Senior Program Officer, Surveillance, West Africa at Bill And Melinda Gates Foundation

As the Senior Program Officer Surveillance Nigeria and Senegal, you will lead work related to advancing a stronger, more integrated disease surveillance ecosystem in Nigeria and Senegal as well as support foundation-wide efforts to demonstrate the value and feasibility of integrated disease surveillance across the continent. You will work from Nigeria with constant collaboration with Africa Team colleagues and Program Strategy Teams (PSTs) across the foundation.

You are a creative, thoughtful, and curious thinker and implementer who identifies as a problem solver. We are looking for people who enjoy the challenge of working on complex and impactful problems and collaboratively creating solutions that have the potential for ground-breaking change in the lives of people around the world. The successful applicant will have the ability to work with flexibility, efficiency, and diplomacy in a fast-paced, challenging environment.

You will report directly to the Deputy Director, Infectious Diseases, Africa Health team, with secondary reporting to the Deputy Director, Surveillance & Epidemiology, Pneumonia & Pandemic Preparedness team.

What You'll Do

• Develop, negotiate, implement, and manage grants that strengthen integrated disease surveillance in Nigeria and Senegal in close collaboration with the Africa Regional Office including the Nigeria Country Office; the Pneumonia and Pandemic Preparedness team; Enterics, Diagnostics, Genomics, Epidemiology team; and others to support better public health decision making during emergencies and to manage endemic disease.
• Engage key local and global partners in integrated disease surveillance, focused on building capabilities and connections for institutional strengthening centered on national public health institutes (NPHIs) with in-country health sector actors, along with actors in the global ecosystem for technical standards and research such as the WHO, bilateral and multilateral development funders and health programs, and Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC).
• Deep partner engagement will be expected with the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) and Senegal Institut de Recherche en Santé, de Surveillance Epidémiologique et de Formation (IRESSEF), the respective Nigerian and Senegalese Ministries of Health, and research actors such as Institut Pasteur de Dakar (IPD) and Nigerian Institute of Medical Research.
• Facilitate learning, adoption, and appropriate deployment of high-impact innovative bio- and social science methods and tools (e.g. data science and analytics, wastewater/environmental approaches, serosurveillance, sample registration systems).
• Review letters of inquiry and grant proposals and provide clear, concise, and insightful written analyses and recommendations for funding.
• Consult with grantees and other partners to improve project impact and ensure grants are meeting strategy goals. This may include site visits, providing operational guidance, and convening meetings of key partners.
• Develop, manage, resource, and implement a program that aligns with foundation strategy and is operationally integrated with other foundation programs. Contribute to the design of new strategies, collaborations, and implementation plans to ensure long-term sustainability and impact.
• Engage key local and global partners in integrated disease surveillance, across innovative tools, global standards, and methods; technical assistance and institutional strengthening with national public health institutes and other key national Federal and State agencies implicated in surveillance; and across global ecosystem actors.
• Inform and coordinate with the SPO, Surveillance responsible for parallel partnership with the national public health institutes of Ethiopia, Mozambique, and Zambia; and global actors.
• Represent the foundation to key program-related external constituencies, as appropriate, on committees related to the area of expertise and responsibilities of the position.
• Support initiatives, participate in setting overall goals, develop strategy, and manage and implement investments.
• Contribute to managing partnerships in the ecosystem, including global stakeholders, regulators, implementing organizations, and academic institutions.
• Coordinate with other donors making surveillance-related investments in Nigeria and Senegal to ensure investments advance common goals and standards and seek co-funding to leverage foundation resources.
• Build highly collaborative relationships with grantees, partners, governments, and other funders to create more integrated disease surveillance in Nigeria and Senegal.

Your Experience

• Medical Doctorate (MD) and/or Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) with at least 7 years of experience in epidemiology or public health, or equivalent experience. Masters in public health (MPH) desirable.
• Proven understanding and technical experience in the field of infectious disease surveillance, mortality surveillance, epidemic preparedness, and outbreak response, as well as a proven track record in translating research findings into highly effective programs.
• Preferred: Experience in developing, maintaining, and using surveillance systems for outbreak detection and response, as well as routine endemic disease tracking and control efforts.
• Experience brokering relationships with global partners, including academic, research, industry, government, other donors, and grantees, to build a common vision for effective solutions to complex problems.
• Ability to collaborate effectively in a matrixed environment - manage, organize, and prioritize multiple projects and meet deadlines within a fast-paced environment with multiple and competing demands.
• Experience in working on teams with diverse cultural and professional backgrounds.
• Fluency in English and proficiency in French is a plus. Skill in further languages is an asset.
• Experience working in Nigeria and/or Senegal is an added advantage.
• Excellence in scientific writing and data analysis, written and oral communication skills, and experience synthesizing technical information toward strategic decision-making.