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, weโre committed to creating an environment for you to thrive both personally and professionally.
The TeamThe goal of the foundationโs Agricultural Development (AgDev) program is to support country-led inclusive agricultural transformation across Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. The program focuses on four strategic goals that help drive agricultural transformation and that ensure this transformation is inclusive: increasing agricultural productivity for smallholder farmers (SHF); increasing SHF household income; increasing equitable consumption of safe, affordable, and nutritious diets year-round; and increasing womenโs empowerment in agriculture. Recently, AgDev has increased our focus on climate adaptation and impact monitoring throughout our strategy and within our investments. The foundation invests in the agricultural sector and in these ways because increasing productivity in agriculture has proven to be more effective at lifting people out of poverty than growth in other sectors.
Your Role
As a key contributor on portfolio strategy, the Senior Officer, Crops Research & Development (SO), will contribute to the Crops R&D teamโs vision for transformative innovation in seed product development and deployment while partnering closely with team leadership to set and advance the overall strategy and goals of the portfolio. This will include actively tracking advances in science and technology to identify opportunities that can overcome the historical market failures that constrain agricultural productivity. The SO will design and manage a portfolio of projects to translate innovations into products that serve small-scale agricultural producers in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, resulting in tangible impact against our strategic goals.
This role reports to the Director, Crops Research & Development, Agricultural Development.
This role is a full-time position, preferably based in Seattle, WA.
This position will be posted until June 23rd, 2025
What You'll Do
Identify, evaluate and develop new opportunities to apply emerging technologies and new scientific understanding to improve crop productivity, farmer income and nutritional outcomes in the face of climate change. Prepare and write briefs and synthesize existing literature. Act as a subject-matter expert and provide analysis of key topics for foundation management.
Develop and lead a portfolio of strategically aligned grants and contracts requiring high-level investment management skills, monitoring and evaluation. This includes:
Negotiate, execute, and manage all aspects of a complex portfolio of grants or performance-based contracts.
Monitor internal processes and portfolio progress while ensuring appropriate documentation, grant budgeting and reporting.
Improve operational efficiency and effectiveness.
Review letters of inquiry and grant proposals and provide clear, concise and insightful written analyses and recommendations for funding.
Consult with grantees and other partners to improve the impact of projects and ensure grants are meeting strategy goals. This may include support for grant development, site visits, providing operational guidance, convening meetings of key stakeholders, and applying and evaluating milestone-based performance objectives.
Develop and implement a program that aligns with foundation strategy and is operationally integrated with other foundation investments. Contribute to the design of new strategies, collaborations and implementation plans to ensure and document long-term sustainability and impact.
Represent the foundation to key program-related external constituencies, as appropriate, at meetings or on committees related to area of expertise and responsibilities of the position.
Your ExperienceYou are a creative, thoughtful, and curious professional with a strong track record of achievement in roles of increasing responsibility. You enjoy solving complex problems, are a natural collaborator and communicator, and are prepared to work across a diverse set of disciplines, bridging a wide range of expertise with agility, efficiency, and diplomacy in a dynamic environment. Additionally, we seek:
Recognized leader in technologies used to develop and deploy improved crop genetics, including innovations in hybridization, apomixis, ploidy manipulation, and optimizing genetic pathways influencing plant reproductive biology. Experience with vegetatively propagated crops is preferred.
Experienced in developing and implementing technical strategies for crop improvement programs, including setting objectives, managing budgets, and delivering measurable results. Demonstrated ability to manage large-scale, multidisciplinary projects with significant impact.
Extensive experience in program management, including budget and resource management. Strong analytical skills to interpret data for informed decision-making, objectively assessing project outcomes, and implementing improvements aligned with organizational goals.
Demonstrated experience in leading cross-functional teams, mentoring staff, and fostering a collaborative work environment. Experience working in LMIC agriculture.
Experience in taking innovations to tangible products and engaging with commercial partners to launch new offerings.
Strong record of building relationships with academia, industry, and government to foster strategic partnerships for impact.
Qualifications