Senior Advisor, AI Strategy & Ecosystem Partnerships

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation • Seattle, WA

79d • $328,400 - $509,000

About The Position

The Senior Advisor, AI Strategy & Ecosystem Partnerships will provide strategic guidance on the Foundation’s AI agenda and build high-trust, high-impact relationships with leading technology companies (including Google, Microsoft, OpenAI, Anthropic, Meta). Translate modern software/cloud capabilities and the best of new AI tooling into ethical, cost-effective programs that improve outcomes for underserved and disadvantaged populations, especially in LMICs (e.g., virtual doctor/self-care support for PLHIV and during pregnancy).

Requirements

• 15+ years as a senior Technical Leader or equivalent program leader delivering large software/digital/cloud programs.
• Deep fluency with cloud platforms (Azure/GCP/AWS), APIs, and data platforms.
• Demonstrated success owning executive-level, partner-facing relationships.
• Data-savvy and metrics-driven, comfortable with SQL-level insight.
• Excellent writing and executive presence.
• AI enthusiasm and literacy, eager to apply modern AI tools safely.
• Prior experience inside an AI lab or major cloud provider.
• Experience in LMIC settings, public sector, or regulated domains.
• Track record with localization and accessibility at scale.

Nice To Haves

• Open-source/community engagement in tooling, standards, or deployments.

Responsibilities

• Serve as strategy advisor to leadership, briefing the President and Chair on platform choices and partner roadmaps.
• Produce decision memos with trade-offs, budget implications, risks, and success metrics; run quarterly strategy refreshes.
• Act as the primary relationship owner with senior counterparts at major tech companies.
• Negotiate/manage MOUs covering model/compute credits, technical enablement, and social-impact pilots.
• Advise cross-functional Foundation workstreams and clear blockers quickly.
• Define vendor-agnostic reference architectures for data ingestion and privacy-preserving analytics.
• Embed equity-by-design practices in AI initiatives.
• Turn ambiguous opportunities into scoped programs with measurable outcomes.
• Craft board-ready narratives and represent the Foundation in senior forums.
• Maintain strict independence in vendor evaluations and manage disclosures as needed.

Benefits

• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage with no premiums.
• Generous paid time off.
• Paid family leave.
• Foundation-paid retirement contribution.
• Regional holidays.
• Opportunities to engage in several employee communities.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior