Program Officer, Health Advocacy

AI summary

The Program Officer, Health Advocacy will support the Nigeria Country Office's health advocacy priorities across primary health care, immunization, and related areas. The role requires a strong public health advocacy background, understanding of Nigeria's health policy landscape, and experience working with government partners. This is a contract position based in Abuja.

• Requires 6 years experience and MBA/MSc/MA
• Focus on influencing health policy and financing decisions in Nigeria
• Contract role based in Abuja with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Original source description

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF or the Gates Foundation) is the largest private foundation in the world, founded by Bill and Melinda Gates. It was launched in 2000 and is said to be the largest transparently operated private foundation in the world. The primary aims of the foundation are, globally, to enhance healthcare and reduce extreme poverty, ... Read more about this company Program Officer, Health Advocacy Job Type Contract Qualification MBA/MSc/MA Experience: 6 years Location Abuja Job Field Project and Program Management Your Role The Program Officer, Health Advocacy will support the development and execution of the Nigeria Country Office’s health advocacy priorities, with a particular focus on advancing policy, financing, implementation, and accountability outcomes across primary health care, immunization, polio, malaria, family planning, maternal, newborn and child health, nutrition, and related health systems priorities. The role requires a candidate with a strong public health advocacy background, sound understanding of Nigeria’s health policy and financing landscape, experience: working with government and partner ecosystems, and a demonstrated track record of delivering advocacy results. The successful candidate will be expected to move beyond general awareness-building and support advocacy that influences real decisions: policies adopted, financing allocated and released, implementation bottlenecks addressed, accountability mechanisms strengthened, and partners better equipped to sustain progress. This role is designed for a practical, execution-oriented advocacy professional who can translate complex public health priorities into clear influence strategies, support high-stakes engagements with government and partners, manage grants and consultants effectively, and help the foundation and its partners stay focused on the few advocacy bets that matter most for impact in Nigeria. This role is based in Abuja and will report to the Deputy Director, Policy, Advocacy and Communications. The postholder will work closely with Nigeria Country Office leadership, program strategy teams, Africa PGRP colleagues, Global Policy & Advocacy, communications colleagues, and external partners to ensure that advocacy strategies are politically informed, evidence-based, partner-led, and linked to measurable delivery outcomes. What You'll Do The Program Officer will support and manage a portfolio of health advocacy work that advances the Nigeria Country Office and PGRP objectives. This includes strengthening political commitment for priority health issues, supporting evidence use in policy and financing decisions, improving domestic resource mobilization and budget execution, strengthening coalitions and champions, and ensuring that advocacy efforts are connected to implementation and measurable results. The role will support PAC priorities across four core areas: agenda setting, policy influence, financing advocacy, and strategic communications. It will help ensure that the foundation’s advocacy work in Nigeria is disciplined, sequenced, and focused on outcomes not just activities, visibility, or convenings. Strategy, prioritization, and advocacy execution Support the development and implementation of Nigeria health advocacy strategies aligned with NCO priorities, PAC bodies of work, PGRP objectives, and relevant program goals. Translate public health priorities into clear advocacy objectives, influence pathways, stakeholder maps, partner roles, and measurable results. Support advocacy efforts that increase salience and political will for PHC, MNCH, FP, immunization, polio, malaria, nutrition, and other priority health issues. Help prioritize the highest-value advocacy opportunities and ensure that team efforts are focused on policy, financing, implementation, or accountability outcomes. Support politically informed advocacy planning, including analysis of decision-makers, policy windows, fiscal constraints, risks, and reform opportunities. Develop and maintain workplans, results trackers, briefs, and decision documents that enable strong execution and leadership oversight. Public health policy, financing, and accountability advocacy Support advocacy to strengthen federal and state commitment to primary health care reforms, routine immunization, polio eradication, new vaccine introduction, maternal and child survival, family planning, malaria, and nutrition priorities. Support efforts to improve resource mobilization, budget allocation, timely release, and efficient use of domestic financing for priority health programs. Work with internal teams and partners to ensure that advocacy follows the full financing-to-delivery chain, from political commitment to budget allocation, release, procurement, service delivery, and accountability. Support the use of scorecards, dashboards, investment cases, policy analysis, and other evidence tools to strengthen decision-making and accountability. Help identify and support platforms that can strengthen government accountability, including state-level mechanisms, technical working groups, multi-stakeholder forums, and relevant national or subnational policy platforms. Support partner and government engagement that advances practical implementation of reforms, not only policy adoption. Grant and partner management Manage or support advocacy grants and contracts, including strategy alignment, partner workplans, milestones, reporting, risk management, and performance tracking. Work with grantees and consultants to ensure advocacy investments are linked to clear theories of change, measurable outcomes, and adaptive learning. Strengthen partner capacity to deliver policy advocacy, evidence translation, coalition building, strategic communications, and accountability work. Support partners to align around shared advocacy priorities, reduce duplication, and strengthen coordination across platforms and issue areas. Monitor grantee performance, synthesize learning, and recommend course corrections where advocacy efforts are not translating into results. Ensure grantmaking and partner engagement reflect the foundation’s values, compliance requirements, and commitment to locally credible, partner-led influence. Strategic communications and evidence translation Translate technical public health evidence into clear, compelling advocacy messages, policy briefs, leadership talking points, partner toolkits, and external engagement materials. Support leadership voice and high-level engagements by preparing concise, decision-oriented briefs, talking points, background notes, and follow-up materials. Work with communications colleagues and partners to ensure that public narratives reinforce advocacy objectives and are grounded in evidence, local realities, and practical implementation challenges. Help identify and manage narrative risks, misinformation, reputational sensitivities, and contested policy issues that could affect reform momentum. Support communications that elevate practical delivery questions—for example, whether facilities are staffed, stocked, financed, and able to deliver services consistently to women, children, families, and communities. Cross-foundation coordination and leadership support Work closely with Nigeria Country Office leadership, PAC colleagues, health program teams, Africa PGRP, Global Policy & Advocacy, Communications, and relevant foundation business partners. Support preparation for senior leadership engagements, country visits, government meetings, partner convenings, and high-profile advocacy moments. Ensure follow-up from leadership engagements is clear, owned, tracked, and connected to team priorities. Contribute to regular PAC reporting, portfolio reviews, leadership updates, and planning processes. Support stronger coordination between federal and state-level advocacy efforts, ensuring that national priorities are translated into practical implementation pathways in priority geographies. Help the team maintain a clear line of sight between advocacy activities, expected outcomes, and foundation goals. Your Experience: Advanced degree in public health, health policy, international development, public policy, political science, communications, or a related field, or equivalent professional experience. At least 6 years of relevant experience: in public health advocacy, policy advocacy, strategic communications, government relations, or development advocacy, preferably in Nigeria or comparable African contexts. Demonstrated track record of delivering advocacy outcomes in public health, including influencing policy decisions, strengthening political commitment, improving financing outcomes, supporting implementation, or building accountability mechanisms. Strong understanding of Nigeria’s public health landscape, including federal and state-level health systems, primary health care, immunization, polio, family planning, maternal and child health, malaria, nutrition, or health financing. Experience: developing and implementing advocacy or influence strategies aimed at specific policy, financing, implementation, or accountability outcomes. Experience: working with government actors, civil society, technical partners, donors, media, and coalitions in politically sensitive environments. Experience: managing grants, contracts, consultants, or complex partner-led projects is strongly preferred. Strong analytical, writing, synthesis, and briefing skills, with the ability to translate complex technical information into clear, practical, decision-oriented products. Ability to work across multiple teams and issue areas while maintaining focus on priorities, timelines, and results. Strong judgment, diplomacy, collaboration, and relationship management skills. Ability to operate with ambiguity while bringing structure, rigor, and accountability to complex advocacy work. Demonstrated commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, respectful partnership, and locally grounded advocacy. Other Attributes Candidates should have valid work authorization in Nigeria; visa sponsorship is not available now or in the future. Willingness to travel domestically/internationally (30–40%) Health advocacy strategies are clearer, more prioritized, and better aligned with NCO, PAC, and PGRP priorities. Advocacy grants and partner workplans are better linked to measurable outcomes, not only activities or visibility. Priority health issues gain stronger political attention, secure financial commitments, or implementation follow-through at federal and/or state levels. Partners are better coordinated around shared advocacy asks, evidence, messages, and accountability mechanisms. Leadership engagements are supported with concise, practical, and decision-ready materials. Check how your CV aligns with this job Method of Application Interested and qualified? Go to Bill And Melinda Gates Foundation on gatesfoundation.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com to apply Build your CV for free. Download in different templates.