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Special Assistant to the Director, US Program Advocacy & Policy | Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation | Washington, DC
Guided by the belief that every life has equal value, the Bill & Melinda
Gates Foundation works to help all people lead healthy, productive
lives. In developing countries, it focuses on improving people's health
and giving them the chance to lift themselves out of hunger and extreme
poverty. In the United States, it seeks to ensure that all
people-especially those with the fewest resources-have access to the
opportunities they need to succeed in school and life. Based in Seattle,
the foundation is led by CEO Jeff Raikes and co-chair William H. Gates
Sr., under the direction of Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett.
The US Program Advocacy & Policy Team works to advance the Foundation's
US Program goals, with a particular focus on developing policy, finance
and issue advocacy strategies and grants to support the scaling and
sustainability of the Foundation's work in K-12 Education, Post
Secondary Success, US Libraries, and the Pacific Northwest. The team
also manages a range of large, visible and inter-related policy grantees
working on complementary issues, requiring considerable political and
policy sophistication.
The Special Assistant will provide critical counsel
and support to the Director, US Program Advocacy & Policy by ensuring
smooth and effective coordination of all work-product. This role will
engage in direct management of several key areas:
- Prioritizes, coordinates, and assists in the development of (1)
Director's leadership team meetings,(2) internal communications based on
knowledge of business goals, strategy objectives, and synthesis of
insights from strategy reviews, and (3) key learning sessions with
internal and external sources and employee feedback.
- Relationship management including organizing content and preparation
for key meetings; support Director outreach efforts by prioritizing,
managing and tracking critical relationships and prepares presentation
materials for internal and external audiences.
- With the leadership team, identify and facilitate key initiatives that
require cross-team coordination or that otherwise lack clear
ownership.Specific Responsibilities
- Serve as representative of the USP ADV Leadership team, working with
operational colleagues in CR and PS to align materials, metrics and
evaluation to the extent possible across the programs.
- Lead budget and annual planning processes in partnership with USP
directors and portfolio managers.
- Lead planning and development processes for co-chair and CEO learning
trips and activities.
- Manage team retreat planning.
- Manage full team annual goal setting process.
- Manage Finance portfolio grantmaking activities (in partnership with
Senior Economic Advisor).
- Improve communication/integration between Core and Embedded within
ADV. The Special Assistant would assist in improving learning between
Core and Embedded teams. The logic of the Core/Embedded structure is
that one set of people is deeply engaged in policy development, highly
aligned with the programmatic teams. That knowledge should then be
transferred to Core who then translate that into actionable policy,
strategies, materials and grants to key audiences.
- An experienced manager with 10+ years experience in research and
writing in an operational, strategic planning or financial related
environment. An advanced degree in a relevant discipline or equivalent
work experience preferred.
- Demonstrated ability to target critical business problems and apply
appropriate decision making/technology/methodologies.
- Must be skilled in group problem solving and working to resolve
problems with complex concepts in a dynamic setting.
- Extensive project contribution and management experience and an
ability to effectively prioritize projects, completing in a timely
manner with outstanding attention to detail.
- Superior writing and presentation skills with extensive use of visual
representations and tools within the Microsoft office suite.
- Must be able to take rough concepts and develop concrete work plans,
listen and understand issues from a number of perspectives so that
communications sent out on behalf of Director, US Program Advocacy &
Policy are clearly and thoughtfully articulated.
- Exceptional analytical, organizational and communication skills in
positions requiring communication with a broad and diverse audience at
all levels of the organization.
- Must possess strong judgment with a demonstrated ability to handle
multiple tasks with competing priorities. Ability to manage confidential
information and situations with efficiency, flexibility, diplomacy,
while cultivating trust within the team.
As part of our standard hiring process for new employees, employment
with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will be contingent upon
successful completion of a comprehensive background check.
To apply for this position, please copy and paste the following link
into your browser address bar:
http://gatesfoundation.contacthr.com/19898986
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