Senior Program Officer, AI & Digital Health Delivery (3-year LTE)

Gates Foundation · Addis Ababa

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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 Development Division (GD) works with partners to expand access to life-saving health products and services in under-resourced communities, supporting countries in strengthening health systems and advancing essential services for women, children, and families. The division includes teams focused on Emergency Response, Exemplars in Global Health, Global Health Agencies and Funds, Immunization, and Polio - stewarding approximately $1.5 billion in annual grant funding across a team of roughly 185 staff.

The Exemplars in Global Health (EGH) team equips decision-makers with the evidence, insights, and practical “know-how” needed to accelerate and scale interventions that improve the health of the world’s most vulnerable populations. Working with a global network of partners, EGH identifies and studies exemplars and best practices across health outcomes, primary health care systems, and service delivery strategies.

Through rigorous research, evidence synthesis, and timely analysis, EGH translates lessons from what works into actionable insights that help policymakers, practitioners, and funders strengthen systems, improve service delivery, and address pressing global health challenges.

We pursue this through:
1. The study of “positive outliers”- identifying countries or regions that have achieved exceptional progress in health outcomes and analyzing the drivers behind their success;
2. The study of emerging practices with global learning value, using prospective research and real-time analytics alongside implementation to meet the ambition of ‘learning by doing’;
3. The provision of internal advisory services to support teams in pursuit of the foundation’s three goals toward 2045; and
4. External partnerships to scale exemplary practices with governments, policymakers, global health initiatives, and multilateral development banks.

This role is embedded within the Africa Team, formalizing a learning partnership between Africa’s AI & Digital function and EGH's AI & Digital Health Evidence & Learning sub-team, and helping ensure EGH's research and evidence offerings are tailored to Africa and priority-country needs, while Africa Team's frontline experience informs EGH's global learning agenda.

Your Role

The Senior Program Officer (SPO), AI & Digital Health Delivery will play a critical role in advancing AI-driven solutions to strengthen primary health care and health systems in Africa. This is an individual contributor role which will shape and manage a portfolio of AI and health delivery investments across multiple geographies and multiple levels of a health system, focusing on solutions that align with government priorities and the foundation’s health goals. This position is part of the Exemplars in Global Health (EGH) team, embedded in the Africa Regional Office (ARO), and will focus on building and evidence and learning portfolio across Africa to inform how AI and digital health delivery can effectively scale. As such, the role will also provide technical expertise at the intersection of AI, digital health, and health delivery, to the Ethiopia Country Office (ECO), the Nigeria Country Office (NCO), ARO; and EGH. 

The successful candidate will bring technical expertise in AI and digital systems in healthcare, a deep understanding of primary health care and health systems programming in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), and a passion for improving evidence-based health outcomes through innovative technology. 

This is a limited-term employee (LTE) position with a three-year term, based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The postholder will report directly to the Deputy Director, Leadership Advising, Africa.

What You’ll Do

Your Experience

Other Attributes

Application deadline: 25 October 2026

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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 HR@gatesfoundation.org 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.

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