Senior Program Officer, Discovery & Drug Development (P/T - 2 Year LTE)

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Job Overview

Location

Remote - UK

Job Type

Full-time

Full Job Description

📋 Description

• Lead and manage a portfolio of grants and investments focused on hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (including preeclampsia) and gestational diabetes, from sourcing and diligence through structuring, execution, monitoring, and reporting.
• Develop and refine investment strategy in the disease area, identifying gaps, priorities, and high-potential opportunities across discovery, development, and introduction of interventions.
• Provide scientific and clinical leadership on the biology, risk stratification, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of preeclampsia, other hypertensive disorders, and gestational diabetes.
• Partner with grantees and external investigators to design and oversee research, ensuring scientific rigor, ethical standards, and alignment with foundation and country priorities.
• Contribute to budgeting, risk management, and sequencing of investments within the portfolio, ensuring effective stewardship of foundation resources.
• Track and report on portfolio progress, milestones, and outcomes, translating evidence into strategic recommendations for leadership.
• Foster coordination across discovery, clinical, and implementation partners, linking work to related Maternal Newborn Child Nutrition and Health (MNCNH) programs and the broader maternal morbidity agenda.
• Guide the translation of evidence into policy and implementation pathways, working with internal teams and external stakeholders to scale promising interventions.
• Represent the Foundation externally at scientific meetings, technical advisory groups, and with partner governments, consortia, and industry.
• Work remotely within the UK, with expected commitment of 20 hours per week, while maintaining full compensation and benefits.
• Collaborate closely with multidisciplinary teams including physician scientists, epidemiologists, engineers, nutritionists, and commercialization experts to integrate local context into research, development, and scale.
• Ensure all funded projects align with the Gender Equality Division’s mission to improve health outcomes for women and girls in low-resource settings across Africa and South Asia.
• Apply deep expertise in obstetrics, maternal-fetal medicine, or endocrinology to evaluate and advance high-impact products such as drugs, foods, microbes, devices, risk algorithms, and AI-enabled technologies.
• Maintain awareness of Good Clinical Practice (GCP), research ethics, and pathways for regulatory approval and implementation in low-resource health systems.
• Engage with global partners including academia, governments, and private sector entities to build sustainable, scalable solutions for maternal health challenges.

🎯 Requirements

• Advanced degree (PhD, DrPH, MD, OB/GYN or equivalent) in a relevant clinical or scientific discipline
• Deep subject-matter expertise in hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (including preeclampsia) and/or gestational diabetes
• Extensive experience in research, drug or product development, clinical practice, or grantmaking, preferably with exposure to low- and middle-income country settings
• Demonstrated experience leading research programs or investment portfolios with strategic decision-making authority
• Strong knowledge of Good Clinical Practice (GCP), research ethics, and translation of evidence into policy and practice
• Excellent cross-cultural communication skills and proven track record managing multi-stakeholder partnerships across academia, governments, and implementing organizations

🏖️ Benefits

• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage with no premiums
• Generous paid time off and paid family leave
• Foundation-paid retirement contribution
• Regional holidays
• Opportunities to engage in employee communities
• Full compensation and benefits for a part-time (20 hours/week) role

Skills & Technologies

GCP

Senior

Remote

Degree Required

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Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

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About Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Operating from Seattle and founded in 2000, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is the world’s largest private philanthropic organization. It funds global health initiatives targeting infectious diseases, maternal and child health, and vaccine development; supports U.S. education reform and college readiness; advances agricultural innovation, financial services for the poor, and sanitation technologies; and responds to humanitarian crises while advocating for evidence-based policy, gender equity, and climate adaptation, working through grants, partnerships, and direct programs across more than 100 countries.

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