Nairobi, Kenya
Hybrid
Not Available
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 Africa Team works to enable the foundation’s high-reaching goals of scaling evidence-based interventions that target a range of diseases and socio-economic conditions which are endemic across Sub-Saharan Africa.Application Deadline: 14/9/2026
Your Role
You are responsible for developing and managing a portfolio of investments (grants and contracts) aimed at improving primary health care through health systems design and financing.
You provide research and analysis across a range of technical areas, working in coordination with other teams through strategic communications and advocacy. You contribute to the continued development of the team's strategic vision, build key partnerships internally and externally, represent the foundation externally as needed, and serve as a trusted colleague and collaborator to internal partners.
What You'll Do
Negotiate, execute, and manage a complex portfolio of grants or performance-based contracts.
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 maximize project impact and ensure grants are meeting strategy goals. This may include site visits, providing operational guidance, and convening meetings of key stakeholders.
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.
Manage relationships with multiple government counterparts holding distinct mandates (e.g., implementation vs. policy bodies), ensuring all engagement remains strictly non-partisan and technical in nature, consistent with foundation advocacy guidelines.
Represent the foundation to key program-related external constituencies, as appropriate, on committees related to area of expertise and responsibilities of the position.
Oversee sub-awardee performance, including budget disbursement, deliverable tracking, and compliance with expenditure responsibility requirements.
Coordinate and monitor implementation across multiple subnational sites/regions simultaneously, working through in-country consultants and mentorship networks to maintain visibility and momentum.
Provide rigorous analysis and thoughtful solutions to complex systems problems for both internal and external audiences, drawing on working knowledge of national health information and financial management systems (e.g., DHIS2, PlanRep, FFARS, eLMIS) and how interoperability across these systems supports performance management.
Coordinate with disease-specific technical teams (e.g., malaria, MNCH) to ensure system-strengthening investments translate into measurable service-delivery outcomes for tracer programs.
Communicate strategy effectively and make linkages as needed to support the work through key collaborations and partnerships, including leading development of results-oriented narratives and data packages for high-level strategic reviews — working backward from key milestones to define what evidence and storylines are needed and when.
Manage internal processes and portfolio progress while ensuring appropriate documentation, grant budgeting, and reporting, including a pipeline of investments at different stages (active implementation, design, and approval) simultaneously, ensuring consistent strategic alignment across all of them.
Support inclusive culture through modeling behaviors and actions; escalate issues in a timely fashion to appropriate stakeholders, working closely with an extended support network including in-country consultants, strategy/portfolio management colleagues, and technical specialists to ensure continuity of institutional knowledge and coordinated delivery.
Your Experience
An advanced degree or equivalent demonstrated experience, preferably in medicine, public health or another related field.
At least 10 years’ experience spanning both the public health sector and health development sector preferably with bilateral/ multilateral global health organization.
Experience in health systems strengthening, health financing and health policy.
Significant project management experience.
Strong knowledge and expertise across relevant technical areas of health systems strengthening, health financing, insurance/pooling, benefits packages, health technology assessment, or strategic purchasing.
Strong analytical, writing, and verbal skills for communicating with a broad and diverse audience.
Strong understanding of shaping and managing sustainable and scalable ventures.
Understanding of strategies for automating the process of data collection in a variety of settings and sites.
Other Attributes
This is a limited-time, 12-month term position, explicitly framed as backfill coverage for the incumbent.
Must be legally authorized to work in the country where this position is based, without requiring current or future visa sponsorship.
Ability and willingness to undertake domestic and international travel of up to 60% to support business needs.
Focus is Tanzania-specific, representing approximately 60% of scope, with minimal time allocated to other country/countries as assigned.
Hiring Requirements
As part of our standard hiring process for new employees, employment will be contingent upon successful completion of a background check.
Candidate Accommodations
We’re committed to providing an inclusive and accessible hiring experience for all candidates. If you have a disability or medical condition and need an accommodation at any stage of the application or interview process—such as an ASL interpreter, alternative interview format, or physical accessibility support—we’re happy to help. Please contact HR@gatesfoundation.org with the position number and a brief description of your accommodation needs. Requests will be handled confidentially.
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.
Want to know if this job is worth applying to?
