Program Officer, South​/South East Asia

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 includes 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 & 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.

Because the foundation's resources alone are not enough to solve the challenges ahead, GPA also supports advocacy efforts to engage diverse stakeholders and promote innovative solutions that advance our program goals. We work in close partnership with grantees, our colleagues in the Global Health, Global Development, Global Growth & Opportunity, U.S. and Gender Equality programs and Foundation Communications to build the environment in which all people have the opportunity to lead healthy and productive lives.

The South & Southeast Asia team advances the Gates Foundation’s mission in one of the world’s most dynamic regions – by strengthening government partnerships, mobilizing diverse forms of capital, and amplifying local voices to deliver impact  team works to align foundation priorities with regional and country‑led development agendas in Singapore, Pakistan, Indonesia, Bangladesh and other ASEAN nations. We partner with governments, multilateral development banks, philanthropists, and regional networks to position South and Southeast Asia as a key engine for innovation, financing, and policy leadership in global development.

This

position is a limited‑term position for 12 months. Relocation will not be provided. We’re accepting applications until 5:00pm PDT on January 9, 2026. Please also include a cover letter highlighting your work experience in South & Southeast Asia. Your Role

As the Program Officer (PO), you will report to the Deputy Director, Strategy, Planning and Management, and work in a hybrid work arrangement from our Washington DC office. You will play a crucial role in developing and implementing business operations and coordinating programmatic responsibilities for the South & Southeast Asia team. You will play a cross‑cutting role that supports a ~6‑person core team that is based across the world and works with 20 program teams at the foundation.

You will travel up to 30% of the time between Seattle, DC, and South & Southeast Asia.

What You’ll Do Business Operations (50% of time / deliverables)

• Support the opening of the foundation’s physical presence in Singapore by coordinating with the Foundation’s technical experts in HR, IT, security, operations, finance, legal etc. Establish a rhythm of business and related administrative procedures and systems for the new office by leveraging best practices from the Foundation’s other global offices.
• Coordinate the South & Southeast Asia team’s resource planning and inputs for key governance moments (bi‑weekly coordination meetings, portfolio reviews, strategy reviews, and board meetings). Work closely with internal teams to strengthen ways of working to ensure the effective implementation of integrated strategies and deliverables.
• Coordinate other special projects that advance the team’s operations (e.g. onboarding new team members or consultants, organizing team retreats & working sessions, improving adoption of Salesforce/CRM systems).

Programmatic Responsibilities (50% of time / deliverables)

• Support Director‑level and above trips to the South &…