Principal Officer, Measurement, Learning & Evaluation (24-month LTE)

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 Education is one of the most powerful forces for opportunity in the United States, but for millions of students, it still isn't delivering on that promise. Too many young people don’t get the support they need to navigate critical moments, miss key milestones and fall behind, and never reach a credential that leads to a good job and a better life. The Gates Foundation is committed to changing this. Decades of research point to specific moments in a student's journey—particular grades, courses, and transitions—where the right support makes all the difference. For example, students who pass Algebra I by 9th grade are far more likely to graduate high school and pursue higher education. Students who complete their first year of college courses successfully are far more likely to earn a degree. When those milestones are reached, a student's trajectory changes. That’s why we are investing in evidence-based approaches that meet students at those moments—supporting the teachers, advisors, and institutions that know them best, and funding tools that help educators and advisors do their jobs more effectively. We believe AI has a role to play in this work, but only when it is designed to strengthen teaching—keeping student safety, well-being, and the human connections at the center of learning and support. Our goal is to help every learner access an education that leads to a postsecondary degree, certificate, or career qualification that reflects in-demand skills and opens the door to meaningful economic opportunity. If successful, we believe we can double the rate of growth of Americans earning a credential of value by age 34—resulting in 10 million more learners achieving those credentials by 2045. The Advocacy & System Improvement team (A&SI) operates as an engine for sustainable impact at scale within U.S. Program. The role of this team is not to develop or deliver solutions, but to enable systems to adopt and sustain effective practices, and to change how systems operate so those practices become standard, scalable, and durable. In this context, the solutions our colleagues develop and deliver are more likely to reach more learners, driving collective progress towards our shared goals. The Policy & Advocacy team sits within A&SI and is responsible for building and advancing the foundation's education policy agenda — translating programmatic learning, field evidence, and strategic priorities into rigorous policy perspectives and effective advocacy strategies that shape how federal and state systems support student success. The team works across K-12, postsecondary, pathways, and data and AI policy domains, and maintains a robust state advocacy function that ensures the foundation's priorities are reaching the right audiences through the right partners. Your Role You will lead the direction and work of a team of measurement, evaluation, and research staff in developing or refining strategies, investing in partners to measure the efficacy of strategy interventions, gauging strategy progress against key outcomes, and researching key strategy-related topics as they emerge. This role does not have direct people management responsibilities. You serve as the measurement and evaluation lead for the strategy and as the primary collaborator in foundation strategy accountability and reporting work. You act as a key collaborator on the team-wide learning agenda, leverage insights from research and evaluation to develop high-quality, engaging learning experiences for the team, and collaborate with other staff to develop learning opportunities across the division. You have an understanding of the diversity of sector missions, objectives, and resources with comprehensive experience. You serve as a senior strategic learning partner, embedding forward-looking, decision-aligned evidence into invest, scale, pivot, and stop decisions, and elevating cross-portfolio insights that shape division-wide prioritization and sequencing. *This position is a limited-term position for 24 months. Relocation can be provided for the hired candidate if not residing within commuting distance of the Seattle, WA Office. **Applications accepted until 12 PM/Noon Pacific Time on Thursday, October 1, 2026. What You'll Do Lead measurement, evaluation, and research in developing/refining strategies; invests in partners to measure efficacy of strategy interventions Gauges strategy progress against key outcomes; researches emerging strategy-related topics as they arise Serve as MLE technical and thought leader for A&SI strategy and primary collaborator on foundation strategy accountability and reporting Acts as key collaborator with MLE Senior Program Officers and Deputy Directors on the team-wide learning agenda Leverages insights from research and evaluation to develop high-quality, engaging learning experiences for the team Collaborate with other staff to develop learning opportunities across the division Develops and sustains learning rhythms for the team, ensuring regular cadences for surfacing and applying insights Builds vision for how A&SI measures progress and looks ahead predictively to support resource alloc