Senior Program Officer, TB & HIV Diagnostics Delivery

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation•Seattle, WA

17d

About The Position

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 The Global Health (GH) division harnesses advances in science and technology to save lives in countries. We focus on the health problems that have an impact in developing countries but get too little attention and funding. Where proven tools exist, we support sustainable ways to improve their delivery. Where they do not, we invest in research and development of interventions, such as vaccines, drugs, and diagnostics. Our work focuses on strategies to fight and prevent HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, neglected tropical diseases, enteric and diarrheal diseases, and pneumonia. These programs strategy teams are supported by functional teams that focus on Discovery and Translational Sciences, Vaccine Development, the Accelerator, and Integrated Development. Our TB and HIV work is combined under a joint TB/HIV Program Strategy Team (PST), which focuses on research, development, and delivery of new products and tools. Accessible, high-quality, affordable diagnostics are essential for early detection of TB, timely linkage to treatment, and effective monitoring of people living with HIV. The TB/HIV Diagnostics Delivery portfolio focuses on expanding access to innovative screening and diagnostic tools—including CAD-enabled digital chest X-ray, near-point-of-care and point-of-care (nPOC/POC) molecular assays, distributable PCR kits, and essential HIV diagnostics such as CD4 and viral load testing. We work in close partnership with the TB/HIV Research & Development teams and the Enterics, Diagnostics, Genomics & Epidemiology (EDGE) team, which advance next-generation diagnostic platforms and ensure new tools meet programmatic needs. Collaboration with Senior Program Officers (SPOs) in our priority countries and regional offices across Africa, India, and China is essential to ensure successful field introduction, adoption, and scale-up. Your Role As Senior Program Officer (SPO), TB & HIV Diagnostics Delivery, you will play a critical role in introducing, scaling, and monitoring new TB and HIV diagnostic tools in LMICs, ensuring they deliver meaningful impact in real-world settings. You will work closely with EDGE and TB/HIV R&D teams to align product development timelines, evidence generation, and operational requirements with country-level implementation pathways. You will collaborate with in-country SPOs and regional offices to support national programs and implementing partners in the introduction, integration, and effective use of new screening and diagnostic tools. A core responsibility of this role is to monitor implementation, generate evidence on adoption and performance, and troubleshoot delivery bottlenecks to accelerate scale and maximize public health impact. You will report to the Deputy Director, TB Delivery.

Requirements

Advanced degree (PhD/MD with 10+ years, or MSc with 15+ years) in public health, biomedical sciences, diagnostics, engineering, or related field.
Extensive experience with diagnostics delivery or implementation, ideally in TB or HIV programs in LMICs.
Strong understanding of diagnostic systems—including diagnostic network optimization, procurement, supply chain, regulatory pathways, quality management, and data systems.
Experience with implementation science, operational evaluation, or real-world evidence generation.
Demonstrated ability to lead complex partnerships with governments, multilaterals and implementing organizations
Ability to translate evidence and field insights into policy, program, and investment recommendations.
Excellent communication skills with the ability to influence diverse technical and non-technical audiences.
Strong organizational, analytical, and problem-solving skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities in a matrixed environment.
Intellectual curiosity, agility, and commitment to advancing global health equity.

Responsibilities

Diagnostics Delivery Strategy & Planning Lead strategy development, validation and execution for the introduction and scale-up of TB screening tools (e.g., CAD X-ray, portable molecular systems, POC assays) and HIV diagnostics (CD4, viral load, and next-generation platforms).
Inform and translate R&D outputs into realistic, context-specific delivery pathways—including regulatory, procurement, and service-delivery considerations.
Support annual planning, goal setting, and priority setting for the TB/HIV Diagnostics Delivery portfolio.
Grant making, project management and ensuring value for money Implementation Support & Health System Integration Ensure new screening tools & diagnostics are effectively integrated into national TB and HIV programs, including supporting diagnostic network optimization, clinical algorithms, workflows, training systems, and data platforms.
Identify and address barriers related to access, supply chain, sample transport, maintenance, quality assurance, data reporting, and connectivity.
Develop scalable delivery models that support same-day diagnosis and treatment initiation where feasible.
Partnership with EDGE and R&D Teams Work closely with EDGE and TB/HIV R&D teams to ensure development and implementation planning aligns with product evidence, readiness, and operational characteristics.
Provide country-level insights to inform TPPs, use-case definitions, and value propositions.
Coordinate the transition from clinical validation to early adoption, ensuring countries are prepared for rollout (policy updates, procurement planning, workforce readiness).
Monitoring Implementation & Generating Evidence Develop and oversee monitoring frameworks to track the uptake, utilization, performance, and impact of new diagnostics.
Conduct site visits and stakeholder consultations to assess implementation quality and identify opportunities for improvement.
Lead or support operational research and implementation science studies to inform national scale-up and global policy.
Country Engagement Work with Ministries of Health, National TB and HIV Programs, and implementing partners to prepare for adoption—supporting policy, regulatory, and procurement processes.
Work with Ministries of Health and in-country SPO’s to ensure that diagnostic tools are appropriately distributed to minimize delay access to diagnosis and treatment.
Ensure alignment between global, regional, and national implementation strategies.
Partnership Development & Ecosystem Strengthening Manage relationships with diagnostic developers, implementing partners, multilaterals, academic groups, and procurement agencies.
Strengthen coordination among global actors (e.g., WHO, Global Fund, Stop TB Partnership, Unitaid, GHSD) to accelerate adoption and scale of high-impact tools.
Represent the foundation as a thought leader in TB/HIV diagnostics delivery at global and regional forums.
Internal Coordination & Communication Ensure alignment across delivery, R&D, EDGE, and country teams by facilitating cross-functional planning, shared learning, and coordinated decision-making.
Prepare analyses, dashboards, decision memos, and presentations for internal leadership.
Contribute to portfolio performance measurement, documentation, and continuous learning.