Program Officer - Development Policy and Finance

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, we’re committed to creating an environment for you to thrive both personally and professionally.

The Team

Development Policy and Finance (DPAF), part of the Gates Foundation’s Global Policy and Advocacy division, harnesses the power of finance and economics to address poverty and inequality. We serve the foundation’s economic policy, finance and analytical function by bringing rigorous economic analysis, development-finance expertise, and policy judgment to foundation strategies, investments, advocacy, and engagement with governments, multilateral development banks, international financial institutions, and other partners.

DPAF works across issues including development assistance and the future of aid, sovereign debt and fiscal space, domestic public and private resource mobilization, multilateral development banks and the international financial architecture, country macroeconomics, and other questions affecting the resources available for health, development, and poverty reduction.

DPAF is establishing a Policy Function to put its analytical and advisory role on a more systematic footing. Demand for DPAF’s expertise has grown as foundation teams seek timely perspectives on aid, debt, fiscal policy, MDBs, private finance, and domestic resource mobilization. The Policy Function combines rapid-response support for leadership and program teams with deeper knowledge production and anticipatory analysis.

DPAF also leads the foundation’s body of work on catalyzing innovative financing and domestic capital mobilization. This work seeks to unlock private, external and domestic, resources for the foundation’s priority sectors, including health and agriculture, in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. It focuses on program investments as well as advisory, and on transaction instruments as well as systemic constraints in the country-specific capital markets.

Your Role
As Program Officer, you will report to the Deputy Director, Development Policy and Finance and work in a hybrid arrangement from our Washington, DC office. You will work across two connected areas of DPAF: the Policy Function, coordinating our analytical work, and the body of work on innovative financing and domestic capital mobilization. You will work closely with the respective Senior Program Officer leading on those two areas.

You will support in the management of a defined set of investments within the innovative financing body of work and the Policy Function’s portfolio. You will, together with the SPOs build and manage relationships with external partners in these area and represent the foundation in related working groups and convenings. You will also collaborate with colleagues across program teams, regional offices, and external partners.

*This position is a limited-term position for 12 months (not to extend beyond 12/31/2027). Relocation will not be provided.

*Applications accepted until 5 PM PST on Wednesday, November 11th, 2027.

*Must have unrestricted work authorization in the country where this position is located. The Foundation does not provide immigration-related sponsorship for this role. This includes direct company sponsorship and any work authorization requiring a written submission or other immigration support from the company (eg: H-1B, O-1, L-1,  E, OPT, STEM-OPT, CPT, TN, J-1, etc.).

What You'll Do

The below-mentioned areas of work will be prioritized under the management of the Deputy Director and in close collaboration with the Senior Program Officer leading the respective body of work.

Economic and policy analysis

• Respond to analytical and policy requests from foundation leadership, program strategy teams, regional and country offices, and Global Policy and Advocacy colleagues.

• Conduct rapid research, quantitative analysis, literature and evidence reviews, and targeted data pulls to answer concrete policy questions.

• Lead research on topics such as blended finance structures, local currency financing, capital market development, credit enhancement, and sovereign and sub-sovereign financing. Synthesize findings into clear, decision-ready materials.

• Draft concise, decision-ready products for leadership and cross-foundation engagements, including talking points, meeting and travel briefs, policy notes, investment memos, presentations, and short analytical memos.

• Translate technical economic material into clear findings for non-specialist and senior audiences without losing analytical rigor or important caveats.

• Draft and contribute to policy papers, briefs, and thought leadership that advance the foundation’s positions on private capital mobilization and domestic resource mobilization.

Investment portfolio and grantmaking

• Support the management of a defined set of investments within the innovative financing and domestic capital body of work, and agree a shared set of outcomes with each grantee.

• Co-manage these investments across the grant lifecycle, including:

• • concept development and due diligence
  • budget and proposal review
  • results frameworks and monitoring
  • reporting and close-out
• Contribute to strategy for the innovative financing and domestic capital portfolio, including landscaping, finding opportunities, and translating insights into priorities.

• Track portfolio performance and emerging evidence, and identify risks in your investments.

Innovative financing and transaction support

• Analyze deal structures, financial models, and term sheets.

• Assess risk-sharing and credit enhancement mechanisms such as guarantees, first-loss capital, and securitization.

• Coordinate with transaction advisors, investors, and co-financiers to move transactions from concept to close.

Policy Function knowledge products and operations

• Support the lead SPO, in managing the Policy Function’s portfolio of reusable knowledge products, including datasets, charts, analytical tools, templates, reference materials, and country and institution profiles, so recurring questions can be answered faster and more consistently.

• Curate DPAF policy notes, presentations, data products, and prior analytical work so that relevant intelligence builds over time rather than remaining in one-off files or inboxes.

• Standardize recurring analytical workflows, including data refreshes, chart production, source documentation, and quality-control checks.

• Support the design and upkeep of the Policy Function SharePoint site as the main internal access point for DPAF products, including information architecture, taxonomy, file naming, permissions, and publication workflows. Document the approach so it can be sustained.

• Maintain a tracker of incoming analytical and policy requests, prepare status updates for the Policy Function lead, and make demand and bottlenecks visible so urgent requests do not crowd out strategically important work.

• Track DPAF’s internal advisory contributions and external policy voice, and compile periodic summaries for staff review.

• Support the DPAF learning series, including materials, coordination with presenters, and archiving of recordings and supporting content, and support internal knowledge-sharing on the innovative financing portfolio.

AI and data tools

• Apply AI-assisted research, synthesis, and knowledge-management tools where they improve speed, quality, or reuse, within foundation data-governance requirements.

• Improve analytical workflows in the Microsoft environment, including Power BI and, where relevant, Azure Databricks, for data preparation, analysis, visualization, and repeatable reporting.

• Prototype efficient workflows for recurring data and po

• licy products, including responsible automation and structured quality assurance.

Partnerships and coordination

• Co-manage relationships with a defined set of external partners, such as development finance institutions, multilateral development banks, co-funders, and capital market actors, and represent the foundation in related working groups and convenings.

• Engage grantees, co-funders, development finance institutions, multilateral development banks, and capital market actors, including preparing for and following up on partner meetings, working groups, and convenings.
• Coordinate across teams so the body of work stays aligned with sector strategies in health and agriculture.

Your Experience

• Advanced degree in economics, finance, public policy, international development, or a related field, ideally with substantive economics coursework, and 6+ years of relevant experience in development finance, investment, financial sector development, or economic policy. Candidates with a bachelor’s degree and 8+ years of relevant experience are also encouraged to apply.

• Solid understanding of the external financing landscape for low- and middle-income countries, including:

• • development finance institutions and multilateral development banks
  • blended finance and impact investors
  • local capital markets and institutional investors
  • sovereign and sub-sovereign financing
• Working knowledge of at least one other DPAF priority area, such as ODA, sovereign debt and fiscal policy, domestic resource mobilization, MDBs and the international financial architecture, country macroeconomics, or non-DAC finance.

• Familiarity with innovative financing instruments and transaction structures, such as guarantees, blended finance vehicles, local currency lending, bonds, and securitization. Exposure to transaction advisory, investment analysis, or deal structuring is a plus.

• Experience managing complex projects, with strong organizational skills and attention to detail.

• Ability to work with quantitative data, interrogate sources and assumptions, and translate results into clear policy-relevant conclusions. Strong Excel skills expected; experience with statistical or programming tools is welcome.

• Excellent writing, editing, and synthesis skills, with a track record of producing clear, concise materials for senior and non-specialist audiences, such as policy papers, briefs, investment memos, and presentations.

• Judgment to work quickly without losing sight of the broader policy question, know when more rigor is needed, and surface risks, assumptions, and trade-offs clearly.

• Ability to build strong, trusting relationships with internal colleagues and external partners, and to work effectively in a matrixed environment across economists, policy specialists, and data and technology colleagues.

• Demonstrated ability to take ownership of ambiguous tasks, create structure where little exists, and manage several priorities to a finished product with minimal direct supervision.

• Experience working in or with Sub-Saharan Africa and/or South Asia; familiarity with the health or agriculture sectors is a plus.

• Sound judgment in handling internal and pre-publication material.

Preferred

• Hands-on experience building or administering SharePoint sites, including information architecture, permissions, and publication workflows.

• Hands-on familiarity with AI-assisted research or analytics and with Azure Databricks and Power BI, especially to improve repeatable analytical or knowledge workflows.

*Must have unrestricted work authorization in the country where this position is located. The Foundation does not provide immigration-related sponsorship for this role. This includes direct company sponsorship and any work authorization requiring a written submission or other immigration support from the company (eg: H-1B, O-1, L-1,  E, OPT, STEM-OPT, CPT, TN, J-1, etc.).

The salary range for this role is $143,000 to $214,400 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 $157,300 to $235,900 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.

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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

We’re committed to providing an inclusive and accessible hiring experience for all candidates. If you have a disability or medical condition and need an accommodation at any stage of the application or interview process—such as an ASL interpreter, alternative interview format, or physical accessibility support—we’re happy to help. Please contact [email protected] with the position number and a brief description of your accommodation needs. Requests will be handled confidentially.

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.