ABOUT US
The WHO Foundation (WHOF), launched in May 2020 and headquartered in Geneva, was created as an independent Swiss foundation affiliated with but independent of WHO. Its mission is to mobilize greater private capital and partnership to advance the mission of the World Health Organization (WHO), enabling catalytic impact on the people whose lives rely on WHO’s work and facilitating innovation to maximize the impact of the resources we invest.
WHO plays a singular role in leading the global health ecosystem, acting as a first-responder to health crises — including the current conflict in Ukraine and on behalf of the 15+ million people in urgent need of aid in Horn of Africa; producing technical guidelines and tools to prevent and treat disease; and acting as a country-level convener with an unparalleled level of trust. The crises of the 21st century, including COVID-19, have made clear both the inequity of access to effective and affordable healthcare and the indispensable role of WHO. Yet WHO lacks sufficient resources to fulfill its mandate. And, beyond funding, its vision cannot be achieved by the public sector alone.
The WHO Foundation was therefore created as an independent Swiss foundation affiliated with but independent of WHO to marshal new resources from philanthropists, foundations, businesses, and individuals to support its mission: promote health, keep the world safe, and serve the vulnerable, while protecting the neutrality and independence of WHO as the world’s leading health authority. WHOF is a nexus for unique opportunities in global health, facilitating game-changing opportunities between the private sector and WHO. Our focus is on mobilizing grant income, shared value partnerships, and investment to power WHO’s work.
PURPOSE
The role of the Head of Strategic Engagement is to support the Development Team in defining the investment blueprint for key Health Programs and Impact areas. This includes strategic engagement with WHO and external partners, donors and interlocutors; the technical/programmatic development of the opportunities for investment and collaboration; as well as supporting research, writing and analysis within the Foundation’s current and emerging priority areas like climate and health, NTDs, Malaria, among others. The Head of Strategic Engagement will co-lead the process of donor cultivation along with another Development Team counterpart or lead it independently where possible, presenting WHO programs on various thematic areas. Overall, the responsibilities of the Head of Strategic Engagement will be broad-ranging and complex in nature and the successful candidate will need to be prepared to adapt and respond quickly and effectively to new demands on their expertise and experience. The role will demand a combination of strategic and operational tasks with strong ability to identify and cultivate relationships, in a rapidly evolving context.
REPORTS TO
The Head of Strategic Engagement will report to the Chief Development Officer and will work in close collaboration with other members of the team as it grows, as well as across WHO Foundation (Europe/APAC, MENA, US development teams), business operations, impact finance and communications. Manage external consultants as relevant.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
1. Lead Strategic Stakeholder Engagement
o Design and implement tailored outreach strategies to deepen engagement with WHO stakeholders, influencers, connectors, and organizations within the global health ecosystem.
o Build and maintain strategic relationships with WHO and other key players in the global health ecosystem that drive introductions to prospective partners and donors. This includes actively working to increase engagement, outreach and cultivation of the relationships with WHO leadership, technical departments and programmatic teams, and stakeholders at global, regional and country levels to build robust opportunities that will enhance WHO Foundation’s ability to mobilize for WHO.
o Support the regional Development teams to develop a widened network of stakeholders, internal and external, with deeper relationships that will help further strengthen WHO Foundation’s donor pipeline.
o Represent the WHOF in relevant fora and coordinate collaborations in global health with other institutions/organizations.
2. Identification and development of one or several fundable opportunities within one or more thematic area(s)
o Lead on the identification and development one or several of the fundable Opportunities, working closely with WHO and fundraisers. Key activities include:
+ Lead prioritization exercises to define strategic future fundable opportunities, focusing on emerging trends and promising initiatives for advancing WHO’s mission.
+ Actively engage and embed within WHO management teams by participating in ADG’s senior management meeting and Department Director’s management meeting, as appropriate, as well as other key meetings and events led by the relevant WHO teams.
+ Facilitating WHO engagement in briefings for technical and resource mobilization efforts with external donors and partners.
+ Liaising with WHO technical teams and other technical partners to collect inputs.
+ Conduct strategic analysis on alignment, technical robustness, and lead the development of content-rich factsheets/concept notes to support the case of support on different thematic areas in collaboration with the Global Health Senior Specialist. Work with the Communications and Stewardship Teams to develop donor facing brochures.
+ Closely work with the Global Health Senior Specialist to develop a repository of key documents, analysis and data on each investment opportunity for the organization to draw upon when developing products, talking points, communications content and other materials.
+ Collaborating with prospect researchers and the development team to build a pipeline of prospect donors for each investment opportunity.
3. Donor engagement, funding proposal development, monitoring and reporting
o Co-lead, actively engage and/or support donor strategies for regional approaches, industry sectors, or other donor segmentation approaches.
o Lead and/or engage with the account manager(s) in conversations with donors to ensure donor alignment with WHO programmes and WHOF activities from a technical perspective, as needed. Lead and/or co-lead with the account manager(s) on funding proposal writing, donor stewardship, donor activation activities, and stewardship.
o Work closely with WHO technical teams to monitor program implementation.
o Work closely with the Stewardship team and Communications team for the impact report to Donors and Stakeholders.
o Contribute to the development of donor reports.
PROFILE
* A minimum of 7-10 years of progressively responsible experience as a global health practitioner.
* You are an experienced and values-driven global health professional with a proven track record of developing, executing, and monitoring global health programmes and partnerships and building relationships with partners and senior stakeholders across the global health ecosystem.
* Good knowledge and networks across the global health ecosystem and proven relationship building skills. Knowledge of and experience working with WHO an asset.
* Superior interpersonal and communications skills and capacity to build excellent relationships with key stakeholders, particularly with high-level individuals in a multinational environment. While in a line management role, skills associated with management needed - coordination of partners and technical teams, face of WHOF with regional teams and technical colleagues.
* A track record of successfully developing and supporting innovative and high impact global health programming.
* Strong leadership skills and aptitude to work with autonomy and entrepreneurship, both individually and as part of a complex team effort.
* Comfort with and/or experience of operating in a lean, start-up environment.
* Aptitude to work with flexibility, entrepreneurship, and diplomacy both individually and as part of a complex team effort.
* Outstanding interpersonal skills and diplomacy, sensitivity to political issues.
* Experience in working within or alongside strategic communications and brand-building professionals.
* Strong analytical skills, database proficiency, budgetary and financial skills, and proficiency in Excel and Salesforce.
* Excellent project management skills including project development, execution, monitoring and reporting.
* Excellent graphic design skills in PowerPoint, and use of Canvas or other platforms an asset.
* Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent), in medicine, public health, international development or related fields is a plus.
* Experience working in an international environment and with people from different cultural backgrounds and cultural sensitivity.
* Experience in management consultancy is an advantage.
* Fluency in English, other languages is an advantage.
WHAT WE OFFER
* Rewarding work in a dynamic non-profit environment
* A collaborative workplace within a multicultural team
* An agile and flexible environment
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
* Type of contract: Permanent contract
* Location: Geneva with remote work possibility
* Working rate: 100%
* Deadline for application: 19 May 2025
The WHO Foundation puts equity at the center of all its work and is committed to building, fostering, and preserving a culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Employment and advancement opportunities are based upon individual qualifications, regardless of gender, color, gender identity, ethnicity, disability, nationality, cultural & religious background, beliefs, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, and marital status. We encourage candidates from all backgrounds to apply.
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