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 Global Growth & Opportunity (GGO) division works to catalyze sustainable transformative change in the face of inequities and market failures, to realize the potential of untapped markets, and to see the economic and social benefits of including everyone. We focus on the areas of Agricultural Development; Inclusive Financial Systems; Water, Sanitation & Hygiene; Nutrition; Global Education; and Digital Public Infrastructure. We seek solutions that are sustainable, transformative, and inclusive, with an eye toward applying technology innovations as well as data and evidence to drive change in the worldโs developing countries.
The Agricultural Development (AgDev) program strategy team (PST) aims to catalyze country-led, inclusive agricultural transformation (IAT) by developing and scaling products, services, policies, and system-wide innovations that increase productivity and income of small-scale producers (SSPs), empower women, improve nutritional outcomes, and increase resilience to climate change. We want farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and South Asia (SA) to be empowered with the technologies, knowledge and tools to improve their livelihoods and lift themselves and their families out of poverty.
The Agricultural Delivery Systems (ADS) Pillar, which sits within the AgDev PST, works to accelerate geographically-relevant breakthrough innovations and system enablers that unlock SSP productivity and resilience. Within AgDev, ADS has the primary responsibility for the downstream delivery and scaling of crops and digital innovations at the country level, working to spur major productivity leaps; address binding constraints at the system level; mitigate the impact of shocks; and support regional and country scaling platforms and enablers, including policy. We work in six focus geographies โ Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, and within India, Bihar, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh; and seek to scale our impact beyond these six geographies to 12 additional SSA countries and several other Indian States through key partnerships.
Your Role
ADS is the largest of the 4 Pillars within AgDev, representing diverse and matrixed topics and teams. The Strategy Officer will be a thought leader in refining ADSโ new strategy, implementing the strategy through new operational processes and measurement systems, and supporting culture change, working directly with ADS, AgDev, and other foundation leadership and across several AgDev Teams.
*This 11 month role is based in Seattle, WA. Visa Sponsorship and Relocation are NOT provided for this role. Remote work is not an option for this position. Applications accepted until 5 PM PT on Wednesday, June 4, 2025.
What You'll Do
Support strategic planning of ADS Pillar and AgDev PST, including designing strategic frameworks, defining priority areas, collecting and presenting data and evidence, and supporting leadership to refine strategy.
Implement strategy through designing and managing portfolio processes, investment pipeline, tracking, and business process, and contribute to improved execution and monitoring of portfolios. Structure processes and tools to measure and maintain efficient oversight of portfolio performance.
Lead material preparation and coordination for Executive Leadership Team meetings to present strategy, implementation efforts, and impact.
Support annual planning processes, including consulting and strategizing with leadership to enhance impact of investment and financial processes and ensure optimal decision making, collaboration, and learning.
Support interrelated work efforts across ADS and AgDev, interconnected investments across the strategy, and partner relationship management opportunities.
Lead Pillar-level meetings and workshops, including defining leadership team meeting agendas, all-team meetings, and designing and driving annual all-team workshops.
Conduct ongoing research, provide background data and information, and prepare analytic models in support of program teams.
Contribute to measurement, learning, and evaluation efforts across ADS Pillar and AgDev, partnering with other teams to measure progress of country strategy priorities and multi-country โBig Bets.\"
Lead the roll out of a new innovation portfolio for ADS Pillar, coordinating across multiple team members and potentially external partners to source new innovations that could become strategic priorities.
Provide seamless project management, planning, coordination, and preparation for multiple deliverables and work streams.
Support inclusive culture through modeling behaviors and actions; raise issues in a timely fashion to appropriate collaborators; support improved decision processes and problem resolution.
Your ExperienceWe are looking for people who enjoy the opportunity to work on complex problems and collectively create solutions that have the potential for transformative change in the lives of people around the world. You must be prepared to work across a diverse set of subject areas, bridging a wide range of expertise, all the while being a teammate, with a demonstrated ability to work with flexibility, efficiency and diplomacy in an exciting, challenging environment. We seek a professional with a background in smallholder agriculture, particularly in downstream delivery of crops innovations and systems, strategy, implementation, and strong project management. Specifically, we seek:
Detailed program management knowledge, including complex strategy development, execution planning, and business process redesign projects. Strong strategic attitude and communication skills โ demonstrated ability to develop strategic frameworks that guide execution and communicate opportunities to internal and external audiences.
Demonstrated ability to create structures and develop frameworks to increase clarity and transparency of decisions, trade-offs, and impact on financial and organizational resources.
Demonstrated portfolio and people, team, and project management skills. Ability to organize and prioritize work and meet deadlines within a fast-paced environment with multiple and competing demands. Exceptional results orientation combined with excellent relationship management skills.
Strong writing and verbal communication skills.
Demonstrated ability to work with diverse partners and comfort working in dynamic โgray areasโ with minimal guidance and changing priorities.
Curiosity and comfort in areas beyond current areas of expertise, with demonstrated ability to rapidly acquire knowledge and use good judgment in a variety of areas.
Strong financial competence plus budget development, financial analysis, and operational management skills.
Experience in start up environments requiring agility, adaptability, ability to facilitate decision making efficiently, and translate ideas into tools and approaches required.
Experience with measurement, learning and evaluation in agricultural development a plus.
Experience launching or managing agricultural innovation portfolios a plus.
An approach that guides and motivates the team to explore new approaches and take risks that can potentially accelerate our pathway to improve the lives of smallholder farmers.
Bachelorโs or other advanced degree with 8+ years of experience in roles of increasing responsibility in agricultural development, coupled with experience in Sub-Saharan Africa and/or India.
*Must be able to legally work in the country where this position is located without visa sponsorship.
The salary range for this role is $140,200 to $210,200 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 $152,800 to $229,200 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 candidateโs 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
If you require assistance due to a disability in the application or recruitment process, please submit a request here.
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 โ of voices, ideas, and approaches โ 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.