Senior Program Officer - US Program

Company Profile: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 Patty Stonesifer and co-chair William H. Gates Sr., under the direction of Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett.Description:The U.S. Libraries Initiative aims to ensure that all people, regardless of their economic status, education level, race, geographic location or age, have access to technology, the Internet and the new world of digital information through the nation’s public library system. The Program Officer works with the U.S. Libraries Deputy Director and in consultation with the foundation’s U.S. Programs Advocacy group in the design, development and management of advocacy related grant programs for the U.S. Libraries initiative. 

Primary responsibilities are listed below.Develop, design and implement core advocacy grant programs to increase public support, foster champions and strategic alliances to raise the visibility of public libraries and sustain the on-going availability of library technology and internet access. Prospective grant programs include a national campaign to support public libraries, strategic relationship building with local decision makers, and advocacy training for the library field.  Work with prospective grantees to develop proposal submissions and associated budgets and review grantee proposals for alignment with the overall U.S. libraries strategy;  Identify strategic alliances that increase visibility, offer compelling evidence, boost political will and public support to raise the profile of public libraries in the United States;Manage portfolio of existing multi-year advocacy grants designed to build advocacy capacity in the library field and increase support for public libraries and public access to computers and the internet – interface with grantees, monitor work plans and budgets, and serve as thought partner and advisor to grantees to achieve desired impact of advocacy grants;Assist in the development of evaluation mechanisms to monitor and assess the impact of advocacy strategies and grants over time; Write briefings for U.S. Libraries Deputy Director, U.S. Programs Advocacy Director and President of U.S. Programs as necessary on salient program issues and program strategies;

Collaborate closely with other members of the U.S. Libraries team to ensure integrated and coordinated grantmaking; and the U.S. Programs Advocacy team to ensure coordination of practices and procedures with foundation-wide policy and advocacy work. Qualifications:At least eight years of professional experience in building and managing advocacy related programs, public awareness / public will campaigns and/or strategies in a non-profit, government or other socially driven organization and assessing the efficacy of these strategies over time. A graduate is degree preferred.Ability to develop and implement large-scale grant making and programs;Strong analytic skills and the ability to think strategically and programmatically.Excellent written and oral communication skills, in positions requiring diplomacy in communicating with a broad and diverse audience.Self-starter and flexibility to work in fast-paced and changing environment.Demonstrated ability to work with flexibility, efficiency and diplomacy both individually and as part of a complex team effort. Healthy sense of humor preferred.Some experience with grant making is preferred.

Some travel required as needed (approx. 15 – 20% of the time). Salary/Benefits: Salary commensurate with experienceJob Location: Seattle, WAJob Number: 877BRCompany URL: http://www.gatesfoundation.org