Innovative Finance Advisor

Job Location: Washington, DC     

Telework Eligible: Yes, at least 3 days per week in-person reporting at Washington, DC office.

Remote Eligible: No.

The Global Health Training, Advisory and Support Contract (GHTASC) delivers effective global health programming to advance the mission of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Bureau for Global Health (GH) through institutional support and workforce development services from junior, mid-level, senior and expert advisory, and administrative professionals.

Credence and its partner, the Public Health Institute (PHI), are both employers for GHTASC, and are seeking a Technical Advisor for Child Health under GHTASC. This position will be hired under Public Health Institute (PHI).

Summary Statement:

The Public Health Institute (PHI) is an independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting health, well-being, and quality of life for people throughout California, across the nation and around the world. As one of the largest and most comprehensive public health organizations in the nation, we are at the forefront of research and innovations to improve the efficacy of public health statewide, nationally, and internationally.

We are hiring for positions under the Global Health Training, Advisory, Support Contract (GHTASC) in support of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Bureau for Global Health (GH). These roles deliver institutional support services in a wide range of technical areas at the junior, mid-, senior, and expert levels.

USAID has a long-standing record of success in the development, introduction and scale-up of high- impact health products and interventions in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) yet working in these markets presents a variety of challenges. With myriad life-saving health technologies readily available in the 21st century, too few are accessible to people who need them in LMICs. Health technologies and interventions that do reach the last mile in places like sub-Saharan Africa often take years, or even decades, to get there. Because successful product development and introduction requires viable public and private markets with clear pathways to achieve scale, the Agency must rely on cutting- edge thinking to push boundaries and address formidable barriers to adoption, from limited user demand to market failures, which can prevent innovative technologies from reaching those most in need.

USAID’s Center for Innovation and Impact (CII) accelerates sustainable health impact through financial innovation, digital transformation, and market-based approaches.

To achieve its goals, CII:

• Works in partnership across USAID and with external partners to apply specialized expertise to accelerate impact
• Scopes and acts on opportunities where our specialized expertise can fill a key need, efforts can be catalytic, and innovative partnerships can be maximally leveraged.
• Works across health areas and geographies, sharing experiences and insights with the broader global health community
• Engages with the private sector to leverage private sector resources and approaches
• Uses a human-centered design approach and respects local voices to ensure that populations in need and end-users are always the focus of our work.

CII employs a range of market-based approaches, such as strategic and product introduction planning, market shaping, and innovative financing to accelerate impact. Financial innovation has grown in importance and prominence given steady/decreasing donor funding and increasing private sector investment in low- and middle-income countries. Stakeholders across the public and private sectors are increasingly interested in innovative financing approaches to catalyze new funding for global health and achieve health outcomes. Moreover, as USAID moves towards greater engagement with the private sector, innovative financing is an important component to help achieve development objectives.

Position Summary:

The Innovative Financing Advisor will primarily support CII within the Bureau for Global Health as a PHI Institutional Support Contractor (ISC). In this role, the selected candidate will play a key role in applying innovative financing approaches to crowd in new funders and funding to support bringing life-saving products and services to the people who need them most. The Advisor will be part of a dynamic team that will continue to help shape the direction of CII and position it as a leader in the innovative financing space in global health, build new partnerships, and support new initiatives as part of a broader CII financial innovation strategy.

The Advisor will be expected to leverage experience in innovative financing to develop and execute strategies that will unlock different sources of financing towards health goals. They should possess a good understanding of the range of existing blended and outcomes-based financing models that exist and offer a strategic perspective on new tools. They may be asked to present USAID’s technical viewpoints in internal or external meetings and cultivate strong relationships both internally with technical and Mission staff and externally with senior executives of companies, investors, foundations, development finance institutions (DFIs), and governmental, multilateral, and nongovernmental organizations. The role may involve periodic travel to USAID Missions (Country Offices), stakeholder meetings, or other activities related to the work.

The selected candidate will be a highly motivated individual with outstanding problem solving, analytical, project management, communication, and collaboration skills. The candidate must be able to function well independently and on teams and be committed to producing results. CII places great value on the following personal qualities: resourcefulness, responsibility, tenacity, energy, humor, and positive attitude.

Full salary range for this position is $97,500 to $152,620 per year, with the starting salary determined based on candidate’s knowledge, skills, experience, as well as budget availability.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Support the development of knowledge products (e.g., toolkits, guides, publications, etc.) to translate opportunities in financial innovation for global health programs at USAID
• Engage with stakeholders within the GHB, across inter-agency as well as external partners; Provide support to USAID’s leadership, technical offices in the Global Health Bureau and Missions, ensuring they have tools needed to support the development and implementation of new financing tools.
• Support development of innovative financing mechanisms and approaches to crowd in new funders and funding to accelerate rapid deployment and sustainable uptake of priority global health products and interventions. This may include deal scoping, conducting due diligence, and identifying co-investors among development finance institutions, venture funds, impact investors, commercial banks, and others.
• Present USAID technical viewpoints at relevant meetings with external parties and conferences.
• Where needed and appropriate, apply expertise and establish or support initiatives in market shaping, private sector engagement (PSE), and other market-based solutions that can accelerate rapid deployment and sustainable uptake of priority global health products and interventions.
• Contribute to the Center’s team-building and supportive culture, such as troubleshooting across specialization areas and projects.
• Identify and support opportunities and new initiatives as priorities as the Center evolves.
• Prepare reports, project plans, leadership talking points, briefers, and templates as needed.
• Work at least 3 days per week in-person at Washington, DC office.
• Ability to travel both domestically and internationally up to 20% of the time.
• Perform other duties as required.

Qualification Requirements:

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Master’s degree with 6 years of relevant experience, bachelor’s degree with 8 years of relevant experience, Associate’s degree and 10 years of relevant experience, or High School graduate and 12 years of relevant experience.
• US Citizenship or US Permanent Residency with the ability to obtain and maintain a Facility Access clearance is required. For Permanent Residents, this means having resided in the US for at least 3 of the past 5 years

Other Qualifications:

• 3 - 5 years of professional experience engaging in financing, finance transactions, or working on innovative financing transaction design and execution within a government, non-profit organization/think tank, investment fund, or other private sector entity.
• Experience and ability to leverage expertise in innovative financing and/or market dynamics against social impact goals.
• A good understanding of the range of existing blended and outcomes-based financing models and market incentives that exist and the ability to offer a strategic perspective on new tools
• Proven ability to be a strong team player.
• Exceptional analytical and communication (written and verbal) skills.
• Entrepreneurial mindset, including ability to think strategically, operate independently, self- motivate, be flexible, and set and achieve ambitious targets.
• Demonstrated knowledge of global health preferred.
• Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to build relationships and communicate effectively with people of varied professional, cultural, and educational backgrounds.
• Ability to assess incentives, engage and influence decision-makers among multi-disciplinary stakeholder groups.
• Ability to absorb and synthesize into reports or PowerPoint decks, a broad range of information, including financial, regulatory, clinical, demographic, and scientific information.
• Detail-oriented with strong organizational and project management skills.
• High level of proficiency in Microsoft Office, particularly Excel, PowerPoint, and Word.
• Ability to work at least 3 days per week in-person at Washington, DC office.
• Ability to travel both domestically and internationally up to 20% of the time.

Competencies:

• Innovation: Takes initiative to propose new ideas/approaches and demonstrates ability to find new and better ways to accomplish work. 
• Client Service: Communicates with clients, handling any issues politely and efficiently; understands and is available to clients; maintains pleasant and professional image. 
• Accountability: Takes ownership of work responsibilities and holds high standards. Keeps commitments and takes appropriate actions to ensure obligations are met.  Pursues efficiency and effectiveness and adheres to organization policies and procedures. 
• Interpersonal Skills: Works in cooperation with others and communicates effectively with co-workers, supervisors, subordinates, clients, and other outside contacts. 
• Continual Learning: Assesses and recognizes own strengths and weaknesses; pursues professional development that is aligned with organizational role, contribution, and goals; proactively shares knowledge with others to foster learning across the organization. 

Prior to submitting your application, your resume must include relevant paid and non-paid experience showing dates held with month, year and hours worked per week for each position. Please ensure that all relevant experience and education is documented on your resume. There is no limitation to resume length; updates to resumes will not be accepted during the interview and selection process.