Program Associate

Program Associate

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, cardiovascular health promotion, tobacco control, road safety, obesity prevention, epidemic prevention, overdose prevention, environmental health, vital statistics systems building and multidrug-resistant tuberculosis treatment research. Our programs are primarily concentrated in low- and middle-income countries in Africa, Latin America, Asia and the Pacific; the Overdose Prevention Program is our first initiative in the U.S. Please visit our website at www.vitalstrategies.org to find out more about our work.

Vital Strategies offers highly competitive compensation and comprehensive benefits. Vital welcomes and supports a diverse, inclusive work environment. As such, our commitment is to promote equal employment opportunities (EEO) for all applicants seeking employment.

The Position:

Vital Strategies is seeking a qualified candidate for the position of Program Associate to support the Bloomberg Philanthropies Data for Health Initiative’s Global Grants Program. The Global Grants Program launched in March 2019 to support low- and middle-income countries that are not part of the current Data for Health portfolio. The program provides funds to government and local experts, through a competitive process, to implement discrete projects which work to improve systems that collect, analyze and use data for public health decision-making.

The program is designed to follow the lead of the countries where we work, expand on lessons learned from previous data intelligence work, and promote regional collaboration among countries addressing similar issues, including the sharing of best practices and technical expertise.

The candidate or the Program Associate will primarily provide administrative support to the Global Grants team with ad hoc opportunities for exposure in the provision of technical support to Initiative partner’s and country teams . The Program Associate will report to the Senior Manager. The position is based in New York City. Applicants must possess valid work authorization to work in the U.S. at the time of hire.

Specific Duties and Responsibilities Include but are not Limited to:

Program Administration:

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.
Manage the Program’s applicant portal with tasks including but not limited to:
- Logging all grant submissions and monitoring applicants progress through acceptance/rejection
- Updating and assigning user accounts and access for reviewers
- Updating language and instructions for applicants and reviewers within the portal
- Opening and closing applicant portal for each funding round.
- Troubleshooting technical issues, working with the survey monkey team when needed.
- Conducting initial reviews of proposal submissions to ensure applications completeness.
- Corresponding with technical staff and initiative partners to coordinate a comprehensive review process for individual proposal submissions.
Develop materials to streamline all phases of the Program’s grantmaking process including but not limited to:
- Maintaining and organizing program filing structures; managing version control, file sharing, etc.
- Assisting in the creation and dissemination of process flows to operationalize organizational and program specific requirements with country teams and external stakeholders.
- Ensuring all relevant templates and forms are up to date and accessible; overseeing document retention, version control, and creating personalized templates when needed.

Project Monitoring:

Perform monthly outreach to in-country focal points to collect programmatic progress report submissions.
Review and translate programmatic reports with technical staff for assigned region(s), sharing relevant status updates with the Program Director regarding project deliverables.
Draft monthly reports on project activities for all projects within the portfolio in preparation for submission to funder.
Prepare monthly updates for inter-agency reporting, where required
Update relevant status trackers to monitor project activities (milestones, goals, challenges, etc.) in airtable, using word processing, spreadsheet or database commands and formats material as required

Communications:

- Collaborate with Vital Strategies communications team to ensure the program’s website remains up to date with relevant guidance and information for each funding round.
- Prepare tweets and other external facing communications to highlight project activities and milestones.
- Collaborate with Technical Advisors and country teams to prepare vignettes to highlight work completed in the field.
- Coordinate the translation of program documents for country teams and other external stakeholders.
- Contribute to the development of donor reports.
- Collaborate on the development of external PPT presentations.

- Draft and execute template consultant and service provider agreements using the automated contract building platform via DocuSign.
- Submit requests for purchase orders on all executed consultant and service provider agreements.
- Submit approved invoices from consultants and service providers to grants team for processing.
- Conduct background research and prepare materials as needed.
- Assist with travel arrangements for technical assistance trips related to Grants Program.
- Drafting letters, tables, charts, graphs, maps, data tables, presentations, and other visual aids as necessary
- Assist in the editing and formatting of project reports and related materials.
- Work closely with other program support staff throughout the Public Health Programs Division, the D4H Initiative and other administrative/operations colleagues across the organization.

Qualities and Qualifications:

Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field preferred.
3 years’ experience providing program support
Excellent organizational skills
Fluency in Spanish (written and spoken) to support Latin American region of work.
Excellent computer skills: proficient user of Microsoft Office suite (MS Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint); knowledge of Box file sharing and Airtable will be an advantage
Excellent interpersonal communication
Excellent written and oral communication skills
Ability to work independently and as part of a collaborative team

Adaptability to a fast pace environment with a demonstrated ability to engage varying audiences of internal and external stakeholders
Experience working for a Not-for-Profit
Commitment to building strong public health systems
Fluency in English (written and spoken)

APPLY HERE (apply online)

Postition: Program Associate

Deadline: 31/03/2021

Location: United States