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
In 2009, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation established a Strategic Investment Fund (SIF) with the mandate to use equity, debt, and guarantee investment tools to further the philanthropic goals of the organization. The fund, with $2.5 billion in investments under management, has become a leader in the “impact investing” industry, successfully completing more than 100 investments across a variety of sectors and asset classes.
Since 2022, SIF has partnered with the foundation’s Accelerator team to make equity investments in early-stage biotech companies with technologies at the stage of concept development. The Accelerator conceives, designs, and tests fundamentally novel biotech modalities that enable the foundation’s mission. The team directly seeks out and funds academia, biotech, and multinational corporations by following science and technological advancements that could be used to create new capabilities that will eventually lead to first-in-class products.
https://sif.gatesfoundation.org/
Your Role
The Strategic Investment Fund (SIF) team is seeking an investment professional at the Associate or Principal level to further grow the investment portfolio by collaborating with teammates and foundation colleagues in thesis formation, investment execution and management activities, and building and maintaining relationships within the life sciences ecosystems of early-stage companies, venture capitalists and other investors, and strategic companies.
This investment professional will support the Global Health division’s Biotech Accelerator, which aims to conceive, design, and test novel biotech platforms that enable the foundation’s mission. The Accelerator deploys a high volume of early-stage equity investments (up to $5mm in size) to prove technology concepts and transition promising technology to private sector companies focused on execution. Each investment is made in service of the Accelerator’s charitable impact theses and funds a scope of work covering specific experiments intended to determine feasibility and IP in new platform technology areas. Initial technology domains include programming immune system responses for design of next-generation vaccine modalities, platforms that induce mucosal immune defenses to block transmission of respiratory and enteric diseases, engineering antibodies for oral delivery, and harnessing the power of chemo-sensing for ultra-high sensitivity detection of volatile organic compounds. The team is actively targeting additional domains for expansion.
Our preference is for the hired candidate to be based in Seattle, WA. However, we are open to entertaining a domestic US remote work location for a highly qualified candidate, with regular travel to Seattle, WA.
Past investments include:
Investments from the fund are structured as “program-related investments,” which is a defined term in the US Internal Revenue Code that governs charitable investments made by a private foundation.
What You’ll Do
Your Experience
We anticipate that the successful candidate will have strong financial transaction experience with a leading venture capital firm, growth/private equity firm, investment bank, or corporate business development team where you were active in deal sourcing, execution, and portfolio engagement. Additionally, a successful candidate will bring experience in vetting therapeutic programs, understanding critical pre-clinical and clinical data, key risks, key proof-of-concept achievements to unlock future funding, and market sizing/strategy. A successful candidate should also have an interest in principal investments and a belief in the foundation’s mission to drive innovative social impact.
The salary range for this Associate role is $166,300.00 - $249,500.00 USD. We recognize high-wage market differences where our offices are located, in Seattle, WA or Washington, D.C. The range for this role in these locations is $181,200.00 - $271,800.00 USD. As a mission-driven organization, we strive to balance competitive pay with our mission and new hires are typically brought into the organization at a salary range between the minimum and the midpoint salary range. 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
If you require assistance due to a disability in the application or recruitment process, please submit a request here.
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.
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