Senior Officer, Europe and Middle East, Global Partnership Development

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 & Advocacy 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 Philanthropic Partnerships team works to mobilize resources and build the next generation of champions for global health and development (GH&D), ensuring that philanthropy helps the world’s most vulnerable children survive and thrive. Alongside this, we help advance Philanthropy and grow giving around the world, strengthening the broader philanthropic ecosystem through issue‑agnostic communities such as The Giving Pledge. Our strategy is designed to close the gap between intent and action, ensuring philanthropy supports lasting change. We engage with ultra‑high‑net‑worth individuals (UHNWI), corporate and private foundations, philanthropic collaboratives, advisors, family offices, and social impact investors – through initiatives such as Gates Philanthropy Partners, Proponent Labs, and others that enhance the infrastructure for GH&D giving. Over the next five years, the majority of our work will focus on mobilizing resources for priorities of GH&D, including: expanding our approaches and partnerships to unlock more capital; growing our work across global regions; and cultivating the next generation of GH&D champions – while continuing to strengthen philanthropic ecosystems and grow giving globally.

Your Role

The Senior Officer, Europe and Middle East, Global Partnership Development leads the strategic cultivation and stewardship of high‑value partnerships with Europe and Middle East‑based philanthropists, ultra‑high‑net‑worth individuals, and family offices. Priority countries within these geographies include the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, United Kingdom, and Germany, with additional exploration into the Nordic countries. You will coordinate across a sophisticated team of relationship leads where you may play a leading, support, or advisory role in specific partnerships based on existing partnerships. This role focuses on building and managing a robust pipeline of relationships to cultivate partnerships focused on global health and development. Managing a portfolio of UHNW philanthropist partnerships, you will ensure significant portfolio targets are reached annually across the foundation’s global health and development work. You will also focus on impactful relationships with sector partners, designing investments and partnerships that advance philanthropic networks and encourage giving globally. In addition to resource mobilization, this position plays a key role in creating informed and influential champions—partners who not only give, but advocate, convene, and inspire others to join in accelerating impact at scale. A key aspect of this position is introducing people new to global health and development to ways they can engage and have an impact and working with them to build this into their areas of interest and giving over time. You will inspire and equip partners to become long‑term donors and champions for global health and development through deep relationship cultivation and management. This role is based at the foundation’s office in London, UK and reports to the Deputy Director, Global Partnership Development, Philanthropic Partnerships Team. The role does not have people management responsibilities.

What You’ll Do

• Resource Mobilization Strategy and Partnership Development: You will design and implement a resource mobilization strategy aimed at securing significant commitments from Europe and Middle East‑based donors, with a broader goal of inspiring and equipping partners to become long‑term donors and champions for global health and development. To achieve this, you will grow and expand Gates Foundation’s high‑value relationships across Europe and the Middle East through further development and management of a complex portfolio of potential and current partners. As a lead relationship manager, you will be responsible for the entire resource mobilization cycle, the development of new partnerships, and the management of existing partnerships in both Europe and the Middle East. In this highly‑collaborative role, you will work across PPT, Gates Foundation program teams, divisional president’s offices, and with a range of other internal and external partners to identify, quality, and support early cultivation of prospects; shape and articulate compelling cases for support working with program teams; and provide strategic guidance to the events team on tailored offerings that advance PPT’s broader portfolio goals and your portfolio specifically. Note that PPT is structured with sub‑teams that offer shared donor services with whom you will coordinate daily. As a lead relationship manager, you will develop relationships with donors directly through the planning and executing of outreach, cultivation, and stewardship plans. You will also prepare internal collaborators, including program teams and foundation leadership, to engage with donors effectively through briefs and in‑person preparation, as well as by driving follow up resulting from engagement. Relationship management and partner engagement will be coordinated closely with the foundation’s Europe, the Middle East, and East Asia (EMEEA) team: an internal partner focused on government relations and key stakeholder in the success of this role. Must have the ability to travel 40% of time; both domestically and internationally.
• Cross‑Sector Influence & Network Development: You will represent the foundation directly with donors and their family offices and/or philanthropic and investment teams, and within other networks and sector forums across Europe and the Middle East. This may include partnering with communications and advocacy teams to craft narratives that motivate giving and influence donor communities. Identify and pursue opportunities to elevate key donors as spokespeople, thought partners, or influencers across a variety of platforms. You’ll manage and expand existing relationships with donor networkers and supporters (including advisors and consultancies) to ensure that the groundwork for partnership and prospecting continues to grow in European geographies.
• Internal Alignment and Donor Management: You will partner across PPT, the Global Partnership Development team, Global Policy & Advocacy, priority program teams, and the Europe and Middle East markets as an internal relationship manager, coordinating efforts across multiple teams to ensure engagement of partners is timely and aligned with goals and donor interests. This will include providing strategic input on the development of new philanthropic products to plan for successful implementation and marketing to donors, participating in the development of content and donor cultivation for events, and collaborating with PPT’s Shared Services team communications, audience engagement, and Data & Insights capabilities to support execution. You will maintain rigorous portfolio and pipeline tracking through Salesforce CRM, including forecasting, performance reporting, and consistent updating of partner intelligence. Utilisation of current AI tools to sharpen research and engagement strategies is expected.

Your Experience

• Bachelor’s or other advanced degree in relevant field or equivalent experience.
• Demonstrated experience in complex partnership development or across major gifts resource mobilization and donor engagement, with a proven track record of success in strategic relationship management.
• Demonstrated success creating deep, long‑term partnerships with philanthropists, foundations, family offices, including multiple forms of capital (philanthropic and investments).
• Deep experience building and managing exceptional relationships with ultra‑high‑net‑worth individuals across Europe with a focus on the UK and Germany, with experience in the Nordics and other European countries a plus.
• Experience working in Saudi Arabia and/or other Middle East countries, specifically with individuals and philanthropists.
• Understanding of the global health and development space.
• Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively across multiple internal teams to achieve goals.

Skills and Competencies

• Inspirational relationship‑builder with a proven ability to build trust and manage relationships at a variety of levels—from principals to staff—toward specific outcomes.
• Strategic problem‑solver with fluency in philanthropy trends, donor motivations, and the broader landscape of European and Middle Eastern giving.
• Track record of translating complex global challenges into compelling narratives.
• Strong understanding of influence‑building, advocacy, and developing individuals as advocates and champions.
• Exceptional verbal and written communication skills in English, with the ability to influence and engage UHNW audiences.
• Skilled in working across global markets and time zones with a facility in understanding different cultural contexts, particularly across Europe and the Middle East.
• Proficient in assessing partnership impact and performance, with a data‑driven mentality and the ability to translate insights into actionable strategies.

Preferred Attributes

• Preference for candidates who can speak multiple languages, including Arabic.
• Strong networks within European and Middle Eastern philanthropic communities, particularly among UHNW individuals, foundations, and family offices.
• Experience working closely with senior leadership, high‑level influencers, and boards of directors.
• Deep experience in resource mobilization for GH&D.

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.