Principal Legal Counsel, Policy & Advocacy at Gates Foundation

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

"Guidance, Solutions, Integrity" describes the Legal division’s approach to providing responsive legal guidance supporting pursuit of the foundation’s mission and implementation of the foundation's programmatic and operational strategies. The Legal division delivers comprehensive legal services by providing efficient and reliable legal guidance, managing legal risk, and supporting the development of solutions to achieve the mission of the foundation and its affiliated entities.

The Legal division partners with our colleagues across the foundation to enable mission-driven work by maintaining an efficient, well-run global organization where employees can thrive and make their best contributions. Doing this well requires effective collaboration, strong alignment, and thoughtful planning across both operational and programmatic teams – as well as shared accountability for mitigating risk and optimizing the foundation’s operational resources.

Your Role

We are seeking a Principal Legal Counsel to primarily support our dynamic Global Policy & Advocacy division, with opportunities to collaborate across our Communications team, regional offices, and affiliated entities. In this pivotal role, you'll empower teams working alongside government partners and provide expert legal guidance on innovative grant programs. We’re seeking a resourceful professional with deep experience in tax-exempt organizations, campaigns, and advocacy, ready to shape and implement compliance strategies while navigating complex legal landscapes.

This is your chance to be a trusted advisor, driving creative solutions and mitigating risks in a fast-evolving environment. You’ll work side-by-side with passionate colleagues, embedding legal insight into operational priorities and advancing our mission to tackle poverty, disease, and inequity worldwide. If you thrive in collaborative settings and are excited to translate legal expertise into meaningful impact, we invite you to help us create a world where everyone has the opportunity to live a healthy, productive life.

What You’ll Do

• Understand and support the objectives of fast-paced and demanding internal client groups, develop creative solutions, and resolve issues using the appropriate legal framework and in consideration of the foundation's values and risk philosophy.

• Serve as legal relationship manager for several program teams engaged in grantmaking, direct government engagement, and public facing campaigns, proactively identifying legal challenges and crafting business-oriented solutions.

• Advise on high-impact issues including global government engagement, public relations, lobbying, electioneering, and reputational risk.

• Demonstrate generalist expertise to identify legal issues and collaborate, where appropriate, with other legal team members or foundation stakeholders to lead the resolution of complex and strategic legal issues in compliance with applicable laws and regulations, and foundation policy and process.

• Establish a relationship of trust with key partners and participate as a strategic advisor with regular touchpoints for communication.

• Collaborate with the Legal Leadership Team and broader legal team to ensure effective coverage, work allocation and communication regarding legal issues related to the foundation, all from a “one team” perspective.

• Facilitate compliance with and ensure current knowledge regarding applicable domestic and foreign legal and regulatory requirements in countries where the foundation maintains a legal presence or is otherwise active.

• Oversee legal structuring and negotiations of transactions and partnerships, including advocacy grants, campaigns, media agreements, and intellectual property matters.

• Lead education and training for foundation leadership and staff on key legal and compliance matters, ensuring knowledge transfer and consistent application of legal principles.

• Stay abreast of legal developments and provide thought leadership on evolving laws affecting private foundations, advocacy, digital communication, and nonprofit governance.

• Engage in a moderate amount of travel, primarily internationally, particularly to locations where the foundation has an office or presence.

Your Experience

• Juris Doctor degree and current bar membership in good standing are required. A minimum of 10 years of experience in the practice of law.

• Deep expertise in legal frameworks governing U.S. tax-exempt organizations, political advocacy, communications law, and nonprofit governance.

• Proven ability to operate at a senior level with strong strategic thinking, business acumen, and judgment in ambiguous or high-risk environments.

• History of effectively serving a demanding client base in a complex and fast-paced work environment.

• Excellent drafting, negotiation, and advisory skills, including the ability to translate complex legal concepts into clear guidance for non-legal audiences.

• Experience leading legal responses to regulatory or reputational crises.

• Skilled at navigating diverse perspectives and fostering collaboration across functions and cultures.

• Commitment to the foundation’s mission and values, with a deep understanding of the intersection between law, policy, equity, and philanthropy.

• Strong business sense and client focus.

• Ability to work with flexibility, efficiency, enthusiasm, and diplomacy both individually and collaboratively as part of a team effort.

• Strong interpersonal skills, maturity, sound judgment, and ability to communicate in a clear and compelling manner with internal and external audiences.

• Self-motivated and with a strong sense of ownership and urgency.

• Passion for the mission of the foundation.

• Highest standards of ethics and integrity.

• Sense of balance, humor, and perspective.

*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.).

The salary range for this role is $267,000 - $413,800 USD. 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 $293,600 - $455,200 USD. 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.

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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 HR@gatesfoundation.org 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.