Job Opportunity for Program Officer, Measurement Learning and Evaluation at Gates Foundation in New Delhi

The Foundation

We are the largest nonprofit fighting poverty, disease, and inequity around the world. Founded on a simple premise: that people everywhere, regardless of identity or circumstances, should have the chance to live healthy, productive lives. By building a global and cultural workplace that supports greater diversity, equity, and inclusion — of voices, ideas, and approaches — together with our employees and partners, we can help all people improve their lives from poverty and health to education. As an organization we offer full healthcare premiums coverage, generous paid time off, contribution to your retirement fund, several employee communities, and a commitment to embedding diversity, equity, and inclusion into everything we do.

The Team

The India Office Measurement, Learning and Evaluation (MLE) team generates, synthesizes, and mobilizes insights from rigorous data-driven research and evaluation to inform and improve the foundation’s strategy and portfolio of investments to achieve our mission. We promote the use of evaluation across the strategy life cycle to provide insights on how best to achieve desired outcomes in specific contexts; what are the intended and unintended consequences of current approaches; and what needs to be adjusted to improve the likelihood of achieving and sustaining goals. The MLE team’s work has two core parts: internal engagement in support of the success of our program strategies and external engagement to strengthen the data, evidence and evaluation ecosystem.

On the internal front, the MLE team, as part of the India Country Office’s (ICOs) business team, works closely with the strategy, portfolio planning & management, and program administration functions to support program teams in developing, adapting and implementing their strategies. At the core of the internal role is being a “critical friend” – a trusted source of support and advice and a constructive critic, who elevates the probability of programmatic success. MLE officers help program and business teams to examine outcomes at the level of portfolios and investments from multiple points of view, identify alternative/more effective ways to achieve goals, and anticipate and mitigate potential risks, taking into account political economy and other factors.

On the external front, the MLE team builds relationships with grantees and data and evidence ecosystem partners (in government, academia, etc.); fosters partnerships, capacities, and networks for evaluation; and maintains a dynamic understanding of the political, social and cultural context that the foundation’s strategies and programs need to navigate to be successful and sustainable. 

Your Role

The Program Officer (PO) will lead MLE in support of one or more of the ICO’s program areas, managing a portfolio of investments and relationships.

What You’ll Do

Areas of deep engagement will include:

• Partnering with program and business teams as a “critical friend”: The PO will work in an embedded fashion with select program teams to identify MLE priorities; shape and design learning and evaluation plans, including theories of change and results frameworks; support sense-making, synthesize evidence; support design of program investments, particularly integrated MLE components; and facilitate learning and application of insights. A key marker of success is the effective communication, translation and use of evidence for programmatic application. The PO will also contribute to the implementation of portfolio performance management processes, helping to foster effective program strategy implementation, synergy and collaboration across programs where appropriate and reporting to ICO and foundation leadership.
• Developing and managing investments (grants and contracts): The PO will manage a portfolio of MLE investments in support of one or more programmatic areas of work; cross-cutting themes of focus include change in complex dynamic systems, equity, and sustainability. The PO will design (scope of work, budget, deliverables, competitive/multi-sourcing processes) and manage investments often in collaboration with program colleagues, and support grantees for high quality implementation.
• Strengthening research and evaluation capacities: The PO will help strengthen the use of data and evidence internally and by the broader ecosystem, serving as a point of contact on data and evidence in select program areas for internal and external partners. The PO is expected to track and communicate trends in specific program areas and identify and pursue opportunities for strengthening the practice of evaluation and evidence use in those areas. The PO is also expected to engage in professional networking, actively follow the scientific literature, and nurture connections within scientific networks and communities of practice.

This position will report to the Deputy Director, Strategy, Planning & Management (SPM) and MLE.

Your Experience

• Master’s degree in a field related to public health, data science, evaluation or development economics.
• Minimum of five years’ experience in program evaluation, ideally in the health domain.
• Experience designing and implementing research and evaluation for program learning, adaptation and accountability, including the use of theories of change and results frameworks.
• Expertise and experience making use of measurement, learning and evaluation for continuous improvement processes to improve internal efficacy of an organization.
• Deep knowledge of India’s health care system and health systems research, healthcare quality, coverage and delivery (nutrition, reproductive, maternal, neonatal, and child health), health inequities (including gender disparities) and primary health care.
• Experience in design and implementation of MLE plans for large scale health projects/programs in India and/or other LMICs, including deep knowledge of health systems, equity and sustainability frameworks, measures, and data and evidence.
• High degree of methodological and analytical fluency, skills spanning evaluation design/methods, quantitative and qualitative research methods, data interpretation and visualization.
• Experience in a role requiring collaboration across and within complex internal and external organizations, as well as a demonstrated ability to work with efficiency and diplomacy.
• Excellent at prioritization and multi-tasking; able to work quickly, efficiently, and manage and move a portfolio of both short and longer-term outputs; attentive to detail, deadlines and processes.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills. Ability to conceptualize, analyze, and communicate evidence in a critical and accessible manner essential (and demonstrated by publication history).
• Grant-making experience desirable.
• Demonstrated commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
• Comfortable in and adaptable to varied contexts and with a desire to work in and with nonprofit sector is essential.
• Fluency in an Indian language.