Senior Communications Officer, AI Communications (2-year LTE*)

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 Communications Division, led by the Chief Communications Officer, oversees the foundation’s global communications strategy. The division brings together internal and external communications to advance the foundation’s mission to create a more equitable world. The Strategic Communications team leads global reputation and issue shaping that advances the foundation’s three goals and protects and strengthens the foundation’s brand through media intelligence; proactive/reactive media engagement and coordination; and always on monitoring and rapid response.

Your Role

The Gates Foundation is at an inflection point in its AI engagement. With a growing portfolio of frontier lab partnerships, active deployments across health, education, and agriculture, and foundation leaders increasingly visible as a public voice on AI for good, the foundation needs a dedicated communications strategist to support enterprise communications on the topic.

This role will work with the Deputy Director, Strategic Communications, and work across program teams, frontier lab partner comms leads, regional offices, and the broader comms division colleagues. The role is equal parts strategist and implementer — someone who can hold the big picture while driving execution across a complex, fast-moving environment.

*This position is a limited-term position for 24 months. Relocation will be provided.

Application Deadline: July 15, at 8:59pm PDT

What You’ll Do

• Develop a clear, differentiated foundation narrative on AI for Good. Develop positioning statements, FAQs, narrative frameworks that can be adapted across audiences and formats.
• Conduct a full audit of upcoming moments — partnership announcements, product/relationship milestones, speaking opportunities, global convenings — and develop a peaks-and-valleys editorial calendar that creates sustained narrative presence
• Define a POV for broader public audiences — not just policy and philanthropy insiders — on why AI for global equity matters and what's at stake
• Develop and lead the execution of a proactive media strategy for the foundation's work on AI. Includes the development of relevant media resources, journalist relationship development, outlet prioritization, and collaboration with other divisions and regions on proactive storytelling around AI.
• Identify and develop opportunities for foundation voices to lead on AI — op-eds, essays, panel appearances, keynotes, podcasts.
• Develop a pipeline of stories that connect our AI partnerships to real-world impact.
• Lead integration of AI communications into the foundation's priority campaigns.
• Convene colleagues in the communications division to discuss the strategy and how to implement it across functions.
• Work with regional communications teams to share the strategy framework and support adaptation for local geographies, audiences, and political contexts
• Participate in enterprise AI conversations and interact with senior AI leaders at the foundation representing the communications team.

Your Experience

• Bachelor’s degree required with 10+ years of experience or equivalent.
• Experience working with frontier AI and/or emerging technology organizations on communications.
• Global health or international development experience in a foundation, multilateral, or government organization.
• Strong initiative, organizational skills, and ability to work autonomously and cross-functionally while remaining flexible to changing tasks, priorities, and roles and responsibilities.
• Proven ability to handle complex, multi-stakeholder initiatives with distributed leadership.

**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 $173,000 to $259,600 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 $190,300 to $285,500 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.

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.