Deputy Director, Strategic Planning & Management

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation•Seattle, WA

3d•$238,400 - $406,400•Onsite

About The Position

The U.S. Program (USP) is pursuing Ambition 2045, an initiative to accelerate progress toward equitable upward mobility through educational attainment. This requires a significant shift in how the division aligns strategy, prioritizes investments, allocates resources, and drives coherence across a complex portfolio. The Office of the President (OOP) plays a crucial role in enabling the U.S. Leadership Team (USLT) to function as a cohesive and effective decision-making body. Within OOP, the Strategic Planning & Management (SPM) function is a vital enterprise capability that supports division-wide strategy integration, planning, governance, and organizational coherence. This function ensures that strategic priorities are translated into actionable plans, decision forums, and operating rhythms that facilitate high-quality, timely, and accountable leadership decisions across the division.

Requirements

Advanced degree in public policy, business, organizational leadership, education, management, or a related field, or equivalent experience.
Significant leadership experience (typically 12+ years) in strategy, planning, operations, management consulting, organizational effectiveness, or related functions.
Demonstrated success leading enterprise-wide strategic planning, governance, operational integration, and prioritization efforts in complex organizations.
Proven ability to translate strategy into actionable plans, management systems, and decision-making processes while navigating ambiguity and organizational complexity.
Strong track record influencing senior leaders, facilitating cross-functional collaboration, and driving alignment across diverse stakeholder groups.
Experience leading high-performing teams and fostering collaborative, inclusive cultures.
Must have unrestricted work authorization in the country where this position is located.
The Foundation does not provide immigration-related sponsorship for this role.

Nice To Haves

Experience in philanthropy, education, economic mobility, the public sector, or related mission-driven fields.
Experience supporting executive leadership teams, organizational transformation, or enterprise operating models.
Familiarity working across strategy, operations, finance, talent, and learning functions within multi-portfolio organizations.

Responsibilities

Lead the design and stewardship of division-wide strategic planning processes aligned to Ambition 2045.
Structure and facilitate annual and multi-year planning, prioritization, and budgeting processes across the division.
Translate division strategy into actionable operational guardrails, sequencing frameworks, and execution expectations for PSTs/FSTs.
Develop division-wide approaches for evaluating tradeoffs, prioritization decisions, and resource allocation options.
Ensure planning and governance systems enable alignment across strategies, portfolios, and leadership priorities.
Support integration between division-level goals and portfolio-level Bodies of Work (BoWs).
Design and facilitate leadership forums, governance structures, and operating rhythms that enable effective decision-making.
Structure division-wide decision-making processes that clarify ownership, escalation pathways, accountability, and follow-through.
Surface cross-portfolio implications, operational dependencies, and risks to inform leadership decisions.
Partner with finance, talent, and operational teams to align planning, resourcing, and execution processes.
Develop standards and expectations for core division-level planning and management deliverables, including dashboards, planning materials, and review processes.
Ensure leadership decisions are translated into actionable next steps, sequencing plans, and operational coordination mechanisms.
Strengthen division-wide coherence through integrated planning, communication, and coordination mechanisms.
Facilitate cross-portfolio collaboration forums that surface interdependencies, enable alignment, and support shared problem-solving.
Reinforce operating norms that prioritize enterprise thinking, transparency, early escalation, and shared accountability.
Support organizational change efforts by aligning management systems, communication rhythms, and stakeholder engagement approaches.
Embed Targeted Universalism principles into strategy integration, planning, governance, and operational decision-making processes.
Foster strong partnerships across OOP, PSTs/FSTs, HR, FP&A, and other operational teams to support division effectiveness.
Build and support a community of practice across SPM leaders within the division to strengthen strategic planning, governance, and management capabilities across the division.
Identify opportunities to improve planning systems, operational coordination, and enterprise management practices.
Support capability-building efforts related to strategic planning, prioritization, governance, and organizational effectiveness.
Influence talent development, role clarity, and performance expectations related to planning and management capabilities.
Model and reinforce a one-division mindset while balancing enterprise coherence with portfolio autonomy and context.
Operate effectively in a highly matrixed environment, influencing without direct authority across distributed teams.