Careers FAQ

Absolutely! You can sign up on our LinkedIn page to receive job alerts filtered by job title, job location, and onsite, hybrid, and/or remote work. We also invite you to join our talent pool by uploading your resume—our recruiting team will keep you in the loop on career opportunities and foundation news.

You might also explore opportunities with one of our valued grantees and partners, who work in the sectors we support and whose job openings may align with your skills and experience.

Yes. In addition to our headquarters in Seattle, Washington, we have offices in Washington, D.C.; London, United Kingdom; Berlin, Germany; Abuja, Nigeria; Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: Johannesburg, South Africa; Delhi, India; and Beijing, China. All openings at our global offices are included in our job listings.

We currently do not. We discontinued our Gates Fellows and Graduate Associate Interns programs in 2021, but we may consider offering such programs in the future. We encourage you to check back periodically for updates.

For our entry-level roles, we typically look for candidates with 3 to 5 years of experience in a related field or similar type of work. We suggest that you explore job opportunities with our valued grantees and partners—they may offer entry-level or volunteer positions that would give you the kind of experience we look for.

We’re delighted that you’re interested in learning more about our foundation. Due to the high volume of requests, we’re generally not able to conduct informational interviews. A great way to learn more about us is to read about our work and our culture and values and view our employee profile videos.

Most of our job listings specify that an applicant must be able to legally work in the country where the job is located without visa sponsorship. We do sponsor visas in certain circumstances, generally only for certain leadership roles.

Diversity is a huge priority for our foundation. Women currently make up more than two-thirds of our 1,820 employees, and they account for more than half of our leaders. About 30% of our workforce is from outside the United States—78 countries in all. Our U.S. workforce is becoming more racially and ethnically diverse, with 36% identifying as people of color.

It’s easy! Our job listings and application process are entirely online. To apply for an opening, you simply create an account or sign in using an existing account. From there, you can complete a job application: Autofill the application by uploading your resume, use your previous application for a foundation job, or apply using LinkedIn. We do not accept resumes via email or postal mail.

Yes, you are free to apply for multiple openings. Please note that you will need to submit a separate application for each job.

You can check the status of your application anytime by logging in to your account. If we identify an initial match with your experience, one of our recruiters will contact you directly.

If we find that your application and resume are a good match with the open position, one of our recruiters will contact you to schedule an initial interview. If at any point you’re no longer under consideration for the job, you’ll receive an autogenerated email to inform you. We are humbled and honored by the enormous interest in working with us. Due to the high volume of applicants, we’re unfortunately not able to personally communicate with everyone who applies.

For security reasons, we don’t have access to your password. To rest your password, go to the job listings page and click Sign In to open a box where you can click “Forgot your password?” and submit your email address. You’ll get an email with instructions on how to reset the password. (Be sure to check your junk mail folder if you don’t see the email in your inbox.)

Most of our job listings do not specify a deadline. But even if a particular listing does not have a closing date, we encourage you to apply as soon as you are able.

Not unless we request it. Our system updates the posting date of a job even if we make just a slight edit or formatting change to the listing. If the listing number remains the same, you are still in consideration based on your original application.

If we find that your application and resume indicate a good match with the open position, one of our recruiters will contact you for an initial phone interview.

If that interview indicates to us that your skills and experience align well with the role, we will invite you to speak with a hiring manager (usually the direct supervisor for the open position).

The third and final stage would be a series of interviews with key members and leaders of the team you’d be working with.

Individual members of the team you’re applying to join will ask you questions to better understand your skills and experience and learn how you might contribute to our foundation culture. Each meeting typically lasts 45 to 60 minutes.

We’re interested in learning more about your interests and experiences and your passion for the work we do. No specific prep is generally required, but you can familiarize yourself with our work by exploring our website. If we’d like you to prepare anything specific for the interview, your recruiter will let you know.

We recommend business casual.

Yes. Employees at our seven international offices receive competitive salaries and generous benefit packages that reflect local practices in that country.

Our Seattle headquarters includes a primary care clinic, a fitness center with free personal training, free beverages and snacks, a cafeteria, and a coffee bar. Our other offices offer free beverages and snacks and a range of other amenities.