Senior Program Officer, Numeracy (Global Education)
 Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation | |
paid time off
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 United States, Washington, Seattle | |
| 500 5th Avenue North (Show on map) | |
 Jul 11, 2025 | |
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The Foundation We are the largest nonprofitfighting 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 Team The Foundation partners with people and organizations worldwide, through grant making, to tackle critical problems across various program areas and divisions. Our Global Growth & Opportunity (GGO) Division focuses on creating and scaling market-based innovations to stimulate inclusive and sustainable economic growth. GGO focuses on the areas of Agricultural Development, Global Education, Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), Inclusive Financial Systems (IFS), Nutrition, and Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WSH). We believe that people are poor because markets do not work for them, and we promote innovative products and policies that can break down barriers to economic opportunity, help people lift themselves out of poverty, and deliver sustainable and inclusive growth that benefits everyone.The foundation's Global Education (Global Ed) team works to improve reading and math outcomes - also referred to as foundational learning - for primary school aged children in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Reading and basic math skills are the foundation to gain future educational and economic opportunities and translate to inclusive growth and development. Too many children leave primary school without these basic skills: an estimated 70% of children in low- and middle-income countries - and 89% of children in sub-Saharan Africa - are unable to read by age 10. Our focus is to strengthen education quality for children in primary school, and our emphasis is on identifying, advocating for, and funding evidence driven, cost-effective, and scalable interventions that improve learning outcomes at scale within government systems. Your Role The Global Ed team is recruiting a Senior Program Officer (SPO) to design and manage high impact investments to generate evidence on how to strengthen numeracy outcomes in early grades in India and sub-Saharan Africa. This position will support research and development of effective numeracy solutions and identify key drivers of success. The role will commission applied research, convene and leverage insights from experts, and disseminate and facilitate take up in low resourced contexts. This position will play a key role in advancing the field to more fully understand the dimensions and attributes of interventions that lead to improved numeracy outcomes for students. As part of this work, the SPO will manage a portfolio of grants and contracts requiring investment management, monitoring, and evaluation skills. The SPO will be responsible for cultivating regional partnerships and engaging directly with education leaders, partner organizations, and government collaborators. The ideal candidate will bring a deep understanding of early grade numeracy pedagogy, including familiarity with the evidence base and experience with at-scale program implementation. The SPO will partner closely with matrixed colleagues and other foundation teams working in education and adjacent areas to exchange learnings and leverage partnerships, including our K-12 Education Team and functional teams such as Philanthropic Partnerships. You will support the foundation in its efforts to engage with philanthropists and other partners to draw in new resources to advance numeracy outcomes for children. This role can be based in Washington, DC or Seattle, WA (we are also open to other US locations where we are registered to have Remote Employees) and reports to the Deputy Director (DD), Innovation and Country Implementation. Work authorization support may be available for qualified candidates in order to work from one of our U.S.-based office locations. *Applications will be accepted until 5 PM PT on Friday, July 25, 2025. What You'll Do
Your Experience
The salary range for this role is $169,700 to $254,500 USD. We recognize high-wage market differences in Seattle, WA 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-TO1 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 - 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. | |