Senior Program Officer, AI and Health

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 team harnesses technological advancements to tackle health challenges in low- and middle-income countries. We aim to address significant issues that lack adequate attention and resources. Our approach involves enhancing existing tool delivery and investing in innovative solutions like Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies, digital health strategies, and advanced data analytics.

The Africa Team works to enable the foundation’s ambitious goals of scaling evidence-based interventions that target a range of diseases and socio-economic conditions which are endemic across Sub-Saharan Africa. Specifically, the focus of the Africa Team is to enable collective impact for the foundation in Africa by influencing policy and finance towards key development priorities, strengthening capacity, and enabling systems for delivery, and innovating and using cross-cutting enablers for impact at scale. The team performs its responsibility through direct country engagement to deploy interventions and delivery models, and by building the partner architecture to replicate successful interventions and models across multiple countries.

The Foundation's mission is to use the power of AI to reduce the digital gap, focusing on the ethical and fair use of AI to help low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). As Large Language Models become more advanced, we are committed to unleashing AI’s untapped potential to create development solutions in LMIC. Our initiatives are diverse, not only creating new applications for AI in decision support and chatbot interventions but also covering health, education, and agriculture sectors. Building on the success of proof-of-concept projects from the Grand Challenges, we aim to make sure that the progress of AI reaches and benefits all segments of the population.

The Core AI Team is a key, cross-functional group that leads and supports various AI initiatives. The AI core team acts as the secretariat of the internal AI Taskforce. It is responsible for 1) developing a cross-foundational AI strategy; 2) supporting the implementation of different AI streams; 3) playing an advisory role to PSTs on their AI efforts; and 4) informing large foundation investments in AI. This team plays an essential role in ensuring AI integration and success across our organizational framework.

Your Role

Are you passionate about using the power of AI to reduce inequality in LMICs? Do you have experience working in developing countries on AI or digital health initiatives? If so, we want you to join our team at the largest nonprofit fighting poverty, disease, and inequity around the world.

The Senior Program Officer, AI and Health is a key member of the AI team. This role will support several teams at the foundation who are considering and investing in multiple applications of AI in health, which is a high priority area for the foundation. As such, you will be responsible for developing our overarching strategy to healthcare applications in AI; conceptualizing, investing and managing investments in health applications of AI; providing advice and technical assistance to other program teams considering investment in this area; and advocating for the safe, responsible use of AI as a force multiplier to reducing inequality in health in LMICs.

The postholder will be based in Johannesburg, South Africa, and report to the Director, Health, Africa, with a dotted line to the Deputy Director, Technology Diffusion.

What You'll Do

1. Develop the foundations’ approach to AI and health
   • This will include existing and planned investment in multiple applications of AI in health across diagnostics, end user engagement, decision support and decision sciences for health.
   • Develop a clear understanding of specific ecosystem constraints and opportunities related to AI in health.
   • Identify a key set of partners and stakeholders in priority geographies for the foundation, in order to be successful in this focus area across the technical, advocacy, government, academic and funding spheres.
2. Move towards developing appropriate benchmarks and evaluation frameworks for AI in health
   • Work closely with appropriate technical partners, governments, regulators to establish context appropriate frameworks by which AI models should be evaluated for accuracy, safety, usability, cost effectiveness.
   • Map the pathways by which promising health technologies transition from small, defined proof-of-concepts to minimal viable products and ultimately scaled products/applications that are sustainable across multiple countries.
   • Lead thinking on the design and execution of clinical trials for decision support tools in healthcare.
3. Manage a portfolio of investments
   • Support studies on AI tool effectiveness, safety, and regulatory strategies and manage investments that relate to health ecosystem for AI in LMICs.
   • Ensure that funding is appropriately managed and where appropriate, done in collaboration with other foundation teams and external funders.
   • Prepare background documents, briefs, and presentations for internal and external stakeholders related to AI in health.
4. Provide technical guidance to internal teams
   • Several program teams are considering investments at the intersection of AI and health. You will be responsible for advising these teams, reviewing proposals and where appropriate co-own these investments.
   • Ensure that investments are well aligned to strategies and led with a needs-based (versus tools-based) approach.

Your Experience

• An advanced degree in computer science, data science, public health, or related field, with 10+ years of combined education and experience in health and technology development/application.
• Experience in having supported the development, testing, launch or actual scale up of any AI based technology. Experience in technology assessment and product development is an advantage.
• Collaborative track record of partnering with governments, Ministries of Health, NGOs, academic institutions, and global funders, particularly in the Global South, including playing a technical advisory role.
• Demonstrated program or project management expertise: from workplan concept development through implementation, with strong organizational and prioritization skills. Attention to detail including ability to scrutinize budgets against workplans and deliverables.
• A demonstrated understanding of AI at a conceptual level.
• Knowledge of AI landscape and digital health, particularly in Africa, India, Latin America is an advantage.
• Familiarity with steering and navigating decision making processes and tradeoffs in matrix teams and organizations, with a track record of thoughtful balance between efficient, timely action and ensuring stakeholder voice and inclusion. Ability to influence without direct authority.
• A track record of building partnerships and working collaboratively with others to meet shared/joint objectives, both internally and externally. Ability to orchestrate effective decisions across a broad range of issues and stakeholders, assess progress, analyze gaps, and make required changes.
• Demonstrated ability to work with flexibility, efficiency, and diplomacy in a complex, fast-paced environment both in Africa and at headquarters in Seattle.
• Ability to handle ambiguity and convert unclear situations into structured plans.
• Exceptional verbal and written communication abilities in English, ability to effectively synthesize data and information to reach diverse audiences, build consensus and be the voice/represent the foundation, including in internal and external meetings.

Other Attributes

• Comfortable in a wide range of cultural, geographic and operational situations, demonstrating culturally sensitive behaviour with a diverse range of people and a deep commitment to development issues and high standards of personal integrity.
• Ability to travel up to 30% domestically and internationally.

Must be able to legally work in the country where this position is located without visa sponsorship.

Application deadline: Wednesday, 18 December

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

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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.