Executive Assistant, Business Operations

Gates Foundation; Seattle (WA); On-site; USD 65,000 - 97,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Excellent benefits package

Paid time off

Job summary

The Gates Foundation is seeking an Executive Assistant to provide high‑level, strategic administrative support to the COO and senior staff, while also strengthening division operations and knowledge management across the Office of the COO in Seattle. This dual role blends executive support with program coordination, including AI-enabled working methods.

Ideal candidates have proven experience in fast-paced environments, exceptional judgment, and a proactive, collaborative mindset, able to

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent demonstrated experience.
• 5+ years of experience in executive support, administrative leadership, team operations, and/or project or program coordination in a fast-paced organization.
• Complex calendar management, travel coordination, and event/retreat planning experience.
• Deep knowledge of the mission, values, resources, culture, systems, and business strategies
• Excellent judgment, discretion, and ability to prioritize and re-prioritize in ambiguous, fast-moving situations.
• Demonstrated experience running and optimizing programs or workstreams independently — scoping work, tracking deliverables, identifying process gaps, and driving cross-functional follow-through at both a team and division/organizational level.
• Experience building, curating, and maintaining knowledge management systems, libraries, or collaboration platforms (e.g., Teams [SharePoint], Loop, OneNote).
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to represent leadership and the team accurately and diplomatically.
• High familiarity with and hands-on daily usage of AI tools across scheduling, correspondence, meeting prep, and knowledge management; experience curating AI resources, use cases, or learning content for a team is a strong plus.
• Advanced proficiency in MS Office/Microsoft 365 (Outlook, Teams, SharePoint, PowerPoint, Excel).
• Ability to work both independently and collaboratively, comfortable shifting between hands-on executive support and structured operations/program/knowledge management work.
• A proactive builder's mindset: demonstrated initiative in spotting inefficiencies, creating practical solutions, testing improvements, and helping others adopt better ways of working.

Responsibilities

• Executive & Calendar Support: Manage a complex, high-volume calendar across multiple time zones; align principal's schedule with priorities; re-prioritize quickly.
• Correspondence & judgment: Handle high volumes of confidential correspondence; anticipate needs; exercise sound judgment on prioritization and escalation; represent the principal’s voice.
• Preparation & follow-through: Ensure briefing materials are delivered on time; track deliverables; follow up on actions.
• Travel: Own end-to-end travel logistics (domestic and international), including complex itineraries and visas.
• Team & Office Operations (OCOO): Build rhythm of business; plan meetings; support onboarding and day-to-day operations.
• Division Programs & Program/Project Management: Scope, run, and improve division-wide programs; track progress and risks; coordinate with stakeholders.
• Knowledge Management & AI Enablement: Create and evolve knowledge systems; build and run AI learning agenda; promote practical AI adoption.

Skills

Executive support

Calendar management

Travel coordination

Operations coordination

Knowledge management

AI enablement

Communications

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent demonstrated experience

Tools

Microsoft 365

SharePoint

Teams

PowerPoint

Excel

Job description

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 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

Business Operations is the division led by the Chief Operating Officer (COO), providing the foundation's operational infrastructure and enabling programmatic impact across the organization. The Office of the COO (OCOO) sits inside that division as its connective layer — running the division's rhythm of business, supporting the COO and division leadership team, and building the infrastructure that enables operations to work cohesively across divisions. This role sits at the intersection of both: it carries responsibilities that serve the Business Operations division as a whole (division-wide programs, policy, and rhythm of business) as well as responsibilities specific to the OCOO team itself (team operations, knowledge management, and leadership support).

This position will be based out of Seattle, Washington

This role will be posted 10/23 to 11/6

Your Role

The Executive Assistant provides high-level, strategic administrative support to the COO and the Director, Strategy Planning and Management, and Chief of Staff, while also serving as an operational backbone and a catalyst for smarter ways of working for both the Business Operations division and the Office of the COO team. This is a dual-scope role in two senses: it balances principal-facing executive support with team- and division-facing operations work, and within that operations work, it spans both division-wide responsibilities (owned on behalf of Business Operations as a whole) and OCOO-specific responsibilities (owned in service of the immediate team). Additionally, this role serves as a connector across operations divisions, working closely with the offices of members of the Executive Operations Action Group (COO, CFO, CLO, CPO). Success in this role means being equally comfortable managing a principal's calendar and driving a division-level program forward, and developing practical systems, tools, and AI-enabled ways of working that improve access to information, streamline processes, and make the team more efficient and effective.

The person in this role works independently at times and collaboratively across stakeholders at others, comfortably switching between fast-moving executive support and more deliberate, structured operations, program, and knowledge management work. This role goes beyond traditional administrative support. It combines strategic advisory, delivery, and program and project management skill: the ability to scope, sequence, run, and optimize workstreams at both the division and team level; build and maintain the systems, templates, and processes the team relies on; and coordinate the moving pieces of team-wide meetings, retreats, and initiatives from planning through follow-through. The role also calls for AI technology enablement: identifying opportunities to simplify recurring work with approved AI and automation tools, developing usable solutions, and helping colleagues adopt them.

Ideal candidates are self-motivated and proactive, with excellent judgment, discretion, and follow-through. They bring experience in both executive support and operational or project/program coordination, are comfortable with ambiguity, and take genuine ownership of making the division's and team's work — not just the principal's day — run well. They are naturally curious builders who notice friction, experiment thoughtfully, translate operational problems into usable solutions, and help others adopt more efficient ways of working.

What You'll Do

Executive & Calendar Support

• Calendar management: Independently manage a complex, high-volume calendar across multiple time zones, strategically aligning the principal's schedule with priorities and objectives, and re-prioritizing quickly as things shift.
• Correspondence & judgment: Manage high volumes of complex, often confidential correspondence; anticipate needs; exercise sound judgment on prioritization and escalation; and serve as a trusted representative of the principal's voice and perspective.
• Preparation & follow-through: Coordinate with stakeholders to ensure briefing materials are delivered on time, track deliverables, and follow up on outstanding action items.
• Travel: Own end-to-end travel logistics (domestic and international), including complex itineraries, visas as needed, and preparation of travel materials, coordinating with trip partners and providing on-the-ground support when required.

Team & Office Operations (OCOO)

• Rhythm of business: Build and coordinate the OCOO's rhythm of business — team meetings, leadership sessions, and recurring processes — including building agendas, decks, and follow-up trackers for standing and ad hoc meetings.
• Team operations & onboarding: Support team-level operations including space planning, onboarding/offboarding, and general operational support that keeps the OCOO functioning day to day — in service of the whole team, not only the principal. Maintain easy-to-use onboarding information and shared team resources to accelerate effectiveness and continuity.
• Leadership team support: Support OCOO leadership team rhythm of business — meeting design and agendas, clear capture of decisions and actions, alignment across team operations, and key team communications.
• Liaison & routing: Act as a liaison between the team and internal partners, routing requests appropriately and supporting operational processes (e.g., approvals, communications workflows) to ensure timely responses.

Division Programs & Program/Project Management (Business Operations)

• Division rhythm of business: Build, coordinate, and sequence the division's rhythm-of-business activities on behalf of Business Operations — including business reviews, annual review cycles, performance/partnership check-ins, and annual planning.
• Own and run division-wide programs: Independently scope, run, and continuously improve division-level programs and initiatives (for example, divisional recognition or engagement programs), tracking progress, surfacing risks, and driving them to completion.
• Foundation policy program management: Own the day-to-day running of the foundation's policy library and administrative process — managing and coordinating the library's content, structure, and access. Work directly with policy owners and managers across the foundation, coordinating updates and documentation in compliance with protocols.
• Cross-team & cross-division coordination: Work closely with the leadership team, Chief of Staff function, and division stakeholders to provide visibility into upcoming commitments, manage dependencies, and coordinate follow-ups across workstreams.
• Process improvement: Identify opportunities to improve division and team processes and systems; build tools, templates, and trackers, including AI-enabled or automated solutions where appropriate, that make recurring work more efficient and repeatable.

Knowledge Management & AI Enablement

• Knowledge management & information access: Create, maintain, and evolve knowledge management systems and collaboration platforms (e.g., SharePoint, Teams, OneNote) for both the OCOO team and division-wide programs (including the policy library), and help the broader team adopt consistent, well-organized practices. Design these resources around users’ needs so colleagues can quickly find accurate, current documents, decisions, guidance, and context.
• Build and run the team's AI learning agenda: Build, curate, and run the OCOO's AI learning agenda — sourcing and evaluating relevant tools, use cases, and resources; keeping the learning library current as the landscape evolves; and facilitating regular learning-in-the-flow-of-work moments (sessions, demos, tip-sharing) that build the team's AI fluency and comfort with hands-on use.
• Champion AI adoption: Model and promote practical, everyday use of AI tools (e.g., Copilot, ChatGPT, Claude) across calendar management, correspondence, meeting prep, and knowledge management work, helping the team continuously find new ways to work smarter.
• Responsible AI & information handling: Promote appropriate use of approved tools, protection of sensitive and confidential information and compliance with foundation guidance and security practices.

Events, Retreats & Meetings

• Plan and execute: Lead or support planning and execution of team and division-wide events, offsites, and retreats — including logistics, run-of-show, materials, and post-event follow-up.
• Thought partnership: Serve as a thought partner in event and meeting design, helping align content and format with leadership priorities and team culture.

Communications

• Represent the office: Serve as an extension of the principal and the broader OCOO in internal and external communications, exercising discretion and professionalism at all times.
• Community engagement: Represent the assistant/coordinator community in division-wide initiatives and contribute to a strong, connected support culture across the team.

Your Experience

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent demonstrated experience.
• 5+ years of experience in executive support, administrative leadership, team operations, and/or project or program coordination in a fast-paced organization.
• Complex calendar management, travel coordination, and event/retreat planning experience.
• Deep knowledge of the mission, values, resources, culture, systems, and business strategies
• Excellent judgment, discretion, and ability to prioritize and re-prioritize in ambiguous, fast-moving situations.
• Demonstrated experience running and optimizing programs or workstreams independently — scoping work, tracking deliverables, identifying process gaps, and driving cross-functional follow-through at both a team and division/organizational level.
• Experience building, curating, and maintaining knowledge management systems, libraries, or collaboration platforms (e.g., Teams [SharePoint], Loop, OneNote), including organizing and governing content for broader team or organizational use.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to represent leadership and the team accurately and diplomatically.
• High familiarity with and hands‑on daily usage of AI tools (e.g., Microsoft Copilot, ChatGPT, Claude) across scheduling, correspondence, meeting prep, and knowledge management; experience curating AI resources, use cases, or learning content for a team is a strong plus.
• Advanced proficiency in MS Office/Microsoft 365 (Outlook, Teams, SharePoint, PowerPoint, Excel).
• Ability to work both independently and collaboratively, comfortable shifting between hands-on executive support and structured operations/program/knowledge management work.
• A proactive builder's mindset: demonstrated initiative in spotting inefficiencies, creating practical solutions, testing improvements, and helping others adopt better ways of working.

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 (eg: H-1B, O-1, L-1, E, OPT, STEM-OPT, CPT, TN, J-1, etc.).

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 $46.92 to $70.38 USD. As a mission-driven organization, we strive to balance competitive pay with our mission. New hire salaries are typically between the salary range minimum and 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 [e-mail] 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.