Senior Program Officer, Competency and Skills Genome Accelerator (2 Year LTE)

The Foundation

We are the largest nonprofit fighting poverty, disease, and inequity around the world. Founded on a simple premise: people everywhere, regardless of identity or circumstances, should have the chance to live healthy, productive lives. We believe our employees should reflect the rich diversity of the global populations we aim to serve. We provide an exceptional benefits package to employees and their families which include comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage with no premiums, generous paid time off, paid family leave, foundation-paid retirement contribution, regional holidays, and opportunities to engage in several employee communities. As a workplace, we’re committed to creating an environment for you to thrive both personally and professionally.

The Team

USP Data team works to unlock the full potential of data and artificial intelligence to improve educational and economic outcomes. Our vision is that by 2045, all learners and the adults who support them are empowered by safe, evidence-based, AI-enabled solutions that deliver personalized experiences and universally recognized skills – enabling them to navigate pathways, move across institutions, and thrive in meaningful work. To achieve this, we invest in three catalytic areas: AI solution enablement, trusted evidence for AI in education, and dynamic feedback systems. We amplify this work through investing in focus geographies, driving strategic partnerships with hyperscalers and co-funders, and supporting other teams within U.S. Program in using data and AI to drive equitable impact.

*This position is a limited-term position for 24 months*

Your Role
As the Senior Program Officer, Competency and Skills Genome Accelerator (CSGA) you will be at the forefront of transforming the education-to-workforce data and AI ecosystem to advance equity and opportunity for all learners. In this critical role, you will build  essential public good infrastructure to support AI-native data systems that strengthen feedback loops – helping districts and postsecondary institutions access timely insights and collaborate more effectively across sectors to improve long-term regional outcomes.

You will lead the development and launch of the Competency and Skills Genome Accelerator initiative, partnering with field experts in AI in education, knowledge graph development, learning science, and skills taxonomies to co-develop a dynamic AI-native public knowledge graph connecting skills, assessments, credentials, and job data. You will implement and integrate critical public goods into existing and new education tech solutions, including but not limited to assessment of learning, college and career advising and navigational supports. Serving as a thought partner to other program strategy teams within the division, you will advise on how to integrate Data-developed public goods into their work, including knowledge graphs. You will report to the Deputy Director, Data & AI Infrastructure.

What You'll Do

• Serve as a technical resource to the division on education and workforce data.

• Negotiate, execute, and handle a complex portfolio of grants or performance-based contracts to improve data infrastructure and integration of AI-native tools into education technology solutions.

• Develop, manage, resource, and implement a portfolio that aligns with foundation strategy and is operationally integrated with other foundation programs.

• Review letters of inquiry and grant proposals; provide clear, concise, and insightful written analyses and recommendations for funding, including drafting and editing proposal summaries and progress reports for existing grants for review by foundation leadership.

• Consult with grantees to achieve the desired impact of grants by conducting site visits when appropriate, providing technical guidance, convening meetings, and applying and evaluating milestone-based performance objectives.

• Contribute to the design of new or refine existing strategies, collaborations, and implementation plans to ensure long-term sustainability and impact.

• Represent the U.S. Program and the foundation through clear and consistent communication with grantees and partners related to education and workforce data.

• Support inclusive culture through modeling behaviors and actions; escalate issues in a timely fashion to appropriate stakeholders.

Your Experience

• Advanced degree required with demonstrated experience or equivalent.

• Demonstrated experience building competency and/or skills framework and taxonomies, including working with existing skills data developers or providers