Program Officer, Road Safety Surveillance

Program Officer, Road Safety Surveillance

Vital Strategies 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, tobacco control, road safety, obesity prevention, overdose prevention, environmental health, and vital statistics systems building. Our programs are primarily concentrated in low- and middle-income countries in Africa, Latin America, Asia and the Pacific.

Job Purpose:

The Program Officer supports the Road Safety Surveillance team at Vital Strategies, within the Bloomberg Philanthropies Initiative for Global Road Safety (BIGRS). The Surveillance team works across approximately 30 locations in 13 countries in Latin America, Africa, and Asia, strengthening road injury data collection, quality, linkage, analysis, and use at city, state, and national levels to evaluate and inform policy and other prevention strategies to reduce the burden of injuries and fatalities from road crashes.

This role provides essential operational, administrative, and financial support to enable the team’s technical and programmatic work. The Program Officer serves as a key point of coordination between the Surveillance program and Vital Strategies’ internal functions, including Finance, Legal, HR, and Operations, playing a central role in supporting contract management, budget monitoring, meeting coordination, data tracking, and file management. The position requires close attention to detail, strong organizational skills, and the ability to manage multiple simultaneous workstreams in a fast-paced, multicultural environment.

This is a full-time position under the Brazilian CLT employment framework. The salary range for this position is BRL 73,500 – BRL 83,500. Preferred work locations are São Paulo, Fortaleza, or Brasília. Candidates based in São Paulo should be comfortable with a hybrid work arrangement. Candidates must be legally authorized to work in Brazil at the time of hire.

Duties & Responsibilities:

Program Operations and Administration -

Provide administrative and program support to the Road Safety Surveillance team;

Schedule, coordinate, and maintain records of meetings; distribute materials and supplies; and provide general operational support;

Execute logistics for meetings and workshops, including venue sourcing, travel arrangements, hotel bookings, visa coordination, per diem payments, and expense tracking in coordination with the Grants team;

Support coordination between the Surveillance team and Vital Strategies departments, including Finance, Legal, HSR, HR, Admin, and Operations;

Lead the Surveillance team's file management system organization and upkeep;

Provide ad hoc support as needed; other duties as assigned.

Contract and Procurement Management Support -

Assist in developing service agreements, consultant and contractor agreements, and procurement requests on behalf of the program;

Issue contracts and amendments, process invoices, and liaise with vendors on Vital Strategies procurement policies;

Support task and project management by tracking action steps and deliverables, with particular attention to consultant and contractor agreements and reporting timelines.

Financial and Budget Support -

Support program budget monitoring and financial management, including preparing monthly financial close reports, reconciling spending records against Finance team data, tracking travel and city implementation expenses, and supporting spending projections based on historical trends.

Data Tracking and Reporting -

Manage and maintain a suite of program trackers covering contracts, travel, city and national implementation commitments, Human Subjects Research (HSR) compliance, and core city data;

Manage and maintain the team's global repository of road injury metrics collected from BIGRS partner locations, ensuring data files are organized, up-to-date, and accessible; support production of executive summaries from underlying datasets;

Draft and format letters, tables, charts, maps, data tables, presentations, and other visual materials as needed.

Human Subjects Research Compliance -

Support Human Subjects Research compliance, including preparation and submission of protocols to Institutional Review Boards (IRBs), documentation review, and tracking of approval status and mandatory training completions.

Technical Support and Knowledge Management -

Support the development of technical guidance materials by conducting literature reviews and best practice benchmarking across the Surveillance team's core domains (data collection and quality, data linkage, and data analysis and use); synthesize findings to inform team recommendations and cross-regional learning;

Support tracking and records management for report development processes with external partners, including Johns Hopkins University;

Support the documentation and continuous improvement of internal team processes, including the development of standard operating procedures (SOPs) for recurring workflows such as contract generation, monthly reporting, and compliance tracking.

Other duties as assigned by the supervisor.

Qualifications:

Education & Degree -

Bachelor’s degree required in a relevant field, including but not limited to public health, global health, international development, social sciences, public administration, or related disciplines. Master’s degree preferred.

Skills & Abilities -

Strong organizational and project coordination skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities and deadlines simultaneously.

Strong attention to detail and accuracy, particularly in financial tracking, contract administration, compliance documentation, and data management.

Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite, especially Excel, PowerPoint, Word, and Outlook; ability to prepare reports, charts, presentations, and other program materials.

Ability to manage and maintain complex tracking systems and databases in an organized and accessible manner.

Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to communicate effectively across multicultural and cross-functional teams.

Ability to coordinate and collaborate with multiple internal and global departments, including Finance, HR, Legal, Operations, and Grants teams.

Demonstrated ability to handle sensitive and confidential information with professionalism and discretion.

Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, including the ability to identify issues, track deliverables, and support process improvements.

Ability to support compliance-related processes, including Human Subjects Research (HSR) and Institutional Review Board (IRB) documentation and tracking.

Strong documentation and knowledge management skills, including maintaining SOPs, repositories, and filing systems

Flexibility and adaptability to support evolving programmatic and operational needs in a fast-paced global environment

Experience:

Required -

Minimum of five years of experience, preferably in the non-profit sector.

Experience providing operational, administrative, and programmatic support to global and multidisciplinary teams.

Experience supporting financial monitoring, budget reconciliation, and expense tracking processes.

Exhibits strong professional fluency in both written and spoken English.

Preferred -

Familiarity with MS Project, MS Forms, or Smartsheet.

Background using tools such as Asana, Smartsheet, or Monday.com.

Experience with platforms like ChatGPT or Claude to enhance workflow efficiency.

Knowledge of Human Subjects Research compliance and Institutional Review Board requirements.

Working conditions and physical requirements:

The role requires flexibility to collaborate with colleagues across multiple time zones.

Travel within Brazil and to partner locations may be required for critical in-person meetings and program activities, up to approximately 10% annually.

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