Program Operations Officer, Global Grants Program

Vital Strategies, headquartered in New York City, is an international public health organization. Our programs strengthen public health systems and address the world’s leading causes of illness, injury, and death. We currently work in 73 countries, supporting data-driven decision-making in government, advancing evidence-based public health policies, and mounting strategic communication campaigns. Vital Strategies’ priorities are driven by the greatest potential to improve and save lives. They include non-communicable disease prevention, tobacco control, road safety, overdose prevention, obesity prevention, , environmental health, vital statistics systems building, and multi-drug resistant tuberculosis treatment research. Our programs are concentrated in low- and middle-income countries and cities in Africa, Latin America, Asia, and the Pacific. Please visit our website at www.vitalstrategies.org to find out more about our work.

We believe our programs are strengthened when they are developed and supported by individuals with diverse life experiences, whose understanding of social and cultural issues can help make our work and workforce more inclusive. We encourage people of all racial, economic, social, cultural, sexual orientation, and gender expressions to apply. As such, our commitment is to promote equal employment opportunities (EEO) for all applicants seeking employment. People of color, women, LGBTQI+ people, people with disabilities, people who use drugs or are in recovery, and formerly incarcerated people are encouraged to apply.

Read about Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and Vital Strategies: https://www.vitalstrategies.org/diversity-equity-and-inclusion-at-vital-strategies.

Vital Strategies is committed to helping prevent the spread of COVID-19 and to protecting the safety of our employees. All U.S. employees will be required to be fully vaccinated unless the employee is approved for a reasonable accommodation due to a disability or a religious reason.

Job Purpose:

Vital Strategies is seeking qualified candidates for the position of Program Operations Officer to support the Data for Health Initiative’s Global Grants Program. Launched in 2019, the Global Grants Program provides funding and technical assistance support to low- and middle-income countries that fall outside of the current Data for Health focus country portfolio. The program provides funds to government and local experts through a comprehensive application process to implement discrete projects which work to improve systems that collect, analyze, and use data for public health decision-making. The Global Grants Program continues to shift and evolve since its inception, most recently integrating a new grant applications management platform, Fluxx, to enhance our grantmaking process.

The  Program Operations Officer is an integral member of the Global Grants Program, supporting the day-to-day operations of the Global Grants team in areas inclusive of but not limited to program operations and administration and project monitoring. One of the foremost functions of the Program Operations Officer will be administering and supporting the continued integration of the Fluxx grants management platform into the Global Grants program model.

This position is based in the New York City area, where hybrid office schedules are in place (minimum two days/week in-office).  The candidate must have eligibility to work in the U.S. at time of hire.

We offer highly competitive compensation and comprehensive benefits. The salary range for this position is $64,000 - $74,000.

Duties and Responsibilities:

Program Administration -

1. Support   the Global Grants team with administrative tasks, including monitoring correspondence related to grants and program inquiries, scheduling meetings, maintaining calendars, taking, and distributing meeting notes, and other tasks as needed.
2. Administer the Global Grants Program’s grant application portal (Fluxx) with tasks including but not limited to:
3. Administering the applicant workflow, logging all grant submissions, and monitoring applicants progress through technical review, feedback, and acceptance/rejection decisions.
4. Conducting initial reviews of applicant submissions to ensure application completeness.
5. Coordinating the opening and closing grant application rounds for each funding cycle.
6. Creating and assigning user accounts and access for varying user roles
7. Updating language and instructions for applicants and reviewers within the portal
8. Troubleshooting technical issues, working with the Fluxx team to submit tickets when needed.
9. Coordinating correspondence and engagement with Technical Assistance partners within the  Data for Health (D4H) Initiative  to facilitate a comprehensive review process for individual application submissions.
10. Perform routine system maintenance to ensure system records and contacts are up to date.
11. Performing necessary backend portal updates to reflect programmatic changes (programmatic focus areas, goals, and objectives)
12. Creating and updating SOPs and guidance documents for system users (applicant, grantee, administrators, reviewers, etc.)
13. Maintain program documents and  materials including but not limited to:
14. Maintaining and organizing program filing structures; managing document version control, file sharing, etc.
15. Assisting in the updating and dissemination of SOPs and process flows to operationalize organizational and program specific requirements with country teams and external stakeholders.
16. Ensuring relevant templates and forms are up to date and accessible; overseeing document retention, version control, and creating personalized templates when needed.

 Project Monitoring -

1. Perform monthly outreach to in-country project leads to collect programmatic progress report submissions via AirTable.
2. Review and translate programmatic reports via AirTable with internal technical staff for assigned region(s), sharing relevant status updates with team members.
3. Assist with updating country workplan documents.
4. Update relevant status trackers to monitor project activities (milestones, goals, challenges, etc.)
5. Collaborate with Technical Advisors and country teams to initiate project closeout procedures.
6. Coordinate the translation of program documents for country teams and other external stakeholders.
7. Contribute to the development of annual programmatic donor reports.

Other Program Activities -

1. Draft and execute vendor agreements, using contract templates in contract lifecycle management (CLM) platform via DocuSign.
2. Submit purchase order requests for executed vendor agreements to grants team
3. Review, log, and submit approved vendor invoices to grants team for processing
4. Coordinate  travel arrangements for technical assistance trips for external partners
5. Assist with editing and formatting project reports and related materials, preparing presentations and visual aids (charts, graphs, data tables, etc.) as needed.
6. Conduct ad-hoc background research  and prepare  materials as needed.
7. Collaborate with other program staff throughout the division of Public Health Programs and across the organization.

Qualifications:

   Skills and Abilities -

• Demonstrated organizational skills
• Fluency in English (written and spoken) required. Fluency in Spanish (written and spoken) a plus.  
• Demonstrated computer skills – proficient use of Microsoft Office suite (Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint); knowledge of Box file sharing and Airtable,
• Demonstrated interpersonal communication skills with the ability to engage varying audiences of internal and external stakeholders.
• Demonstrated customer services skills.
• Interested in global public health issues.
• Demonstrated written and oral communication skills
• Ability to work independently and as part of a collaborating team
• Adaptable to a fast-paced environment
• Ability to build strong, ongoing, impactful relationships at all organizational levels and across a diverse range of cultural, generational, ethnic, racial, educational, and social backgrounds.
• Demonstrated commitment to valuing diversity and contributing to an inclusive working and learning environment.

Experience:

Required -

• Minimum of four years of experience providing program support in an administrative or operational capacity
• Knowledge of and experience with CRM systems, experience with Fluxx grants application management platform a plus.
• Experience working in the non-profit sector, global NGO experience a plus