Deputy Director, Ending Infectious Diseases
Seattle, WA, USA
USD 238,400-303,900 / year
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
The Exemplars in Global Health (EGH) program equips decision-makers with the evidence, insights, and practical “know-how” needed to accelerate and scale interventions that improve the health of the world’s most vulnerable populations. Working with a global network of partners, EGH identifies and studies exemplars and best practices across health outcomes, primary health care systems, and service delivery strategies.Through rigorous research, evidence synthesis, and timely analysis, EGH translates lessons from what works into actionable insights that help policymakers, practitioners, and funders strengthen systems, improve service delivery, and address pressing global health challenges.
We pursue this through:
1) The study of “positive outliers”—identifying countries or regions that have achieved exceptional progress in health outcomes and analyzing the drivers behind their success;
2) The study of emerging practices with global learning value, using prospective research and real-time analytics alongside implementation to meet the ambition of ‘learning by doing’;
3) The provision of internal advisory services to support teams in pursuit of the Foundation’s three goals toward 2045; and
4) External partnerships to scale exemplary practices with governments, policymakers, global health initiatives, and multilateral development banks.
Your Role
The Deputy Director, Ending Infectious Diseases in the EGH team will drive an ambitious research and learning agenda to accompany the foundation and its partners to eradicate polio and malaria by 2045, while ensuring that the next generation grows up in a world that never has to face many infectious diseases in the profoundly unequal way it does today. The role reports to the EGH Director and manages the EGH Ending Infectious Diseases sub-team.
The technical scope of this role comprises efforts related to the control and elimination of infectious diseases such as malaria and polio; uptake and scale of tools such as vaccines and diagnostics; disease surveillance; as well as other disease control and related priorities as agreed with the EGH Director. The DD is responsible for shaping and overseeing a learning portfolio that generates high-quality research, analysis, and actionable insights to accelerate the Gates Foundation’s Goal 2 (ending infectious diseases) progress towards 2045. This role will work closely with other EGH sub-teams to adopt the lens of health systems integration and requirements for Goal 2 to be ultimately achieved. This role will closely coordinate across EGH, including work matrixed to Health Systems and PHC, and AI and Digital Health Evidence & Learning sub-teams ensuring these approaches drive and sustain Goal 2 outcomes. It will also be matrixed to Policy, Partnerships and Communications sub-team, ensuring an end-to-end approach to scale learning adoption with critical government and other external patterns. It will work closely with the Women’s Health & Maternal and Child Survival sub-team, given linkages.
The Deputy Director leads a sub-team of technical experts across immunization, polio, malaria, and surveillance subdomains, fostering analytical rigor while ensuring alignment with broader EGH and foundation wide goals.
What You’ll Do
Hold accountability for EGH's contributions toward immunization and infectious disease control and eradication (Goal 2) priorities across the foundation, serving as a trusted advisor to the Director and other foundation leaders on Goal 2 strategy, evidence, and impact.
Work in partnership with other sub-teams to advance EGH’s contributions to additional foundation goals and priorities.
Provide strategic leadership in synthesizing complex evidence, shaping investment and research priorities, and ensuring that research outputs meaningfully inform policy, program design, and decision-making.
Lead a sub-team of technical experts spanning immunization, polio, malaria, surveillance and other disease control interventions. Foster analytical rigor and technical excellence while ensuring alignment with broader EGH and foundation objectives. Build a high-performing, inclusive, and collaborative team culture.
Serve as a recognized thought leader in the sector, identifying and cultivating new opportunities for EGH partnerships and influence in collaboration with the Deputy Director of Policy, Partnerships and Communications, and other colleagues across the foundation. Develop strong relationships with academic researchers, partner organizations, and global health decision-makers, particularly in LMIC settings.
Manage strategic relationships with key Program Strategy Teams (PSTs), Immunization, Polio, Malaria, EDGE (Enterics, Diagnostics, Genomics & Epidemiology), while maintaining strong connections with other teams contributing to Goal 2 outcomes. Develop a deep understanding of partner strategies and serve as a thought partner in shaping future directions and identifying opportunities for collaboration.
Allocate resources—including budget and headcount—across strategic priorities to maximize EGH contribution toward Goal 2. Regularly assess projects and investments through an impact-focused lens, making intentional trade-offs and working across the matrix to optimize resources, leverage synergies, and strengthen overall portfolio effectiveness.
Serve as a member of the EGH leadership team, contributing to strategic decisions across portfolios, advising on organizational and talent matters, helping navigate trade-offs, and providing counsel to the Director on priorities and direction.
Your Experience
Domain expertise (15+ years) in infectious diseases (malaria and/or polio preferred), immunization, surveillance, uptake and scale of diagnostics and vaccines, and/or other disease control intervention areas with experience in deep technical collaboration to drive evidence and impact.
5+ years in leadership roles with significant management responsibility, including building and managing senior-level teams. Track record of driving strategy and holding accountability for team performance, including budget oversight.
Deep experience leading research, learning, and knowledge-generation efforts, including familiarity with mixed-methods research, evidence synthesis, and analytical approaches.
Strong track record in translating evidence and technical insights into actionable recommendations for policymakers and other decision-makers.
Significant experience building and maintaining partnerships with key stakeholders including governments, multilateral and regional development banks, philanthropic organizations, academic institutions, and global health organizations.
Demonstrated experience working in low- and middle-income countries, with substantial experience in Sub-Saharan Africa strongly preferred.
Your Capabilities
Strategic Leadership and Innovation: Identifies emerging opportunities and risks related to infectious disease control and eradication, shaping strategy and translating evidence and know-how into meaningful health impact.
Technical Credibility and Judgment: Combines strong technical understanding with evidence-based decision-making to guide investments, research priorities, and opportunities for scale.
Analytic Proficiency: Strong proficiency in mixed-methods research, including design, analysis, and synthesis for research efforts, with particular focus on implementation research.
Collaboration and Matrix Leadership: Excels in complex matrixed environments, aligning diverse stakeholders and driving clarity, accountability, and results.
Stakeholder Influence and Partnership Building: Builds trusted relationships across foundation teams, governments, implementing partners, academia, and technology organizations to advance shared goals.
Executive Communication and Thought Leadership: Communicates complex technical concepts clearly and persuasively to technical and non-technical audiences, from implementers to senior leaders.
People Leadership: Builds and develops high-performing, inclusive teams while fostering collaboration, innovation, and continuous learning. Heavy focus on leading and managing senior-level experts.
Strategic Prioritization and Adaptability: Makes sound trade-offs, allocates resources effectively, and thrives in a rapidly evolving and highly visible field.
Interpersonal Effectiveness. Ability to build trust, influence without direct authority, and balance strategic rigor with practical execution.
Positive Mindset. Demonstrates intellectual curiosity, humility, integrity, and a commitment to collaboration, equity, and inclusion
Competencies for all senior EGH roles:
INVESTING FOR IMPACT: builds and manages partnerships to achieve goals; evaluations and manages potential risks of investments and projects; designs and implements portfolios aligned with the strategy; gains clarity between the foundation and the partner on a shared set of outcomes.
LEADING YOURSELF & OTHERS: communicates complex information and concepts simply; manages partner relationships and provides internal and external thought leadership; sets high goals for accomplishment and is able to work independently as well as with others to meet those goals.
COLLABORATING WITH PARTNERS: collaborates with potential partners in developing projects and proposals and in supporting the execution of their work; effectively represents and communicates the complexity of the foundation's work and details of strategy; represents the foundation to key external constituencies relevant to their area of expertise.
ADVANCING THE FIELD: creates collaborations among partners, governments, and funds to create systemic change in a field, with a lens on developing the evidence and learning most needed to improve the lives of the most vulnerable.
TECHNICAL & PROFESSIONAL KNOWLEDGE & SKILLS: applies and translates specialized technical knowledge and expertise in a relevant area of work in support of our strategies
*Must have unrestricted work authorization in the country where this position is located.
The salary range for this role is $238,400 to $303,900 USD. We recognize high-wage market differences in Seattle and Washington D.C., where our offices are located. The range for this role in these locations is $262,200 to $406,400 USD. As a mission-driven organization, we strive to balance competitive pay with our mission. New hires salaries are typically between the range minimum and the salary range midpoint. Actual placement in the range will depend on a candidate’s job-related skills, experience, and expertise, as evaluated during the interview process.
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Hiring Requirements
As part of our standard hiring process for new employees, employment will be contingent upon successful completion of a background check.
Candidate Accommodations
We’re committed to providing an inclusive and accessible hiring experience for all candidates. If you have a disability or medical condition and need an accommodation at any stage of the application or interview process—such as an ASL interpreter, alternative interview format, or physical accessibility support—we’re happy to help. Please contact HR@gatesfoundation.org with the position number and a brief description of your accommodation needs. Requests will be handled confidentially.
Inclusion Statement
We are dedicated to the belief that all lives have equal value. We strive for a global and cultural workplace that supports ever greater diversity, equity, and inclusion — of voices, ideas, and approaches — and we support this diversity through all our employment practices.
All applicants and employees who are drawn to serve our mission will enjoy equality of opportunity and fair treatment without regard to race, color, age, religion, pregnancy, sex, sexual orientation, disability, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, genetic information, veteran status, marital status, and prior protected activity.