The Bill & 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 Global Growth and Opportunity (GGO) division works to catalyze sustainable transformative change in the face of inequities and market failures, to realize the potential of untapped markets, and to see the economic and social benefits of including everyone. We focus on the areas of Agricultural Development; Financial Services for the Poor; Water, Sanitation and Hygiene; Nutrition; Global Education; and Digital Public Infrastructure. We seek solutions that are sustainable, transformative, and inclusive with an eye toward applying technology innovations as well as data evidence to motivate change in the world’s developing countries.

The foundation’s Global Education (Global Ed) team works to improve reading and math outcomes - also referred to as foundational learning - for primary school aged children in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Reading and basic math skills are the foundation to gain future educational and economic opportunities and translate to inclusive growth and development. Too many children leave primary school without these basic skills: an estimated 70% of children in low-and middle-income countries – and 89% of children in Sub-Saharan Africa – are unable to read by age 10. Our focus is to strengthen education quality for children in primary school, and our emphasis is on identifying, advocating for, and funding evidence driven, cost-effective, and scalable interventions that improve learning outcomes at scale within government systems.

Your Role

The Global Ed team is recruiting a Senior Program Officer (SPO), Literary to design and manage high impact investments to generate evidence on how to strengthen literacy outcomes in early grades in India and Sub-Saharan Africa. This position will support research and development of effective literacy solutions and identify key drivers of success. The role will commission applied research, convene and leverage insights from experts, and disseminate and facilitate take up in low resourced contexts. This position will play a key role in advancing the field to more fully understand the dimensions and attributes of interventions that lead to improved literacy outcomes for students.

The SPO will be responsible for cultivating country partnerships and engaging directly with country and regional education leaders and partner organizations to focus on improving learning outcomes at the system level. They will manage a portfolio of grants and contracts requiring investment management, monitoring, and evaluation skills. The ideal candidate will bring a deep understanding of early grade literacy pedagogy, including familiarity with the evidence base and experience with at-scale program implementation.

The postholder will partner closely with matrixed colleagues and other foundation teams working in education and adjacent areas to exchange learnings and leverage partnerships, including our K-12 Education Team and functional teams such as Philanthropic Partnerships. You will support the foundation in its efforts to engage with philanthropists and other partners to draw in new resources to advance literacy outcomes for children.

The role is based in Nairobi, however, for the right candidate, we may be open to a placement in other geographies in Africa where we have offices (e.g. Abuja, Addis Ababa, Dakar), and reports to the Director, Economic Opportunity, Africa, in close collaboration with the Deputy Director, Innovation and Country Implementation.

What You’ll Do

• Design and manage a portfolio of investments focused on literacy outcomes in Sub-Saharan Africa. Review grant proposals and provide clear, concise and insightful written analyses and recommendations for funding.
• Develop and maintain partnerships with key researchers, implementers, practitioners, and donors to design and test innovations to build the evidence base to improve early grade literacy outcomes and better understand the drivers of implementation effectiveness. Develop and oversee study designs, field evaluations, and analyze results; ensure that programming is responsive to real-time data and insights. Strengthen and leverage local partners’ capacity to drive implementation and maximize impact.
• Lead 1-2 country portfolios in Sub-Saharan Africa, working with local partners, the Ministry of Education, education Semi-Autonomous Government Agencies and the education community.
• Ensure that research questions on literacy are demand-led, and partner closely with Global Ed colleagues so that evidence generated informs country-programming.
• Consult with grantees and other partners to improve impact of projects and ensure grants are meeting strategy goals. This may include site visits, providing operational guidance, convening meetings of key partners, and monitoring and evaluating components of grants.
• Lead and serve as a thought partner in strategic discussions and leadership engagement within the Global Ed team and the foundation. Contribute to the design of strategies and implementation plans to ensure long-term sustainability and impact. Prepare written analyses and communications to effectively engage at all levels of the organization.
• Collaborate with donors and philanthropies to create co-funding and collaboration opportunities focused on boosting Research & Development to improve literacy outcomes.
• Effectively manage relationships and concurrent investment planning with multiple colleagues and shared partners. Collaborate closely with Global Ed colleagues to continuously improve operational efficiency and effectiveness.
• Represent the foundation in regional forums as needed, championing the adoption and scaling of successful evidence-driven literacy interventions.

Your Experience

We are seeking an experienced education leader with a deep understanding of literacy, a talent for building strategic collaboration, and a drive to improve learning outcomes. If you are passionate about transforming education systems and driving measurable improvements in early grade literacy, this is a unique opportunity to make a global impact. You will shape and manage a high-impact portfolio of investments aimed at improving literacy outcomes in Sub-Saharan Africa. You will lead applied research initiatives, collaborate with national and regional education leaders, and influence system-level reforms through evidence-driven innovation.

• Master’s degree in education or related field with 10+ years of senior-level experience, or equivalent.
• Demonstrated experience in pedagogy and implementing and/or supporting large-scale programs to improve early grade literacy outcomes in Sub-Saharan Africa, with strong understanding of the global evidence base.
• Experience in developing and managing strong and equitable partnerships and relationships with senior decision makers, education partners, and implementation partners.
• Demonstrated ability in using soft skills, managing conflicts, and building consensus. Excellent interpersonal skills and a demonstrated ability to build and sustain collaborative relationships, and effective matrix management skills
• Demonstrated ability to solve complex problems with little oversight, high creativity, high energy, and a positive attitude.
• Outstanding project and team leadership skills, including ability to lead strategy development, develop shared goals and execution plans, prioritize, facilitate meetings, manage budgets, develop consensus, and work both autonomously and collaboratively.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, able to effectively synthesize information into clear recommendations and messages to reach diverse audiences and build consensus
• Experience managing a donor funded portfolio either as a grantee or grantmaker, receiving and reporting on performance, with direct responsibility for management.
• Experience working in an environment with ambiguity while helping teams adapt to change.
• Ability to work with flexibility and a high level of rigor, collaboration, and diplomacy, both individually and as part of a complex team effort.
• Strong French language skills and francophone Africa experience preferred.

Other Attributes

• Comfortable in a wide range of cultural, geographic and operational situations, demonstrating culturally sensitive behavior with a diverse range of people and a deep commitment to development issues and high standards of personal integrity.
• Willingness to travel up to 30% of the time.

Application deadline: 25 July 2025

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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

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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.