Program Officer - Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION: 

Guided by the belief that every life has equal value, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation works to help all people lead healthy, productive lives. In developing countries, it focuses on improving people's health and giving them the chance to lift themselves out of hunger and extreme poverty. The goal of the Global Development Program (GDP) is to increase opportunities for people in the developing world to lift themselves out of hunger and poverty and to help deliver targeted healthcare solutions in these regions. Our strategies focus on Agriculture Development; Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene; Financial Services for the Poor; and Family Health which includes Maternal, Newborn and Child Health, Family Planning, and Nutrition.

This role is part of the Financial Services for the Poor program team focused on digital financial services systems and technology platforms, known as the Level One Project. It reports to the Deputy Director in charge of the Project, and is part of the team focusing on pilot country deployment activities.

ABOUT THE JOB: 

The Program Officer (PO) will be expected to develop and manage the country action plan focused on Pakistan and a portfolio of investments that will result in successful deployment of the Level One Project in Pakistan by 2018. Working in close coordination with the Senior Program Officer in charge of the pilot countries deployment, the PO for Pakistan will be deeply involved in the country's governmental, financial regulation, banking and financial technology networks where they will work to drive a consistent, evidence-based strategy across the various grant-making areas that will deliver digital financial services to the poor. 

Tasks and Responsibilities:

They must be able to recognize the inter-relationships between policies and regulations, infrastructures, institutions, and instruments and identify key strategies that will motivate distinct classes of financial banking institutions to better serve low income clients. Areas of deep involvement will be:

• Financial regulation as it pertains to access and provision of payment services that are relevant to the poor;
• Work with partners to help design and foster the deployment of a secure, affordable and reliable digital payments system infrastructure;
• Foster a competitive and open ecosystem of providers of digital financial services that reach the poor, such as payment of government benefits and wages, collection of school fees, etc.;
• Monitor and share key learnings from the work done in Pakistan in order to facilitate work in other countries, especially countries that are a focus for the foundation.

Qualifications:

MBA, MA/MSc with six to ten years relevant work experience in one or more of the following:

• Traditional technology company with a focus on large scale enterprise platforms;
• Traditional financial services firms such as Visa, MasterCard, AmEx, or alternative firms such as Alipay, PayPal, Amazon, iTunes, Google;
• Software, services or product development company with an emphasis on delivering digital products and services over closed or open loop platforms and systems;
• Development organization using information and communication technology to address specific needs of very low income and vulnerable people;
• Startup ventures in the digital products and services market including firms that provide venture capital and advisory services.

In addition, knowledge and skills of the following:

• Knowledge of the public policy sphere in Pakistan or the broader south Asia region, and understanding of how government decisions are made and influenced;
• Knowledge and experience of investment funds, either private or philanthropic;
• Fluent in English, Urdu reading and speaking competency plus;
• Demonstrated strategic skills and capacity to conceptualize, structure, negotiate, document, and supervise projects/programs;
• Excellent written and oral communication skills to convey complex concepts in a clear, concise manner;
• Experience with leading and working with a range of clients, colleagues, consultants and other partners with broad exposure to senior policy makers & regulators;
• Strong negotiating skills;
• Knowledge of mobile money and digital financial services platforms and technologies;
• Proven ability to build personal and institutional relationships and networks;
• Exceptional results orientation;
• Effective leadership skills with a demonstrated ability to inspire others;
• Innovative and open-minded approach to all aspects of work. Ability to question and challenge colleagues, including managers, in a constructive manner;
• Ability to travel up to 40% of time as needs dictate.

HOW TO APPLY: 

Apply Online