Strategy Officer, India Country Office 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

The India Country Office is part of the Africa & India Offices (AIO) division. We work closely with India’s central and state governments, and partner with community-based organizations, nonprofit organizations, academic and research institutions, the private sector, and development partners to advance our shared objectives. Our strong networks and ability to convene intellectual and technical resources globally and across sectors enable us to respond effectively to emerging and complex challenges.

In India, our work focuses on key priorities that shape the future of the country’s most vulnerable communities, including reproductive, maternal, newborn, and child health and nutrition; urban sanitation; agricultural development; women’s economic empowerment; digital public infrastructure and financial inclusion, across several states in the country.

Your Role

Located in New Delhi, the Strategy Officer (SO), India Country Office will lead high-impact strategy projects in collaboration with program leadership and develop processes for effective portfolio/investment execution against the approved strategy. The SO will work directly and often independently with executive sponsors of projects - Program Directors and Deputy Directors - and team members across all levels to shape strategies and implementation. Potential projects span strategy development for current initiative areas; tracking and analyzing emerging global and national trends to inform portfolio strategies; leading on deliverables and project management for foundation-level strategy reviews and annual planning; identification of thematic challenges and strategic options; facilitation of investment making processes, portfolio-level prioritization and trade-off discussions; making and managing investments to synthesize data and evidence used to inform strategies; and the strategic application of innovation to our work.  

We are looking for a team member who enjoys working on complex problems and crafting strategies that have the potential to transform the lives of Indians across health, gender, inclusive financial services, agriculture, and water, sanitation & hygiene. They should enjoy working on cross-functional collaborative teams and bring joy, optimism and humility to the job.

This position reports to the Senior Manager - Strategy, India Country Office

*Applications accepted until 5 PM IST on Friday, April 24, 2026.

*Must be able to legally work in the country where this position is located without visa sponsorship.

What You'll Do

• Lead projects that develop strategies and/or strategic recommendations for defined areas of work.

• Lead development of processes and materials to drive project execution – e.g., analyses, project plans, meeting materials, strategic narratives, theories of change/action, decision roadmaps, results frameworks etc.

• Design and perform analytical work in support of strategy development and execution planning process.

• Develop documents and briefing materials that clearly and succinctly communicate analysis results and recommendations to senior management and executive team.

• Provide project management and analytical support to cross-cutting strategy projects.

• Manage strategy development process with a customer-focus orientation, effective communication, and emphasis on relationship management; customer / client management experience preferred.

• Facilitate discussions and workshops with internal team, external experts, and other global health/development partners.

• Collaborate with programmatic, business, FP&A and operations staff to design overall process for strategy development and investment execution; participate in the development and use of tools to facilitate strategy development and processes associated with budgeting, portfolio management, and other areas as needed.

• Employ strategic tools and frameworks, and a learning and evaluation mindset to develop and assess options, ensure logical reasoning, and challenge assumptions.

• Support the strategy execution planning process focused on enabling program teams to align investments, staff resources and voice/influence necessary to implement their strategies and achieve their impact goals.

• Bring creative solutions to manage group process – e.g., to manage conflict and drive alignment.

• Develop, execute, and manage external partnerships and relationships as required for specific projects.

• Lead on making and managing grants/contracts to partners who will analyze, structure or synthesize data and information in areas of our interest.

• Participate in foundation-wide activities (e.g., learning sessions, all staff meetings, performance reviews).

• Commitment to the foundation’s core values, mission, and programs with an approach that is consistent with the foundation’s guiding principles and holding self to the highest ethical standards.

Your Experience

• MBA or other advanced Master’s degree in a relevant field such as Business, Health, Economics or Sciences required.

• A minimum of five+ years of professional experience in strategy consulting or strategic planning roles. Ideal candidates would have experience in drafting strategies in public health/development and in communicating recommendations and rationales to a variety of partners, including to senior executive teams. Prior experience spanning both the development sector and the private sector is highly desirable.

• Deep knowledge of strategy development and end-to-end complex project management (including process design, facilitation of workshops, structuring teams, development of novel communication resources and senior partner engagement).

• Broad understanding of global health/development issues; prior global health/development experience is preferable.

• Alignment with our values and demonstrated deep humility in your approach to this work.

• Familiarity with the Indian public policy landscape and key partners.

• Excellent oral, facilitation, and written communication skills; ability to write compelling yet brief documents with quick turnaround times and with attention to the minutest details.

• Demonstrated ability to function successfully in a demanding environment; experience working in a matrix environment preferred.

• Excellent quantitative/financial knowledge, including experience creating complex models, with a demonstrated ability to extract appropriate data to convey complex information through the use of supporting tables, graphs and other visual representations.

• Excellent critical thinking capabilities, organizational skills, and demonstrated ability to lead teams through a complex and ambiguous task.

• Ability to be independent and work effectively and with sensitivity across barriers such as language, culture and distance.

• Excellent software skills with Microsoft Office applications. Ability to quickly learn new software modules.

*Applications accepted until 5 PM IST on Friday, April 24, 2026.

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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.