Is Gates Foundation a good company to work for?

Gates Foundation has an overall rating of 3.7 out of 5, based on over 699 reviews left anonymously by employees. This rating has decreased by 3% over the last 12 months. 62% of employees would recommend working at Gates Foundation to a friend and 70% have a positive outlook for the business. The best reviews about Gates Foundation have been left by employees working as Program Assistant , Senior Program Assistant and Associate Program Officer .

Does Gates Foundation pay their employees well?

According to anonymously submitted Glassdoor reviews, Gates Foundation employees rate their compensation and benefits as 4.5 out of 5. Find out more about salaries and benefits at Gates Foundation. This rating has improved by 5% over the last 12 months.

How satisfied are employees working at Gates Foundation?

62% of Gates Foundation employees would recommend working there to a friend based on Glassdoor reviews . Employees also rated Gates Foundation 3.3 out of 5 for work life balance, 3.4 for culture and values and 3.2 for career opportunities.

What are the top reviewed jobs at Gates Foundation?

Program Officer (56) , Program Assistant (40) , Senior Program Officer (36) , Deputy Director (20) , Senior Program Assistant (16) , Associate Program Officer (12) , Program Coordinator (11) , Project Manager (9) , Director (7) , Program Manager (7) , Senior Officer (6) , Associate Strategy Officer (5) , Consultant (5) , Intern (5) , Senior Program Coordinator (5)

What are the pros of working at Gates Foundation according to real employee reviews?

"Benefits are great and very comprehensive" ((in 143 reviews)); "Great people all working towards the same mission" ((in 57 reviews)); "Fantastic and smart colleagues" ((in 50 reviews)); "it was alright and good pay" ((in 15 reviews)); "great team to work with." ((in 11 reviews))

What are the cons of working at Gates Foundation according to real employee reviews?

"Culture is toxic and impractical" ((in 36 reviews)); "Instead, she seems more concerned with promoting her own profile than reforming bad management." ((in 25 reviews)); "Most of the senior leadership at this (global organization) is white and male" ((in 22 reviews)); "You will be the luckiest if you end up in a team that has a great manager." ((in 21 reviews)); "Terrible work/life balance." ((in 15 reviews))

What are employees saying about Gates Foundation layoffs in 2026?

Explore Glassdoor’s employee reviews to understand what current and former employees are saying about Gates Foundation layoffs and their outlook for job security at Gates Foundation in 2026.

What are the top reviewed Gates Foundation locations?

Seattle , Washington , New York , Chicago , Ridgewood , North Chicago , Vienna , Phoenix , Omaha , Arlington , San Antonio , Virginia , Los Angeles , Mountain View , Palo Alto , United , Laurel , Jacksonville , Boston , Cambridge , Springfield , South Seattle

Gates Foundation reviews

3.7

62% would recommend to a friend

(561 total reviews)

Mark Suzman

81% approve of CEO

70% positive business outlook

Ratings by category

4.5

Compensation and benefits

3.5

Diversity & inclusion

3.4

Culture & values

3.3

Work/Life balance

3.2

Career opportunities

2.9

Senior management

Gates Foundation has an employee rating of 3.7 out of 5 stars, based on 561 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Gates Foundation employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Nonprofit & NGO industry (3.7 stars).

Ratings by demographic groups

Race / Ethnicity

Gender

Sexual orientation

Disability

Parent or family caregiver

Veteran status

Reviews by job title

561 reviews

4.0

Jun 3, 2016

Great people, excellent benefits - and exhausting

Anonymous employee

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Great people, some of the smartest and most interesting coworkers I've ever had. A mission to believe in and opportunity to learn a lot about the work and partners' work. Fabulous benefits.

Cons

Can be very political. No established/obvious track to advance, which means it's all up to the manager if you get opportunities to grow and develop. People management has only more recently started to be considered important; there are lots of smart people with very specific skill sets hired because they're experts in a specific field, now expected to people manage.

Gates Foundation Response

9y

Thanks so much for taking the time to post about your experiences at the foundation. The ELT is focusing on the role of the manager in our culture journey so hopefully you will see even more importance placed on the role of our managers.

4.0

May 21, 2016

Not perfect, but overall a good place to work

Anonymous employee

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Incredible, inspiring mission. Opportunity to work with lots of smart, committed and talented people both within and outside the organization For a non-profit, the compensation is above average Great benefits

Cons

High workload Work environment can be dysfunctional, depending on which team you work with Too much politics and drama

Gates Foundation Response

9y

Thanks so much for your review. I appreciate your advice to management and if you'd like to share more details, please feel free to reach out to me directly. As you are aware, the focus on culture is on top of Sue's and the ELT's agenda. Please let me know if you have specific feedback. pam.yanchik@gatesfoundation.org

3.0

Dec 8, 2015

Fantastic co-workers, too much bureaucracy

Program officer

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

The staff at the Foundation are great co-workers. It's a fun environment from a personal point of view. Mission is outstanding Very flexible work schedule, in most groups. Fantastic benefits Excellent networking opportunity

Cons

There are some great Directors, but most are poor choices for the job. While programmatic staff are hired for their skill-set, it seems not to be trusted. Often you have to contract a consultant to regurgitate your knowledge for the Director level to accept it. Often it seems that the business side of the operation is more important than solving the Foundation mission. Very poorly developed internal practices, that change often with the fast turnover There's no way to systematically improve your salary or title in a merit driven fashion

Viewing 121 - 123 of 561 Reviews

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Jobs at Gates Foundation

Senior Communications Officer, Creative Partnerships (Limited Term Role*)

Senior Communications Officer, Brand Experiential Design

Senior Research Scientist, Population Health Modeling (Nutrition and Disease) (*2-year LTE)

Coordinator, Business Project Management (Convenings) (LTE until 31 December 2027)

Principal Officer, Measurement, Learning & Evaluation