Senior Program Officer, Climate Adaptation Policy & Advocacy (2 year LTE)

Position description

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 mission of the Global Policy & Advocacy (GPA) division is to understand and shape the public policy debates affecting the foundation’s work, build support for its major program and policy objectives, and develop partnerships and alliances that can advance the foundation’s objectives nationally and globally. Because the foundation’s resources alone are not enough to solve the challenges ahead, GPA also supports advocacy efforts to engage diverse partners and promote innovative solutions that advance our program goals. We work in close partnership with grantees, our colleagues in the Global Health, Global Development, Global Growth & Opportunity, U.S. and Gender Equality programs, and Foundation Communications to build an environment in which all people have the opportunity to lead healthy and productive lives.
The Program Advocacy and Communications (PAC) team works in partnership with program teams, the Africa team, and other teams in GPA to achieve their policy and finance goals by:
• Developing and coordinating the execution of advocacy and
communications strategies.
• Developing, when required, resource mobilization strategies in
collaboration with relevant teams.
• Bringing to bear leadership and foundation voice to implement advocacy
strategies.
• Developing and handling a grant portfolio dedicated to achieving advocacy
outcomes.
• Directly advocating with sector leaders, influencers, media, and
government officials in order to achieve advocacy outcomes.
• Leading issue-specific communications in service of advocacy goals.
• Developing policy recommendations or proposals in partnership with
programmatic and regional offices.

 

 

Your Role

The Senior Program Officer (SPO) will help lead the foundation’s cross-cutting policy and advocacy work climate change adaptation. This is a new, 2 year limited term role that strives to bring coherence and focus to the foundation’s climate adaptation work especially in the lead up to the critical COP30 summit in Belem set for November 2025. 

The foundation has significant sector-specific investments in agricultural adaptation, and smaller investments or exploratory work on climate and health, development finance, and gender equity. This role will help drive a more joined up internal and external narrative and co-develop and implement a cross-cutting advocacy strategy for the foundation’s overall climate adaptation policy and advocacy work.

 

What You’ll Do

• Provide new insights and overall thought leadership to advise the foundation’s climate change policy and advocacy work.

• Co-develop and help execute the foundation’s new cross-cutting climate policy and advocacy approach

• Develop, negotiate, and manage a portfolio of investments in climate change policy and advocacy and all related grant-making processes (e.g., investment reviews, strategic alignment, grantee engagement, etc.).

• Effectively engage and coordinate with a range of internal foundation divisions and teams to ensure strong cross-foundation engagement on the climate adaptation policy and advocacy strategy.

• Lead high-impact and complex partnerships, coalitions, and advocacy campaigns including effectively coordinating networks of grantees and partners.

• Engage key collaborators involved in the UNFCCC and COP30 processes to advance foundation goals and objectives.

• Represent the foundation and our strategies to external constituencies. This could include formal and informal presentations such as making speeches, attending conferences, committee representation, and other meetings. May serve on boards and working groups.

• Write and produce clear, concise, and insightful briefings, messaging, reports, email updates, and other materials on key climate topics and other relevant issues for foundation leadership.

• Participate in and learn from the foundation’s Diversity, Equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts to ensure that we are continuing to make progress toward realizing our commitments.

 

This position will report to the Deputy Director, Program Advocacy and Communications, Ag/Nutrition/Climate Change and will be a core member of the core Climate Advocacy initiative team within the GPA Office of the President.

 

Your Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in public policy, international relations, climate science, development, or a related field with 7+ years of progressive senior-level experience leading programmatic, policy or advocacy initiatives on climate change and development issues.

• Deep understanding of effective approaches to successful policy, advocacy and communications that increase shape/political and financial support for issues with governmental and non-state organizations.

• Experience working on climate change policy and financing at a global, regional or national level, either within government, climate philanthropy, climate funds and/or the climate diplomacy community.

• Experience working with senior-level policy makers, civil society organizations, coalitions, and governments.

• Understanding of key regional and multilateral financial institutions and mechanisms (including climate funds) including how they make policy and fund development programs at national and regional level.

• Proven track record of providing vision and influencing others in a constructive, optimistic manner, while building and sustaining collaborative relationships.

• Outstanding project and leadership skills including the ability to lead strategy development through execution, 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 to reach diverse audiences and build consensus, ideal.

• Experience handling a grant’s portfolio either as a grantee, receiving and reporting on a grant, or as a grant manager, with direct responsibility for grant-making and management.

• Experience developing and managing complex projects and/or grants in support of policy initiatives, advocacy programs, and events at the global, regional, and national levels.

• 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

• Willingness to travel up to 30% of the time.

Application instructions

Please be sure to indicate you saw this position on tendersglobal.net