Deputy Director, Strategy, Planning and Management - Gender Equality

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 Gender Equality (GE) Division's mission is to ensure women and girls in Africa and South Asia can enjoy good health, make their own choices, earn their own money, and be leaders in their societies. When women and girls have an equal chance to thrive and lead, everyone benefits. This role partners with two specific teams within the GE Division:

1. The Data and Technology Adoption team (DATA) strengthens decision-making to improve the health and well-being of women and girls. Operating as both an investment maker and a functional service provider, the team works across three strategic pillars: providing deep functional expertise to program strategy teams (PSTs) and regional country offices (RCOs) to accelerate impact; developing public goods and platforms with high impact potential and multi-PST relevance; and exploring and incubating new paths to improve women's and girls' health and economic outcomes. We also partner with other functional teams across the division to bring the power of DATA's capabilities alongside other gender equality priorities.

2. The Adolescent Learning Agenda & Women Leaders (ALAWL) team invests in an enabling environment for women and girls to live healthy and prosperous lives. We do this by generating evidence to inform decision makers, empowering trusted leaders, and shifting social norms that shape their world from adolescence into adulthood. We fund trusted, cost-effective platforms, including entertainment media, and networks of leaders that other PSTs can leverage to advance the Foundation's goals. We co-create culturally relevant solutions by building partnerships with trusted faith and cultural champions and leadership coalitions.We prioritize reaching women and girls at two critical inflection points: adolescence and in the workplace.

Your Role

As the Deputy Director, Strategy, Planning, and Management (DDSPM) you will lead the team’s strategic, financial, and operational functions, acting as a key advisor to the Directors and Leadership Teams while connecting strategy to day-to-day business operations. You lead specific business processes, such as oversight of strategy, annual planning and budgeting, ongoing pipeline and portfolio management, business analysis, and the coordination of business strategies across the foundation. This role leads the team’s annual strategic planning and reporting cycles, including preparation of materials for the Executive Leadership Team. You’ll also coordinate with peers across the Gender Equality division and other teams, contribute to foundation-wide strategy efforts, and engage in a community of practice with the Foundation Strategy Office.

 

For this specific DDSPM opportunity you will be working across two distinct, yet complementary teams within the Gender Equality Division – Data & Technology Adoption (DATA) and Adolescent Learning & Women Leaders (ALAWL). Both teams operate as both investment makers and functional service and technical expertise providers. This is an exciting opportunity to focus on the key enablers that power gender equality and to work in partnership with the Directors and leadership teams guiding each team and elevating shared team priorities for impact. This is a newly scoped role in this way and has the potential to build something new and innovative across these two teams.

 

We are looking for an individual who enjoys the opportunity to work on complex problems and collaboratively create solutions that have the potential for transformational change in the lives of people around the world. The DDSPM will bring senior strategy, business operations, and global development expertise to guide portfolio-, initiative-, and investment-level decision making.

 

What You’ll Do

Strategy refinement and measurement

• Work closely with the team to define and articulate strategy and investment priorities.
• Serve as a core member of the leadership team, including helping build an effective leadership team culture, leading on developing answers to cross-cutting strategic questions and advising on data-driven investment decisions
• Manage the development of team and BOW goals, including tracking performance against these goals, identifying risks and strategic tradeoffs
• Proactively identify emerging opportunities, risks, and strategic questions that may impact the team or division, and develop recommendations that help leadership make informed decisions.
• Lead content development for chair, CEO, and President-level strategy meetings, learning sessions, and other materials – work collaboratively with the Director and program staff to define an overall storyline, and oversee development of materials
• Lead annual strategy review and/or annual planning process, including articulation of strategic priorities, tradeoffs, and development of execution plans as required

 

Strategy execution and business operations

• Lead and influence complex initiatives that require coordination across multiple teams, functions, regions, and leadership levels, often without formal authority.
• Partner with program managers and broader business teams on annual planning processes, defining priorities, lessons-learned, trade-offs, and forward-looking budget allocation aligned to strategic goals
• Drive integrated business planning across strategy, organizational priorities, talent, operations, and resource management, ensuring interconnected workstreams are aligned, sequenced appropriately, and translated into a clear path forward for the teams.
• Partner with business partners from financial planning & analysis (FP&A), Grants & Contract Services (GCS), and Legal teams to manage overall pipeline of investments – tracking against both teams’ annual budget
• Manage the investment idea generation process to ensure that investments align with the strategy and partnering with program officers to provide information required by leadership team to make decisions
• Advise on development of major grants and other major cross-cutting programmatic work
• Navigate a wide range of operational issues with solid experience and understanding of core business and organizational fields (e.g., legal, financial planning, human resources)
• Develop and manage strong partnerships and relationships inside and outside the organization, manage conflicts, and build consensus

 

Serving as a trusted advisor to the Directors

• Act as a trusted thought partner to the Directors on a broad range of topics – including iterative refinement of overall strategic direction and priorities, leadership engagement, team management and culture, and cross-foundation partnerships
• Operate with a strong ownership mentality, independently identifying issues, proposing solutions, and driving action on behalf of the leadership team.
• Facilitate Leadership Team meetings and in-person gatherings
• Support relationship management with peer DDSPMs in other teams, with the foundation strategy office, and with other collaborating teams

 

Team development and people management

• Lead the Strategy, Planning, and Management staff, including full-time and contingent workers
• Partner with HR and leadership teams to lead, recruit, develop, and train staff as needed
• Promote culture, values, and team effectiveness, including regular team health checks
• Support Director with workforce planning
• Advance the leadership team’s annual culture priorities and DEI objectives

 

Cross-foundation/cross-division improvement initiatives

• Support development and coordination of a ‘one foundation approach’ including deep collaboration with regional country offices and related PSTs
• Actively engage with the foundation’s DDSPM community, and contribute to the design and execution of processes, policies, and strategic projects to improve efficiency and impact of foundation activities
• Represent the team in division and foundation-wide continuous improvement efforts, supporting design, implementation, and change management associated with evolving how we work
• Identify and implement opportunities to improve business processes, decision-making, and operational effectiveness through the thoughtful application of AI, automation, digital tools, and new ways of working

 

Your Experience

• At least 10 years of experience in business strategy, development, or general management, ideally from top-tier consulting or senior roles in large, international organizations
• Expertise in strategy development, implementation, and performance management systems, including knowledge and experience in the teams’ areas of focus, which include global health data systems, AI and digital connectivity, research methods, economic evaluation, and/or norms and culture user insights; in-country experience and/or grant making experience is a plus.
• Strong systems thinker and problem-solver, skilled in strategic planning and communicating complex frameworks
• Demonstrated success operating in highly matrixed organizations, building alignment across diverse partners, and delivering results through influence rather than formal authority
• Proven leader and coach, with experience managing teams to deliver on ambitious goals
• Excellent project manager with a track record of leading high-profile, cross-functional workstreams
• Adept at creating clarity, enabling informed decision-making, and managing resource trade-offs
• Strong relationship builder and connector, able to navigate multiple perspectives, identify shared goals, and mobilize people across teams toward action
• Comfortable toggling between critical thinking and hands-on execution
• Highly proactive and entrepreneurial, with a demonstrated ability to find opportunities, anticipate challenges, and drive work forward with limited direction
• Culturally competent, with experience working across diverse, multicultural settings
• Clear and compelling communicator, able to translate strategic priorities into action
• Familiarity with South Asia, East Africa, West Africa, and/or international development preferred
• This role is anticipated to include up to 20% domestic and international travel

 

The salary range for this role is $238,400 to $369,400 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.