Communications Officer, Social Media & Community Management

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

The Communications Division, led by the Chief Communications Officer, oversees the foundation’s global communications strategy. The division brings together internal and external communications to advance the foundation’s mission to create a more equitable world.

Your Role

As the Communications Officer, Social Media & Community Management, you will report to the Senior Manager, Digital Strategist. You are a strategic social media professional with deep platform expertise and a proven ability to build and engage audiences through compelling content. You are a vital connection between our brand and social audience. You bring hands-on experience managing social channels, developing content strategies, and working with creative teams and vendors to deliver channel-optimized storytelling. You will help thought partner and implement social media strategies across the foundation's owned channels, ensuring content resonates with diverse audiences, aligns with brand priorities, and drives meaningful engagement on the issues that matter most to the foundation's mission.

What You’ll Do
 

Social Media Strategy and Creative Development

• Develop platform-specific social strategies that ladder up to broader social, channels, and communications strategies.
• Implement social strategies across foundation-owned social channels.
• Manage the day-to-day implementation of priority foundation social media channels, including planning content, working closely with producers and agencies to develop content, writing and/or reviewing captions, and in some cases having a hand in creative production directly. 
• Develop creative briefs and work with content team and production contractors to ensure the development of channel-first creative content.
• Manage key agencies/vendors to deliver channel copy and content.
• Tightly shepherd strategies and assets from conception to execution, appropriately engaging key stakeholders throughout and leading review cycles, leaving no loose ends.
   

Develop and Lead Community Management Strategy for our Social Media

• Monitor and engage with comments, questions, and mentions across the foundation’s social channels to foster meaningful two-way conversations that build an understanding of the foundation’s work and trust.
• Define community guidelines, engagement protocols, response frameworks, and escalation paths for sensitive inquiries.
• Collaborate with communications, policy, and program teams to ensure responses are informed by subject matter experts when necessary.
• Develop a meaningful strategy to deepen and nurture our connection with existing brand audiences and grow our reach to new audiences through community management.
   

Uphold Brand Integrity and Credibility

• Use excellent judgment to decide when and how to engage with audiences to build interest, inspiration and trust.
• Protect and enhance the foundation’s reputation by flagging sensitive or controversial topics and ensuring responses are accurate, empathetic, and aligned with the foundation’s values and tone.
   

Provide Day-to-Day Insights on Audience Engagement

• Track trends in sentiment and key audience behaviors across platforms in coordination with our Strategic Communications & Insights team
• Provide actionable insights on community sentiment to inform social strategy and improve community interactions.
• Identify trends and share real-time signals to inform how our brand can engage with our audience.
• Stays up to date with platform trends, high-performing formats, and cultural moments to reach and engage our audience.
   

Manage and Evaluate Vendor Support

• Assess the need for external moderation or engagement partners.
• If needed, manage a vendor to deliver community engagement, ensuring consistency with the foundation’s brand and engagement standards.

Your Experience
 

Proven Expertise

• At least 5 years managing online communities or engaging with public audiences for large organizations, media outlets, or global NGOs.
• Demonstrated success engaging directly with the public on social media, particularly around complex or sensitive global issues.
• Developed a proven community management strategy with success.
• Strong understanding of social media environment and algorithms that informs clear and dynamic perspective on content and messaging needs.  
   

Exceptional Judgment and Diplomacy

• Ability to discern when to engage or escalate issues, balancing transparency, empathy, and reputational protection.
• Skilled at responding in tone-appropriate, inclusive, and audience-centered ways.
   

Strategic Communication and Storytelling

• Strong understanding of how to use conversation and engagement to advance mission-driven storytelling.
• Knowledge of how to adapt voice and content for different platforms and audiences.
• Ability to surface social insights and translate them into actionable recommendations.
• Understanding of internet trends.
   

Crisis and Issues Management

• Experience managing high-visibility accounts in moments of heightened public attention.
• Familiarity with reputational risk management and crisis communication protocols and implications on social media.
• Understanding of global and domestic health issues, including poverty, health, education, and climate.
• Leverage AI, social listening, or social platform tools to identify engagement opportunities, and monitor concerns (e.g. Sprinklr, Opal, Sprout Social).
   

Collaborative Mindset

• Experience collaborating across internal teams and with external agencies or vendors to ensure consistent brand voice on social channels.
   

Industry Experience

• Familiarity and experience in communication within a non-profit or corporate setting, or a communications consultancy.
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Project Management

• Proven ability to manage dozens of social assets at any given time.  

*Must be able to legally work in the country where this position is located without visa sponsorship.

The salary range for this role is $157,400 to $236,000 USD. 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 $173,100 to $259,700 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 the 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 HR@gatesfoundation.org 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.