Program Assistant at Bill And Melinda Gates Foundation

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 focus of the Global Development (GD) division is to help deliver targeted healthcare solutions in the developing world. Our strategies focus on Polio Eradication, Immunization, Primary Healthcare, Global Health Agencies and Funds, Emergency Response, as well as the country's work on the African continent and in India.
• The Global Development Program also encompasses our India Country Office and Africa Team, with physical offices in Johannesburg, Addis Ababa, Senegal, Kenya and Abuja.
• The Africa team works to enable the foundation’s ambitious goals of scaling evidence-based interventions that target a range of diseases and socio-economic conditions which are endemic across Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).
• The team drives its responsibility through direct country engagement to deploy interventions and delivery models, and by building the partner architecture to replicate successful interventions and models across multiple countries.
• In the Nigeria Country Office team, we bring to bear our core comparative advantages to drive impact across the 4 focus areas of the Foundation.
• We make key investments and lead advocacy in our focus areas to help achieve specific national outcomes that address Nigeria's developmental challenges.
• We adopt a one-foundation approach in our work and collaborate with government entities, donors, and other partners in implementing a joint vision for Nigeria.

The Role

• The Program Assistant (PA) plays a critical role in ensuring smooth operations for the Nigeria Country Office. This role requires exceptional organizational skills, attention to detail, and the ability to manage multiple priorities seamlessly.
• The PA will primarily support the Family Health Team – Nigeria Country Office (NCO), coordinating complex calendars through different time zones, supporting stakeholder engagements, and program logistics while ensuring nothing “falls through the cracks.”
• The PA will also provide administrative and coordination support across other programmatic teams as needed, enabling efficient delivery of the foundation’s priorities in Nigeria.

What You’ll Do

• Provide direct administrative and coordination support to the Health Team – NCO, ensuring smooth operations and timely follow-through on priorities.
• Manage complex calendars, travel and visa applications, and event scheduling across multiple time zones.
• Support planning and execution of high-level meetings, conferences, and stakeholder engagements.
• Ensure timely follow-through on action items, proactively preventing bottlenecks.
• Draft, edit, and prepare high-quality correspondence, reports, and briefing materials.
• Support different programmatic teams with administrative and coordination needs.
• Maintain organized systems for tracking, monitoring, and prioritizing tasks/projects.
• Build and manage relationships with government stakeholders, grantees, and partners.
• Handle confidential information with discretion and professionalism.
• Provide communications and logistics support to ensure smooth day-to-day operations.

Qualifications

• Master’s Degree in Public Health, Health Sciences, Administration, or a related field (a medical or public health background is strongly preferred).
• Minimum of 5 years of relevant professional experience in administration, program support, project coordination, or similar roles.
• Proven ability to multitask, manage complexities, and follow through on commitments in a fast-paced environment.
• Strong stakeholder management skills, with experience engaging senior officials, partners, and multi-sectoral teams.
• Excellent writing and communication skills, with ability to synthesize complex information into clear outputs.
• High proficiency in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, SharePoint, Teams).
• Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively across diverse teams and adapt to shifting priorities.
• Culturally sensitive, resourceful, and able to work independently as well as in teams.

Other Attributes:

• Experience supporting programmatic teams in health-related initiatives.
• Strong client-service orientation and problem-solving approach.
•  Must be legally authorized to work in Nigeria without visa sponsorship.
• Ability to travel domestically and internationally up to 25%.
• Medical or public health background is a must have experience.