Senior Program Officer, Credit Regulation and Policy (Inclusive Financial Systems)

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

Division Summary: Global Growth and Opportunity
The Foundation partners with people and organizations worldwide, through grant making, to tackle critical problems across various program areas and divisions. Our Global Growth & Opportunity (GGO) Division focuses on creating and scaling market-based innovations to stimulate inclusive and sustainable economic growth. GGO focuses on the areas of Agricultural Development, Digital Public Infrastructure, Global Education, Inclusive Financial Systems (IFS), Nutrition, and Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WSH). We believe that people are poor because markets do not work for them, and we promote innovative products and policies that can break down barriers to economic opportunity, help people lift themselves out of poverty, and deliver sustainable and inclusive growth that benefits everyone.

The Team: Inclusive Financial Systems
The Inclusive Financial Systems (IFS) team believes that valuable, low-cost financial products have the potential to offer a pathway out of poverty, and that digital financial systems can enable the private sector’s delivery of such products to the poor sustainably and at scale. IFS supports the buildout of inclusive digital financial services (DFS) systems in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) by (i) enabling the right policy and regulatory environment, (ii) supporting the implementation of inclusive instant payments systems, (iii) driving scale and economic sustainability by promoting pro-poor use cases; and (iv) closing the gender gap in the usage of formal financial products, in collaboration with the Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE) team.

Formerly focusing mainly on digital payments, we have just obtained a new mandate to work on productive credit. We define productive credit as loans or credit facilities extended to individuals, businesses, or organizations for purposes that generate income, increase production, or enhance economic activity. The key characteristic of productive credit is that the borrowed funds are used for investments or activities expected to yield economic returns, as opposed to consumption-based credit, which is used for personal or non-productive expenditures.

Your Role

We are seeking a Senior Program Officer (SPO), Credit Regulation and Policy, to lead this next phase of our work from a regulation and policy perspective. In this role, you will work across the foundation and the industry to develop and lead a portfolio of investments that align to our new strategy, pushing the bounds of our thinking on how regulation and policy can solve seemingly intractable challenges that make productive credit hard to access, hard to afford, and hard to tailor to individual and firm needs.

The SPO will seek in particular to (1) develop policy options and regulatory interventions that expand access to productive credit among excluded population segments; (2) support regulators in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) to develop appropriate regulations for productive credit; and (3) support global standard setting bodies and other global influencers to craft global standards and guidance around productive credit that advances financial inclusion, while protecting consumers and preserving the safety and soundness of financial systems. In addition, you will serve as the internal and external authority on productive credit policy, continuing to build the foundation’s role as an inspiring leader in the industry.

This role reports to the Deputy Director, Regulation, Research and Policy. The role does not have people management responsibilities.

This role is a full-term position with foundation-provided benefits, ideally based in either Washington, DC or Seattle, WA. This role is eligible for the foundation’s domestic or international relocation package to either of these office locations.

Applications will be accepted until 5 PM Pacific Time on Monday, January 13th, 2025.

What You’ll Do

• Create the IFS team’s productive credit regulatory and policy strategy, in collaboration with the productive credit usage strategy and the DFS regulatory strategy. You will work with internal partners to develop a comprehensive and synergistic productive credit regulation strategy that leverages and complements these other strategies.
• Build and manage a portfolio of grants, contracts, and other interventions to implement this strategy. This will require:
  • Identifying critical gaps in and reforms required in the productive credit regulatory and policy landscape;
  • Identifying and evaluating partners to fill those gaps;
  • Aligning with the selected partners on a shared set of outcomes;
  • Working with the selected partners to co-design proposals, budgets, and delivery landmarks to advance the desired outcomes;
  • Providing clear, concise, and insightful written analyses and recommendations for funding, including drafting proposal summaries and progress reports for review by foundation leadership;
  • Managing the implementation of projects and identifying course corrections that can enhance their impact;
  • Conducting field visits to observe the on-ground implementation of projects;
  • Seeking and leading co-funding opportunities for projects which require investment beyond foundation resources.
• Provide advice to IFS Country and Usage Program Officers and their grantees about how to advance key regulatory elements of their productive credit projects. This will include:
• Support IFS Country Program Officers to develop strong productive credit regulatory policy work plans in each IFS country strategy;
• Support IFS Usage Program Officers to develop strong productive credit regulatory policy work plans for the various usage strategies;
• Co-design country productive credit regulatory investments along with IFS country and usage leads;
• Engage directly with financial regulators in IFS priority countries and standard setting bodies globally to inform their productive credit regulatory policies;
• Review and comment on draft countries’ productive credit regulations and policies.
• Represent the foundation in international fora and among key partners. This will include presentations among central bank and regulatory officials, Ministers of Finance, universities, think tanks, donors, global standard setting bodies, and commercial providers.
• Partner with foundation teams outside IFS, such as Agricultural Development and Women’s Economic Empowerment, to inform and support the productive credit regulatory aspects of their strategies.
• Provide clear, concise, and insightful written analyses and recommendations for investments and team strategy.

Your Experience

• Minimum 10 years experience advising financial regulators in LMICs on the design and implementation of productive credit regulations or 10 years’ experience as a regulator/ policymaker responsible for credit, who can demonstrate impact on enabling productive credit for LMICs
• Advanced degree (or equivalent experience) in law, economics, development studies, public policy, business administration, or related fields
• Knowledge of the major issues and best practices related to financial inclusion and productive credit;
• Ability to prioritize and meet deadlines within a fast-paced environment with multiple and competing demands;
• Capacity and initiative to solve problems with energy and positive attitude;
• Ability to work both independently and collaboratively in a cooperative and collegial fashion;
• Innovative, out-of-the box thinker who is hands-on and willing to go as deep or broad as necessary to achieve outcomes;
• Ability to question and challenge colleagues, including managers, in a constructive manner;
• Demonstrated strategic skills and capacity to conceptualize, structure, negotiate, document, and supervise projects/programs;
• Exceptional results orientation combined with strong relationship management skills;
• Fluent in English with excellent written and oral communication skills;
• Ability to travel up to 25% of time as needs dictate

The salary range for this role is $166,300 (min) to $249,500 (max) USD. We recognize high-wage market differences where our offices are located, including Seattle, WA, and Washington D.C. The range for this role in these locations is $181,200 (min) to $271,800 (max) USD. As a mission-driven organization, we strive to balance competitive pay with our mission and new hires are typically brought into the organization at a salary between the range minimum and the salary range midpoint. Actual placement in the range will depend on a candidate’s job-related skills, experience, and expertise, as evaluated during the interview process.

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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.