Senior Manager, Grants Design

Full details of the job.

Vacancy No

Vacancy No VN2509

Job Title

Job Title Senior Manager, Grants Design

Location

Location Geneva

Team

Team Grant design and partner engagement

Reporting to

Reporting to Director, Grants Design & Partnership

Career Step Level 4

Position title: Senior Manager, Grants Design

Contract type / duration: 5 years Fixed-Term contract

Location: Geneva

Department: Grants Management Department (GMD)

Team: Grants Design and Partnership (GDP)

Reports To: Director, Grants Design and Partnership

Career Step: 4

The Senior Manager, Grants Design sits within the Grants Management Department (GMD), specifically the Grants Design & Partnerships (GDP) team. GMD translates Gavi’s strategic and policy priorities into practical funding models, operational processes, and tools that ensure effective and accountable delivery of Gavi resources.

As part of the upstream design function, the role works closely with colleagues across GMD (including Senior Specialists for Grants Management Optimisation and Grants Effectiveness), the Country Delivery Department (CDD), Strategy & Policy teams, and—where relevant—Alliance partners and implementing organisations.

The core mission of this role is to translate Gavi’s strategic directions into clear, coherent, and operational grants designs. This includes shaping funding windows, designing application pathways, and developing guidance, tools, and templates that enable countries and partners to access and use Gavi funding effectively. The role ensures design choices are informed by data, operational realities, and lessons from implementation and contribute directly to the execution of Gavi 6.0 over the next five years.

• Design and refine Gavi’s funding models and grant structures
  , ensuring clarity, simplicity, and alignment with strategic priorities and programmatic needs across Gavi 6.0.
• Define eligibility rules, funding pathways, and application requirements that enable countries and partners to navigate the grants architecture transparently and efficiently.
• Lead the development, improvement, and maintenance of grants guidance, tools, and templates
  , ensuring consistent, user friendly, and operationally viable application and design processes.
• Coordinate across GMD, CDD, Strategy & Policy, and relevant Secretariat teams to ensure upstream grant design translates smoothly into downstream grants making and management, supported by clear processes, tools, and communication.
• Ensure grants design is fully integrated with Gavi systems and digital solutions
  , including the Grants Management System (GMS), and works closely with technical colleagues to align design changes with system evolution.
• Use evidence, data (including GMS data), and feedback from implementation to continuously improve grants design
  , ensuring insights are communicated clearly to stakeholders and inform iterative refinement of funding approaches.
• Support grants management transformation initiatives
  , including stakeholder engagement, change management communications, and transition planning to facilitate adoption of new funding models, guidelines, processes, tools, and systems across internal and external stakeholders.

Note:

The essential functions listed in this section are not exhaustive of the job responsibilities; other duties may be assigned consistently with the department needs.

• Typically, 8-12 years of experience in global health, international development, development finance, or related sectors.
• Demonstrated experience designing or managing grants programmes or funding mechanisms—ideally multi country, large scale, or operating within complex…