Assistant Director, Policy & Engagement, SMART4TB

We are seeking an Assistant Director, Policy & Engagement, SMART4TB who is a skilled policy advocate and excellent project manager who will help lead the policy and community engagement workstream for SMART4TB — a large and complex global research project. SMART4TB’s policy objectives span the global, U.S., and affected country levels, and require working both top-down with high-level policymakers and ground-up with community advocates to ensure the highest standards of tuberculosis (TB) care are available and accessible to all. Comprising writing, stakeholder engagement, strategy development, and project and partner management, this is a dynamic leadership opportunity for a motivated, collaborative policy professional. This position reports to the Director of Community Engagement & Policy, a member of the SMART4TB senior management team.

Project summary

• The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) launched the Supporting, Mobilizing, and Accelerating Research for Tuberculosis Elimination (SMART4TB) project. SMART4TB, an up to $200 million initiative over five years, aims to identify more effective methods and tools for finding, treating, and preventing TB in 24 priority countries for TB programming. This is a grant-funded position through July 2027 contingent on the Agency’s continued support throughout the duration of the project period. This initiative will build research capacity in high TB burden countries by supporting studies that evaluate novel approaches, interventions, and tools to combat TB–including new diagnostics, new therapeutic regimens, and TB vaccine readiness and delivery. Led by Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, the SMART4TB international consortium partners are the University of California, San Francisco, KNCV Tuberculosis Foundation, Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, Treatment Action Group, Perinatal HIV Research Unit (South Africa), YR Gaitonde Medical, Educational and Research Foundation (India), Walimu (Uganda), Kyrgyz State Medical Academy, and Victory Network (Vietnam).

Policy

• Research, analyze, synthesize, and communicate effectively to effect policy change, including through writing policy briefs or drafting public comments.
• Support the development and implementation of cohesive and effective strategies for influencing policy at the global, U.S. government, and high TB burden country levels.
• Engage with and influence policy stakeholders from a wide range of sectors (academia, government, non-profit, and private sectors).
• Represent SMART4TB at both community and high-level meetings, including public speaking and diplomacy.
• Work closely with SMART4TB’s communications team to leverage communications capacity to advance policy objectives and publicize SMART4TB wins.

Project management

• Convene and motivate project partners to develop and achieve ambitious annual work plans, including monitoring and ensuring fulfillment of all deliverables.
• Coordinate and facilitate calls and virtual meetings with project partners, including taking concise meeting minutes.
• Foster strong communications with the leadership team and other internal project partners to support coordination, provide regular updates, and solicit input.
• Liaise with SMART4TB’s grant management and monitoring & evaluation teams to support grant reporting and project learning, including working with the Project Officer to track activities and compile reports.
• When requested, engage directly with the project funder (USAID) to provide updates and solicit input on SMART4TB’s policy agenda and strategy.

• Bachelor's Degree.
• Five years related experience.
• Additional education may substitute for experience to the extent permitted by the JHU equivalency formula.

• Demonstrated advocacy success in influencing policy at the national or global level.
• Proven experience effectively managing complex projects and developing and monitoring work plans.
• Experience leading coalitions and/or projects involving multiple partners.
• Excellent research and writing skills.
• Strong capacity for organization.
• Diplomacy and stakeholder engagement skills, including the ability to adapt communications style for diverse audiences.
• Capacity and interest to learn new topics and domains.
• Familiarity with Office 365 products (especially Word, Excel, and PowerPoint).
• Excellent judgment and interpersonal skills.
  

• Attention to detail as well as ability to develop a vision for the larger picture.