Senior Strategy Officer, Early Learning & Assessments, 3-year LTE

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 TeamThe foundation’s U.S. Program (USP) works to ensure that people navigating US education systems and job markets can develop the knowledge, skills, and agency needed to thrive in their communities such that race, ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic status are no longer predictors of educational attainment and economic mobility and security.

The Early Learning & Assessments team is advancing two key division priorities: (1) the Early Learning Strategy, which seeks to improve Pre-K quality and equity by strengthening core system components: child-level assessments, classroom quality data, integrated PreK to K-12 data systems, and high-quality curricula so that policymakers and educators can support all students in developing strong reading, writing, and problem-solving skills by third grade; and (2) the Assessment Initiative, which explores innovative, efficient, and engaging assessments, promotes system alignment around meaningful measures, and supports the development of tools and capabilities that enable timely, data-informed action by educators and leaders.

Your Role

As the Senior Strategy Officer supporting the Early Learning & Assessments team, you will be stepping into a unique opportunity, joining our team as we solidify our plans for how best to wind down our funding for Early Learning over the next four years, spending more than $90M to leave the Early Learning field best positioned for future success.

Over the next three years, you will be responsible for supporting all strategic and operational aspects of the Early Learning team, including oversight of strategic planning, annual planning and budgeting, overseeing portfolio management, working closely on measurement and evaluation, and providing deep strategic thought partnership to our Senior Program Officers (SPO), and our Deputy Director of Early Learning as they make strategic decisions to support the winddown. Particularly important for this role will be working closely with our Measurement, Learning, and Evaluation (MLE) Officer on the monitoring and reporting of our portfolio of programmatic investments to track results and impact as we wind down the strategy. In addition, your focus will be on coordination of programmatic work and processes, running our rhythm of business, helping our team think strategically through decision points, and assuring ongoing alignment between our strategy, investment portfolio, and how our budget is being allocated. We also anticipate several partner/field convening engagements in the next three years, and you will work with our SPOs in providing strategic and operational support for these convenings. It is also possible this person will have the opportunity to manage a contractor and/or secondee to carry out elements of the strategy, planning, & management work.

*This position is a limited-term position for 3 years.

What You'll Do

• Lead strategic and operational processes including annual planning, investment oversight, budgeting, and decision support.
• Serve as a key thought partner to Early Learning leadership, helping align strategy, budget, and implementation.
• Support implementation planning for the winddown strategy and ensure investment outcomes are clearly defined.
• Collaborate with MLE officer to track progress and impact and maintain dashboards
• Financial portfolio management accurately tracking spend towards the annual payout target.
• Develop performance narratives, write memos, and create presentations to report on strategic progress.
• Drive the team’s rhythm of business, including meeting facilitation and decision-making support.
• Support strategic planning and logistics for Early Learning field convenings.
• Manage team-wide operations including retreats, internal events, and team culture efforts.
• Translate divisional goals into action plans, track execution, and drive change initiatives.
• Collaborate across teams (e.g., K12, policy, data) to ensure integrated execution of winddown plans.
• Improve team processes and tools to increase productivity and efficiency.
• Support inclusive culture through modeling behaviors and actions; escalate issues in a timely fashion to appropriate stakeholders.

  
  Your Experience

  • Strong project, strategy, and portfolio management skills with experience leading multiple initiatives
  • Strategic thinker with the ability to synthesize complex information into actionable plans
  • Skilled in developing frameworks and decision-making structures
  • Strong storyteller with experience in memo writing and slide development
  • Deep financial acumen and experience with budgeting and operations at scale
  • Effective communicator and collaborator, able to work across diverse teams
  • Demonstrated leadership, influencing, and relationship-building abilities
  • Self-starter with strong initiative and urgency
  • Bachelor’s or other advanced degree with 7+ years of experience, or equivalent experience
  • At least 5 years’ experience working in a management consulting firm or within a strategy and operations role within an organization; private sector experience preferred, education experience preferred
  • MBA or equivalent advanced degree in public administration, economics, or other relevant master's degree preferred

    *Must be able to legally work in the country where this position is located without visa sponsorship.

    📚 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗚𝗲𝘁 𝗮 𝗝𝗼𝗯 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗨𝗡 𝗶𝗻 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟯! 🌍🤝 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗡𝗘𝗪 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗿𝘂𝗶𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗚𝘂𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗨𝗡 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟯 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗨𝗡𝗛𝗖𝗥, 𝗪𝗙𝗣, 𝗨𝗡𝗜𝗖𝗘𝗙, 𝗨𝗡𝗗𝗦𝗦, 𝗨𝗡𝗙𝗣𝗔, 𝗜𝗢𝗠 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀! 🌐

    ⚠️ 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐋𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐍𝐨𝐰: 𝐏𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐢𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐚 𝐣𝐨𝐛 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐍𝐎𝐖!

    The salary range for this role is $169,700 to $254,500 USD. We recognize high-wage market differences in Seattle and Washington D.C., where our offices are located. The range for this role in these locations is $185,000 to $277,400 USD. As a mission-driven organization, we strive to balance competitive pay with our mission. New hires salaries are typically 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.
    
    #LI-BR1

    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.