Senior Communications Officer – North America (Digital Strategy & Campaigns)

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 role sits in the North America Team (NAT) which develops and executes policy, advocacy, communications, and government relations strategies to build political support and advance domestic and global programmatic priorities that are funded by, or executed within, the United States, Canada, and the United Nations. The Gates Foundation is a nonpartisan institution. When we engage with governments on policy and legislative matters, we do so in compliance with applicable U.S. regulations, providing nonpartisan research, analysis, and technical assistance consistent with our status as a private foundation.

Your Role 

As SCO for Digital Strategy and Campaigns, you will investigate, develop, and lead innovative digital communications strategies that expand how the Foundation and our partners engage U.S. audiences on global health and development priorities. You bring strong expertise in digital storytelling, audience targeting, and campaign design. You excel at translating complex issues into compelling, culturally relevant concepts that resonate beyond traditional policy audiences. You provide strategic counsel to programmatic colleagues, grantees, and partners on how to effectively reach and influence priority audiences through digital channels and integrated campaigns. You help build and activate campaign concepts that partners and validators can plug into, driving coordinated engagement across a broader ecosystem of trusted voices. You are constantly identifying and assessing emerging platforms, formats, and approaches to strengthen how the foundation builds awareness, shapes narratives, and sustains support for its advocacy priorities. 
 

What You’ll Do 
 

• Work across communications, federal government relations, and program teams to align digital efforts with broader advocacy, policy, and narrative goals. 

• Monitor emerging digital trends, platforms, and audience behaviors to identify new partners and opportunities, translating insights into recommendations that strengthen the foundation's digital communications strategy in the U.S. and Canada. 

• Work with key stakeholders to define measurable campaign objectives, target audiences, and digital strategies, including new partnerships, to reach them. 

• Pilot creative approaches to digital storytelling, including partnerships with new organizations, content creators, and nontraditional media platforms. 

• Identify, evaluate, and manage agencies, consultants, creators, and digital vendors supporting campaign development and execution. 

• Develop campaign concepts that partners, grantees, and validators can adopt and amplify across their networks. 

• Partner with insights teams and vendors to apply audience research and performance data to targeting, messaging, and channel strategy, using a test-and-learn approach to refine strategies, improve effectiveness, and share key learnings. 

• Support partners and grantees in understanding and applying the latest digital trends to strengthen their own communications efforts. 

• Model behaviors that support an inclusive culture, escalating issues promptly to appropriate stakeholders. 

 

Your Experience 
 

• Deep understanding of the U.S. digital, media, and cultural landscape, with the ability to anticipate trends and translate them into forward-looking communications strategies.  

• Extensive experience leading digital communications strategy for advocacy organizations or political campaigns in the United States, with a track record of shaping high-impact, national or multi-state efforts.  

• Experience developing and managing partnerships with influencers, creators, and external organizations to extend reach and drive coordinated campaign impact.  

• Demonstrated expertise in designing and executing integrated, audience-first digital campaigns that influence perception, mobilize stakeholders, and drive measurable results.  

• Proven ability to lead complex, cross-functional initiatives involving multiple internal and external stakeholders, including vendors, with strong project management and execution discipline. 

• Comfort with complexity and ambiguity, paired with strong judgment and strategic decision-making. 

• Experience operating in nonprofit, advocacy, political, or other mission-driven environments, with a strong understanding of how communications drives policy and public engagement outcomes.  

• Ability to travel up to 20% domestic and international  

*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 (e.g.: H-1B, O-1, L-1,  E, OPT, STEM-OPT, CPT, TN, J-1, etc.). 

 

#LI-SC2

The salary range for this role is $173,000 - $259,600 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 - $285,500. 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 [email protected] 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.