Senior Program Officer, Vaccine Discovery

Overview

Senior Program Officer, Vaccine Discovery role at Gates Foundation. The Foundation is the largest nonprofit fighting poverty, disease, and inequity around the world. We aim to enable people everywhere to live healthy, productive lives and strive for a diverse workforce that reflects the populations we serve. We offer a comprehensive benefits package, including medical, dental, and vision coverage, generous paid time off, paid family leave, retirement contribution, regional holidays, and opportunities for employee communities.

Dis­covery & Translational Sciences (D&TS) catalyzes innovation for discovery and translation of Global Health solutions. The Vaccines and Biologics (VxBx) team runs a large and growing portfolio focused on infectious diseases. The team collaborates across program strategy partners and external partners (academia, biotech, pharma, government agencies, and funders) to advance immunology research, translational science, and implementable interventions. Intervention areas include vaccines, biologics, drugs, microbiome, and reproductive and sexual health.

The Senior Program Officer, Vaccine Discovery in Vaccine & Biologics is a critical position focused on driving innovation and impact in global vaccine discovery and development. Reporting to the Deputy Director, Vaccine Discovery in the DTS Vaccines & Biologics Domain, you will assist with the development and execution of a comprehensive Vaccine Discovery strategy, foster collaboration across internal teams and external partners, and advance immunological research and translational science.

You contribute to a collaborative culture of innovation and are passionate about solving problems relevant to our mission.

• Support and execute the Vaccines Discovery strategy in a creative, rigorous, innovative, data-driven, and analytical manner, developing strategies to address critical gaps and drive key strategy areas.
• Develop and manage investments portfolios (milestone and performance-driven grants, contracts, and equity investments) and relationships with grantees, contractors, and key partners to achieve the foundation’s impact.
• Identify and select partner institutions (academic, not-for-profit, biotech, pharma) and develop the scope and strategy for selected investments.
• Cultivate and nurture external partnerships across a diverse, international network and build networks as a foundation representative to enhance implementation of programmatic strategies.
• Interact with foundation colleagues to drive strategic initiatives and contribute to knowledge capture, progress evaluation, learning, and dissemination.

• Serve as a subject matter expert across vaccines &Biologics and act as a resource to grantees and partners to support strategic objectives.
• Apply milestone-based performance objectives and evaluate innovations to inform go/no-go decisions on projects and product candidates.
• Identify and assess portfolio risks and develop mitigation/contingency plans at the portfolio level.
• Support initiatives by identifying relevant novel technologies and innovations; structure investments, research initiatives, and due diligence with biotech, not-for-profit, and academic partners globally.
• Provide project briefings and updates to foundation leadership and represent the foundation in external meetings, scientific conferences, and workshops.

• Deep expertise in human immunology, vaccine discovery and translation; infectious disease experience.
• Scientists and/or physician-scientists with a track record of success in industry or academia; 10+ years in immunology and/or vaccine discovery and translation (clinical);
  PhD or MD (academics should have held their own grants and independent PI experience).
• Driven by passion to answer fundamental questions in interventions, immunogen design, vaccine platforms (nucleic acid, adjuvants), and durable immune responses with measurable impact for unmet medical need.
• Experience assessing new technologies and modalities and designing rigorous research initiatives that catalyze program change in translational settings.
• Collaborative experience…