas and persuade others; gain support and commitment from others; mobilize people to take action; and achieve effective compromises.
• Demonstrated ability to synthesize information quickly and thoughtfully from multiple sources for senior leadership briefings and excellent overall writing and communications skills.
• Fluency in English is required.

Other Attributes

• Comfortable in a wide range of cultural, geographic and operational situations, demonstrating culturally sensitive behavior with a diverse range of people and a deep commitment to development issues and high standards of personal integrity.
• Ability to travel up to 30% domestically and internationally.