Program Fellow, Marine Microbiology Initiative

Established in September 2000, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation seeks to advance environmental conservation, scientific research and patient care. The Moore Foundation is among the 10 largest foundations in the US and one of the largest private funders of environmental conservation and science in the world.

The Moore Foundation is devoted to the inspirational vision articulated by our founders: "creating positive outcomes for future generations." This vision guides our mission: to achieve significant, lasting, and measurable results in environmental conservation, patient care and science-globally and in the San Francisco Bay Area. A set of core values-impact, integrity, disciplined approach, and collaboration-directs our work.

The Moore Foundation carries out its work through the following frameworks:

Programs: This is the enduring management unit designed to achieve transformational change in a selected field of interest through a portfolio of integrated interventions (initiatives, commitments, grants and other strategic actions).

Initiatives: Initiatives are built around well-developed strategies for concentrated investments, focused on the long-term and achieving significant impact. Initiatives are characterized by a portfolio approach to grantmaking, and other engagements of the Moore Foundation, to pursue ambitious, large-scale outcomes.

Program Grants: The Moore Foundation funds experimentation, focused innovation and agile response to time-sensitive, high-impact opportunities in its areas of focus.

Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation
Headquartered in Palo Alto, CA
Over $5 billion in assets
Annual Foundation budget of ~$250 million
~80 employees
Three program areas
Environmental Conservation
Patient Care
Science
A San Francisco Bay Area Portfolio that focuses on these same issues locally
For more information, please visit http://www.moore.org/.

Marine Microbiology Initiative:

The goal of the Marine Microbiology Initiative (MMI) is to support research targeted at acomprehensive understanding of marine microbial communities including genetic diversity, composition, function, and the ecological role of microbial communities in the oceans and how they contribute to ocean health and productivity.

The Position:

The Bioinformatics Fellow position will be a 1-2 year term. 

The Program Fellow will:
- Contribute to developing strategy and implementation plans for the bioinformatics portfolio within the Marine Microbiology Initiative. The fellow will prepare needs assessment for cyberinfrastruture to support research and discovery by marine microbial ecologists. The fellow will also coordinate bioinformatics-related activities within MMI. (60% time effort)
- Help convene, facilitate and participate in meetings about cyberinfrastructure related to the MMI community to gather and disseminate knowledge, and produce meeting reports or white papers. (30% effort)
- Collaborate with MMI Program Officers on grants management related to bioinformatics and data management. (10% effort)

Key Responsibilities:

The Program Fellow will: 

- Help develop a strategy and the implementation plans for cyberinfrastructures related to MMI activities.
- Communicate with the research community, other funders, commercial vendors, and others to prepare a needs analysis for cyberinfrastructure that includes a description of ongoing or past activities and existing infrastructure.
- Convene meetings and workshops in cooperation with grantees and other funders as necessary.
- Maintain solid knowledge of the field and key emerging trends.
- Contribute effectively on a variety of Program- and Foundation-wide issues beyond the Initiative as required.

Experience and Education:

The candidate will have: 

- A Doctorate degree in environmental microbiology, bioinformatics, biology or other relevant field.
- Demonstrated knowledge and/or experience with computing environments and sequencing technologies.
- Demonstrated experience with using bioinformatics tools.

Competencies and Attributes:

The ideal candidate also will have: 

- Good communications skills including demonstrated writing skills.
- Demonstrated knowledge of the bioinformatics community and/or existing cyberinfrastructure that supports environmental science.
- A desire to promote and work on a complex partnership and multi-stakeholder project to achieve tangible outcomes.
- Ability to synthesize diverse points of view to develop solutions.
- Demonstrated strong teamwork and interpersonal skills, with ability to develop productive relationships with colleagues, grantees, and stakeholders. Collegial and energetic working style.
- Demonstrated comfort with and experience in public speaking and meeting organization/facilitation.
- Demonstrated ability and openness to quickly adapt and adjust strategy and approach to changing conditions.
- Personal motivation to support the Foundation mission and goals.
- Ability and interest in traveling to grantee meetings, site visits, and national/international conferences.

Compensation and Benefits:

Compensation includes a competitive base salary and an excellent package of health, retirement savings and other benefits. 

Application Process:

Interested applicants should send a cover letter and resume by email to jobs@moore.org. Please include MMI Program Fellowin the subject line.

The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation is an equal opportunity employer. All correspondence will remain confidential.