Senior Program Coordinator – Africa Team

ImpactAlpha Inc.; Seattle (WA); On-site; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical coverage with no premiums

Generous paid time off

Paid family leave

Foundation-paid retirement plan

Regional holidays

Employee communities

Inclusive work environment

Job summary

The Gates Foundation is seeking an Investment Portfolio Manager for the Africa Team to coordinate investments across the continent, including due diligence, budgeting, and monitoring. You will work with grantees, vendors, and local partners to support programmatic goals and ensure compliant, high-impact investment execution.

Based in Seattle with global scope, the role requires strong cross-functional coordination, capacity-building, and ability to translate strategy into timely action.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent demonstrated experience in business administration or program management.
• Experience in project management, portfolio management, and financial reporting for nonprofit organizations.
• Proficiency with investment tools and systems, and ability to learn internal platforms.
• Ability to travel domestically and internationally (10–15%).

Responsibilities

• Act as SME on investment tools and provide training to teams and partners.
• Support development, management, and maintenance of a portfolio of investments.
• Independently manage investments and partnerships, ensuring alignment with strategy.
• Perform due diligence, collect data, identify trends and timelines.
• Provide portfolio analysis and risk insights with leadership readouts.
• Build relationships with stakeholders to facilitate the investment lifecycle.
• Lead project management for investment teams, tracking timelines and deliverables.
• Support change efforts and process improvements across the team.

Skills

Project management

Portfolio management

Financial analysis

Stakeholder coordination

Nonprofit sector experience

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent in business administration or program management

Tools

Investment systems

Job description

About Gates Foundation

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is the largest nonprofit organization dedicated to fighting poverty, disease, and inequity around the world. Founded on the principle that people everywhere, regardless of identity or circumstances, should have the chance to live healthy, productive lives, the foundation operates with a global perspective and local expertise across multiple continents. The organization is headquartered in Seattle, Washington, and is led by CEO Mark Suzman under the direction of Bill Gates and the foundation's governing board. The foundation's work is organized into two primary geographic focuses. In developing countries, the Gates Foundation partners with local organizations and institutions to create impactful solutions that enable people to take charge of their futures and achieve their full potential. In the United States, the foundation works to ensure that everyone, particularly those with the fewest resources, has access to the opportunities needed to succeed in school and life. The foundation's strategic priorities span global health, global development, and U.S. programs, with particular emphasis on advancing innovations and systems-level change. As a workplace, the Gates Foundation is committed to creating an inclusive and supportive environment where employees can thrive both personally and professionally. The foundation believes that its workforce should reflect the rich diversity of the global populations it aims to serve. The organization offers an exceptional benefits package that includes

• comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage with no premiums
• generous paid time off
• paid family leave
• foundation-paid retirement contributions
• regional holidays
• opportunities to engage in several employee communities

About this Role

The Africa Team works to advance the foundation's mission across the African continent by scaling evidence-based innovations and driving systems-level impact in health, agriculture, and digital transformation. With a presence in five offices located in Ethiopia, Nigeria, Kenya, Senegal, and South Africa, the team is comprised of approximately 180 people who collaborate deeply with country governments, regional institutions, private sector actors, and civil society organizations to drive African-led development through a strong network of partners and programs across the continent. The Africa Team ensures the foundation's global priorities are informed by and grounded in local contexts, enabling greater relevance, sustainability, and impact for the communities the foundation aims to serve. In this position, you will coordinate, develop, and manage a portfolio of investments, including the implementation and maintenance of a range of activities associated with the lifecycle of grants and contracts. You will manage projects in support of programmatic and strategic goals, while contributing to the continuous improvement of resource allocation, operational, and investment management processes. You will provide oversight and support for budget planning, financial reporting, portfolio monitoring, and related analysis, and apply expertise in internal and external processes, systems, and tools to inform sound decision-making. You will work collaboratively with internal and external stakeholders, including grantees, vendors, and local implementing partners, to facilitate effective execution across the investment lifecycle. In this role, you will provide operational guidance, training, and capacity-building support to strengthen partner readiness, compliance, and implementation quality. The position requires strong cross-functional coordination, relationship management, and the ability to help translate strategy into effective, timely, and well-managed execution.

Responsibilities

• Act as a subject matter expert on investment tools, systems, and templates and provide training and coaching to program team and external partners when needed
• Partner with investment makers by supporting the development, management, and maintenance of a portfolio of investments
• Independently manage complex investments and partnerships in service of shaping and optimizing successful investments, as well as ensure alignment with strategies and intended outcomes
• Perform initial investment due diligence, including the collection of portfolio data, identification of trends, and management timelines
• Be accountable for portfolio analysis and risk identification, as well as provide a perspective on portfolio performance and deliver thorough readouts to leadership
• Advise on complex investments, budgets, and financial analysis to maximize impact, identify risks, and propose mitigation plans
• Build, develop and maintain relationships with key internal and external stakeholders to facilitate the investment lifecycle, including engagement with and management of external grantee and partner relationships
• Steward highly complex partnerships
• Partner with investment makers to operationalize and shape key business processes, including annual planning, forecasting, regular portfolio reviews, financial planning, and budgeting
• Provide in-depth project management to investment team, including tracking timelines, deliverables, communications, and change management
• Develop the non-technical portion of the project framework and work on special projects
• Lead implementation and change efforts for the team, which may include developing new processes, sharing best practices, analyzing workloads, and providing business updates
• Maintain file organization, team sites, data and records, and a system for tracking, monitoring, and prioritizing tasks and projects
• Support inclusive culture through modeling behaviors and actions and raise issues in a timely fashion to appropriate stakeholders

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent demonstrated experience, preferably in business administration or program management
• Experience in project management, portfolio management, and financial reporting in the nonprofit or related industry
• Practical understanding of all stages of the investment lifecycle and investment rules, mechanisms, regulations, policies, processes, and practices
• Proficiency in investment systems and tools, and ability to learn internal systems
• Experience in financial planning and budgeting
• Unrestricted work authorization in the country where this position is located (The Foundation does not provide immigration-related sponsorship for this role)
• Ability to commit 10-15% to domestic and international travel
• Successful completion of a background check as part of the standard hiring process

Benefits

• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage with no premiums
• Generous paid time off
• Paid family leave
• Foundation-paid retirement contribution
• Regional holidays
• Opportunities to engage in several employee communities
• Inclusive and accessible work environment with support for employees with disabilities or medical conditions
• Commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion in all employment practices