The Senior Program Officer (SPO), AI & Digital Health Delivery will advance AI-driven solutions to strengthen primary health care and health systems in Africa. This is an individual contributor, limited-term (3-year) position based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, within the Exemplars in Global Health (EGH) team and embedded in the Africa Regional Office. The postholder reports to the Deputy Director, Leadership Advising, Africa, and provides technical expertise to the Ethiopia and Nigeria Country Offices.
Key responsibilities:
- Identify, develop and manage a multi-country portfolio of investments in AI and digital health that strengthen primary health care delivery (e.g. Ethiopia, Nigeria).
- Lead due diligence, define results frameworks, milestones and KPIs, monitor performance, and recommend renewal, restructuring or exit.
- Ensure investments show a credible pathway to government adoption, assessing recurrent costs, affordability and sustainability.
- Serve as day-to-day technical resource to country offices on the design, procurement, deployment, scaling and evidence generation of AI and digital health solutions.
- Strengthen government capability to identify high-value AI opportunities, procure and govern AI responsibly, and integrate solutions into routine systems and budgets.
- Advise on use cases across consumer, provider and program intelligence, ensuring new tools integrate with existing systems and workflows.
- Synthesize lessons from the portfolio into a practical evidence base on when and how AI and digital tools strengthen health systems.
- Prepare briefs, investment memos and presentations for senior leadership; build relationships with regional partners, government counterparts and academic institutions; map and coordinate the AI and digital-health ecosystem in priority countries.
Requirements:
- Advanced degree in public health, medicine, data science, computer science, engineering or a related field, or equivalent experience.
- At least 10 years of senior-level experience advancing digital and AI-driven solutions to strengthen primary health care and health systems in Africa and/or leading related learning initiatives; global health programming experience strongly preferred.
- Knowledge of primary health care delivery and health systems strengthening in LMICs.
- Grant making and portfolio management experience, including due diligence.
- Experience engaging governments, Ministries of Health, NGOs, implementing partners and academic institutions.
- Strong written and verbal English communication skills; at least three years' experience living and working in LMICs.
- Ability to travel up to 30% within Africa and globally.
Application deadline: 25 October 2026
HOW TO APPLY:
Apply online via the Gates Foundation Workday careers portal. Application deadline: 25 October 2026.
https://gatesfoundation.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/Gates/job/Addis-Ababa-Ethiopia/Senior-Program-Officer--AI---Digital-Health-Delivery--3-year-LTE-_B021783-1/apply