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 Postsecondary (PS) Courseware and Navigation team harnesses AI-enabled tools to remove widespread barriers that stand between learners and a PS credential that reflects their skills and knowledge and delivers sustained economic value. The team recognizes that some barriers are about learning itself, and others are about navigation—the ability for learners to move within and across fragmented systems with ease, cost-effectiveness, and recognition of the skills and knowledge they've gained along the way.

This team invests in AI-enabled gateway courses, personal advising, and learning mobility; taken together, these efforts support today's learners to build momentum across enrollment, persistence, and credential completion.

Application Deadline: Monday, August 24, 2026

Your Role

Given multiple talent needs across US Program, we are hiring two Senior Strategy Officers for the Postsecondary team.

One role will be for a 9-month limited term role responsible for leading strategy development and analytical support for the Innovative Models body of work within the PS Courseware and Navigation team, as well as flexible strategy support for SPM, MLE, and additional bodies of work as needed. You partner closely with the Principal Officer for Innovative Models, the SPM and MLE teams, and other PS bodies of work as needed to design analyses, facilitate alignment, and create materials that advance strategic decision-making. You bring mastery-level expertise in strategy development, project management, and postsecondary sector knowledge to help the team translate emerging insights into clear, actionable plans.

The other role will be for an 18-month limited term role responsible for leading strategic operations, portfolio management, and leadership engagement for the Pathways Navigation team, including both advising and credit mobility, within the PS Courseware and Navigation strategy. You shape and support the implementation of the team's approach to increasing adoption of AI-enabled advising and credit mobility solutions so students receive accurate, personalized guidance across their postsecondary journey, advisors can extend high-quality support beyond traditional caseloads, and institutions can more easily recognize and apply the credit and prior learning students bring with them. You have significant experience in complex portfolio and program management and bring mastery-level ability to translate strategy into clear operational structures, compelling materials, and high-quality decisions.

As part of the interview process, we will assess candidates based on both their interests and the evolving needs of these workstreams. If you have a strong preference for either role, please indicate it in your cover letter.

What You'll Do

INNOVATIVE MODELS ROLE

• Lead discrete, time-bound strategy development projects for the Innovative Models body of work, and critical strategic workstreams for SPM, MLE, and other PS bodies of work as directed by relevant deputy directors, structuring complex problems, testing underlying assumptions, and generating evidence-based recommendations.

• Serve as a connective resource between strategy officers across PS, including facilitating the monthly strategy officer meeting and reducing duplication of effort across teams.

PATHWAYS NAVIGATION ROLE

• Lead strategic operations and portfolio management for the Pathways Navigation team, including advising and credit mobility, providing comprehensive project management, investment planning, and alignment support that enables the team to implement an ambitious portfolio of activities and investments.

• Lead the operations and insights function for the Pathways Navigation team, overseeing team culture initiatives, pulse surveys, and operating model updates.

BOTH ROLES

• Design and conduct qualitative and quantitative analyses in support of strategy exploration and decisions, tracking progress against specific, measurable outcomes and communicating findings with clarity and rigor.

• Lead pipeline and investment management activities, coordinating across program officers and internal stakeholders to maintain accurate portfolio views and surface risks; develop and manage investments as needed, including due diligence and written funding recommendations.

• Facilitate stakeholder engagement to inform strategy work and drive alignment across internal and external partners, proactively surfacing and resolving misalignments, gaps, and emerging tensions in strategy and execution.

• Create and lead communication of strategy, analyses, and portfolio findings for internal leadership and external partners, including division leadership updates, quarterly strategy check-ins, briefing materials, and executive presentations that translate complex bodies of work into clear, cogent narratives.

• Provide complex project management support across multiple workstreams, adjusting priorities and approaches in response to shifting context; manage team meetings, retreats, and partner convenings, and problem-solve with programmatic staff on strategic and operational challenges.

• Actively adopt AI-enabled tools to enhance and accelerate strategy work, bringing curiosity and initiative to identifying new approaches that create leverage.

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

Your Experience

• An advanced degree or equivalent demonstrated experience, preferably in strategy consulting, public policy, education, economics, or a related field.

• Significant experience in strategy development, structured problem-solving, and end-to-end program or portfolio management within a complex organization, with the ability to define measurable outcomes and track progress against them with rigor.

• Significant experience conducting qualitative and quantitative analysis and synthesizing findings into executive-level communications, including mastery level written, verbal, and visual presentation skills that structure materials to the decision or action needed from the audience.

• Experience working in or closely with postsecondary institutions, state education agencies, technology developers, intermediary organizations, or organizations focused on innovative models in higher education, with demonstrated ability to build collaborative relationships and exercise informal influence across a complex, matrixed organization and diverse external partners.

• Significant experience building and adapting operational systems and processes, including investment pipelines, portfolio tracking, and team operating models, and developing and managing investments, including due diligence and written funding recommendations.

• Demonstrated growth orientation and openness to feedback, with curiosity and initiative in identifying and deploying new tools and approaches, including AI-enabled solutions, that create greater leverage for high-impact work.

#LI-PA1

**Must have unrestricted work authorization in the country where this position is located. The Foundation does not provide immigration-related sponsorship for this role. This includes direct company sponsorship and any work authorization requiring a written submission or other immigration support from the company (eg: H-1B, O-1, L-1, E, OPT, STEM-OPT, CPT, TN, J-1, etc.).

The salary range for this role is $190,100 to $294,700 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 $209,100 to $324,100 USD. As a mission-driven organization, we strive to balance competitive pay with our mission. New hire salaries are typically between the salary range minimum and midpoint. Actual placement in the range will depend on a candidate’s job-related skills, experience, and expertise, as evaluated during the interview process.

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.