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 132 reviews)); "Great people all working towards the same mission" ((in 55 reviews)); "There are so many great colleagues and experiences to learn from." ((in 54 reviews)); "it was alright and good pay" ((in 18 reviews)); "Salaries are good for those coming from the non" ((in 14 reviews))

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

"Culture is toxic and impractical" ((in 41 reviews)); "HR and management is poor" ((in 27 reviews)); "You will be the luckiest if you end up in a team that has a great manager." ((in 20 reviews)); "Most of the senior leadership at this (global organization) is white and male" ((in 19 reviews)); "Terrible work/life balance." ((in 16 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

Company ratings over time

Ratings trend for the last 6 months (561 reviews)

Ratings by demographic groups

Race / Ethnicity

Gender

Sexual orientation

Disability

Parent or family caregiver

Veteran status

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).

Reviews by job title

561 reviews

5.0

Dec 20, 2019

As awesome as you'd think

Program assistant

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Excellent benefits and work/life balance

Cons

Hard to move up in the company from an assistant position

4.0

Dec 15, 2019

Nothing good comes easy.

Senior program coordinator

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

At BMGF I worked with some of the most remarkable colleagues - not just intelligent and accomplished, but truly kind and caring folks with unique backgrounds and life experiences to contribute. Benefits are outstanding. Wonderful, consistent learning opportunities and depending on your team, chances to stretch and gain new skills with exciting projects.

Cons

Nothing dominates an organizational culture more than how it defines success. At BMGF, success is working as diligently as possible, as often as possible, and being the smartest person in the room (or at least in your subject area). Its borderline obsessed with how "complicated" and "difficult" its work is, and it sometimes seems like you earn more points for taking apart a problem analytically, than actually figuring out how to have tangible impact The result is a very curious, learning-oriented, but ultimately inward-facing organization that's more afraid to fail than its willing to admit. If you're already working in development, this won't be news to you. But any person should know what you're getting into, and how you want to navigate it - work/life balance will be 100% up to you.

4.0

Dec 1, 2019

Great experience for mid-career boosting

Associate program officer

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Excellent network with incredible opportunity to create impact.

Cons

Say goodbye to work-life balance and expect to travel a lot. You will also spend an exorbitant amount of time preparing for internal meetings.

Viewing 271 - 273 of 561 Reviews

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Jobs at Gates Foundation

Senior Business Systems Analyst, HR & Payroll

Associate Program Officer, Digitally Enabled Teaching and Learning

Lead Platform Engineer

Senior AI Engineer (*3-Year LTE)

Deputy Director, Digital Transformation and AI Policy & Advocacy