Director of Strategic Initiatives

Position Summary:

The Heilbrunn Department of Population and Family Health (HDPFH) at Columbia Mailman School of Public Health comprises of 16 full time primary faculty from a variety of professional backgrounds (such as demography, epidemiology, medicine, public health, law, psychology, social work, and sociology) that engage in a unique combination of research, teaching, scholarship, and service activities. Department faculty, staff and students engage with local and global collaborators to shape public health and population science research, practice and policy.

HDPFH maintains a diverse funding portfolio to support its work on sexual and reproductive health and rights, gender justice, forced migration, child and adolescent health, mental health, environmental justice, global health, and complex health systems. The Department’s current research portfolio totals $21 million in multi-year committed awards from private foundations and federal funding sources, internal grants, service agreements and gifts to support both international and U.S. based research, service, and program. HDPFH is seeking to expand its reach and impact by fostering new partnerships that address the Department’s historical strengths as well as new and emerging issues that will enhance its position as a global leader in impactful and influential public health and population science.

The Director of Strategic Initiatives is responsible for identifying, prioritizing and developing new public health and population science research and program initiatives based in the Department. This role advises the Department Chair and works with faculty and administrative staff to identify opportunities, select promising new ventures, build coalitions at Columbia and beyond, develop proposals, secure funding and plan successful new initiatives. This position reports directly to the Chair, Heilbrunn Department of Population and Family Health.

Responsibilities:

• Work with the Director of Research Administration to identify funding opportunities that align with the Department’s vision and priorities and advise the Chair on which to pursue.
• Serve as a thought partner with the Department Chair and Core team to identify and develop new initiatives and cultivate support and financial commitment to realize them.
• Convene relevant faculty, staff and external partners to develop rigorous, responsive grant submissions that extend the Department’s impact and reach.
• Lead and contribute to and coordinate grant writing for multiyear project submissions; coordinate with Department faculty, Grants Administration Team, and collaborators to compile competitive submissions and supporting documentation within University and sponsor deadlines.
• Partner with the Director of Research Administration with tracking and pursuing strategic initiatives.
• Conduct a landscape analysis of major funders and implementation partners that align with the Department’s Strategic priorities; develop and implement a strategy for regular outreach and update.
• Stay abreast of current global health and social justice funding opportunities and issues and advise the Department Chair, Faculty and Core Team on developments.
• In collaboration with the Director of Research Administration, provide technical assistance to faculty investigators and partners on developing detailed and feasible implementation plans and robust monitoring and evaluation plans for supported projects.
• Mobilize resources from multiple funding sources and develop areas of research in alignment with the Department’s priorities.
• Perform other related duties as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent in education and experience, plus five (5) years of related experience.
• At least five (5) years of experience in designing and implementing global health programs that align with one of the major thematic areas of the Department’s expertise (maternal, child and adolescent health; sexuality, sexual and reproductive health and rights; health and human rights; public health and humanitarian action; complex health systems).
• Demonstrated ability to build and sustain multi-partner coalitions across diverse disciplines, cultures and national boundaries.
• A record of successful fundraising, donor cultivation, and grant preparation for globally relevant public health and population science initiatives in an internationally recognized organization.
• Self-motivated, results-driven, customer-service oriented, deadline driven, and capable of multi-tasking.
• Capacity to work with a high degree of independence and in teams as a strong relationship builder within a multicultural environment.
• Excellent interpersonal, communication, organizational, negotiation and leadership skills.
• Strong problem-solving and goal-setting skills with capacity to take an innovative approach to solving complex problems.
• Strong writing, editing, formatting, and finance skills.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Graduate degree (master’s or doctoral) in public health, population science, or related field.
• Past experience developing or directing large multi-site public health and development projects operating across three (3) or more countries for at least five (5) years.
• Prior experience coordinating or serving in a leadership role on international advisory committees convened by bilateral and multilateral agencies with a public health focus.
• Familiarity with a broad range of public and private sector donor organizations, including their priorities, and funding cycles.
• Ability to contribute to the Department’s graduate degree programs through instruction and mentorship of graduate students and early career public health professionals (formal teaching is not a requirement of the post).
• A record of peer-reviewed publications in policy relevant to global health, education or social justice.