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Deputy Director, Digital Transformation and AI Policy & Advocacy

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
AI GovernanceHybridFull-timeSeattle, WA

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is hiring for the role of Deputy Director, Digital Transformation and AI Policy & Advocacy, Seattle, WA (Hybrid). This is an AI Governance role in the governance, risk, and compliance field. Review the full details below and apply directly with Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Organization: Bill & Melinda Gates FoundationLocation: Seattle, WAWorkplace: HybridFocus: AI GovernancePosted: Jul 29, 2026
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is hiring for this AI Governance role in Seattle, one of the metros GRC Careers tracks for governance, risk, and compliance hiring. See other GRC roles in Seattle →

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 mission of the Global Policy and Advocacy (GPA) division is to understand and shape the public policy debates affecting the foundation's work, build support for its major program and policy objectives, and develop partnerships and alliances that can advance the foundation’s objectives nationally and globally. GPA works in close partnership with our colleagues in the Global Health, Global Development, Global Growth & Opportunity, and Gender Equality Divisions to build the environment in which all people have the opportunity to lead healthy and productive lives. Within GPA, the Program Advocacy & Communications (PAC) team partners directly with program strategy teams—such as Digital Public Infrastructure and Inclusive Financial Systems—to define and advance their policy and finance goals. The Deputy Director, PAC. Digital Transformation and AI Policy & Advocacy, will advance the policy and advocacy goals of two teams as well as support cross-cutting work on AI policy and advocacy: • The Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) team supports country efforts to design, scale, and govern safe and inclusive digital public infrastructure, including digital ID, data-sharing, and verifiable credentials. The team also ensures that AI-enabled services are built on trusted DPI foundations, and that people in underserved communities can access these services in local languages and contexts. To advance these goals, the DPI team invests in open-source digital public goods which countries can adapt and deploy to build DPI; technical assistance to help countries implement DPI and AI-enabled services underpinned by strong regulation and safeguards; research and measurement to inform policies and practical implementation strategies; and experimentation to demonstrate how DPI and AI can advance use cases in health, education, agriculture, social protection, and other sectors. • The Inclusive Financial Systems (IFS) team works to accelerate the buildout of inclusive financial systems by 1) helping governments and central banks craft policies and regulations which support the expansion of inclusive financial systems while also protecting users; 2) supporting the design, implementation, and regulation of inclusive instant payments systems (IIPS); 3) driving scale and economic sustainability by promoting pro-poor use cases, including government-to-person payments, wage payments, digital merchant payments, and productive credit; and 4) closing the gender gap in the usage of formal financial products. In addition, the position holder will provide strategic advice and support efforts across the Global Policy and Advocacy division with regard to AI. This includes contributing to GPA’s AI work across financing, policy, and technical assistance—focused on connecting fragmented efforts, clearing regulatory bottlenecks, and building government capacity to evaluate, test, implement, and govern AI at scale. Application Deadline: Friday, August 7, 2026 Your Role We are looking for a dynamic and well-connected leader to shape the future of digital public infrastructure, inclusive financial systems, and AI policy. As Deputy Director, PAC, Digital Transformation and AI Policy & Advocacy, you will work at the intersection of government, technology, and global development to accelerate the adoption of safe and inclusive DPI and AI—two of the most consequential levers for public service delivery, financial access, and inclusive digital economies. What You’ll Do Develop and execute the foundation’s DPI, IFS, and AI policy and advocacy strategies, while elevating DPI as a global priority for inclusive digital development. Manage a world class team of DPI, IFS, and AI advocacy and communications professionals. Serve as a trusted advisor to governments including central banks, ICT ministries, and ID authorities on the design, implementation, and governance of DPI and AI-enabled systems. Represent the foundation with global, regional, and country forums and agencies (e.g., G20, G7, UN, World Bank, IMF, ITU, AU) influencing the global policy agenda and positioning DPI as the default model for digital development. Serve as strategy advisor and help to coordinate GPA’s AI policy and financing work across divisions, connecting fragmented efforts in DPI, IFS, and other sectors to help build the external financing architecture and policy infrastructure needed for responsible AI adoption at scale in LMICs. Partner with the foundation’s Africa Regional Office, India Country Office, and South/South-East Asia Office to build vibrant South-South peer-learning platforms that enable countries to exchange practical lessons on deploying and regulating DPI and AI. Serve as an internal expert on DPI, IFS, and AI policy and advocacy connecting internal teams and external partners and shaping conversations across the ecosystem. Support the DPI, IFS, and PAC teams in designing, negotiating, and managing a portfolio of investments, ensuring clear outcomes and measurable progress toward safer, more inclusive digital systems. Cultivate a diverse, high-performing network of partners and grantees to accelerate global momentum around DPI. Partner with our DPI/IFS Resource Mobiliz

Location and market context

This role is based in Seattle on-site. Local candidates benefit from being close to Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's teams and regional hiring market. Confirm the exact in-office expectation and any relocation support with the employer.

About AI governance roles

AI governance sits at the intersection of policy, risk, and engineering. Teams are standing up model inventories, use-case intake and review, risk classification, and control monitoring as regulation and board scrutiny of AI intensify. Roles like this one are typically evaluated against frameworks such as NIST AI RMF, ISO/IEC 42001, the EU AI Act, and internal model-risk and privacy practices.

How to position yourself for this AI governance role

Strong candidates emphasize experience translating policy into operational controls, working across legal, compliance, security, product, and data teams, documenting AI system risks, and supporting governance processes. In your resume and outreach, tie your experience to how Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation would apply NIST AI RMF, ISO/IEC 42001, the EU AI Act, and internal model-risk and privacy practices, and lead with concrete outcomes rather than duties.

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