Senior Advocacy Officer, Asia, Digital Public Infrastructure & Inclusive Financial Systems

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 mission of the Global Policy and Advocacy (GPA) division is to understand and shape the public policy debates affecting the foundation's work, build support for its major program and policy objectives, and develop partnerships and alliances that can advance the foundation’s objectives nationally and globally. Because the foundation's resources alone are not enough to solve the challenges ahead, GPA also supports advocacy efforts to engage diverse stakeholders and promote innovative solutions that advance our program goals. We work in close partnership with grantees, our colleagues in the Global Health, Global Development, Global Growth & Opportunity, U.S. and Gender Equality programs and Foundation Communications to build the environment in which all people have the opportunity to lead healthy and productive lives.

The Program Advocacy & Communications (PAC) team works in partnership with the foundation’s global program strategies and other teams in the GPA division to define and achieve their policy and finance goals by:
- Developing and coordinating the execution of global advocacy and communications strategies to influence donor and low and middle-income country governments to prioritize the health and development needs of the poor.
- Leveraging leadership and foundation voice to implement communications and advocacy strategies.
- Developing and managing a grant portfolio dedicated to achieving communications and advocacy outcomes.
- Directly advocating with private, NGO and philanthropic-sector leaders, influencers, media and government officials in order to achieve communications and advocacy outcomes.
- Leading issue-specific communications in service of communications and advocacy goals.
- Developing policy recommendations or proposals in partnership with programmatic and regional offices.

Our culture shapes our choices about what we do and how we do it. We believe that energized people, working well together, fueled by great leadership in an inclusive environment can do extraordinary things. We expect foundation employees to consistently embody our four agreements; show respect, offer trust, be transparent, and create energy.

The South & Southeast Asia Team advances the foundation’s mission in one of the world’s most dynamic regions - by strengthening government partnerships, mobilizing diverse forms of capital, and amplifying local voices to deliver impact at scale. The team works to align foundation priorities with regional and country-led development agendas in South and Southeast Asia. We partner with governments, multilateral development banks, philanthropists, and regional networks to position South and Southeast Asia as a key engine for innovation, financing, and policy leadership in global development.

The Senior Advocacy Officer, Asia, Digital Public Infrastructure & Inclusive Financial Systems, will support the PAC strategies of two program teams:

- The Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) team supports country efforts to build safe and inclusive DPI, including identification, data sharing, and credentialing systems, among other DPI components. The DPI team also supports efforts to ensure AI tools are built on safe and inclusive DPI and that people can access AI-enabled services in their local languages. The DPI team invests in a range of efforts to help countries build DPI that is secure and inclusive, including open-source digital public goods (DPGs) that countries can use to build their own DPI, technical assistance facilities to help countries implement DPI with the appropriate regulations and safeguards, and research to inform DPI policies and implementation strategies.

- The Inclusive Financial Systems (IFS) team works to accelerate the buildout of inclusive financial systems by 1) enabling policies and regulations which support the expansion of inclusive financial services while also protecting users; 2) supporting the implementation of inclusive instant payments systems (IIPS); 3) driving scale and economic sustainability by promoting pro-poor use cases, including government to person payments, wage payments, digital merchant payments, and productive credit; and 4) closing the gender gap in the usage of formal financial products.

The DPI and IFS strategies sit within the foundation’s Global Growth and Opportunity (GGO) division. GGO focuses on creating and scaling market-based innovations to stimulate inclusive and sustainable economic growth. GGO strategies include Agricultural Development; DPI; IFS: Global Education; Nutrition; and Water, Sanitation and Hygiene. We seek solutions that are sustainable, transformative, and inclusive with an eye toward applying technology innovations and rigorous evidence to inspire change in the world’s developing countries.

The Role

The Senior Advocacy Officer, Asia, Digital Public Infrastructure & Inclusive Financial Systems will serve as advocacy lead in Asia for the foundation’s GGO Division, with a primary focus on advancing the DPI and IFS strategies in the region.

We are seeking an expert in DPI, IFS and Advocacy who has strong relationships with the Singaporean Government departments involved in building and regulating Singapore’s DPI. The selected candidate will develop and implement a strategy to: 1) support Asian government decision-makers to invest in safe and inclusive DPI, including IIPS, ID, and data sharing systems; 2) ensure those decision-makers have access to the evidence, technologies, technical assistance, and policy/regulatory guidance needed to build safe and inclusive DPI; and 3) leverage Asian regional forums (e.g. ASEAN, SADC) and global forums (e.g. World Bank, UN, ITU, G20) to establish DPI as the standard approach to digital development in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). 

This position is based in Singapore and reports to the Deputy Director, Program Advocacy and Communications, DPI and IFS.

What you’ll do

• Develop and implement the foundation’s DPI and IFS advocacy strategies in Asia and elevate DPI on the global agenda.  

• Negotiate, implement, and manage a portfolio of investments with impact measures.  

• Build a partner/grantee ecosystem for advancing DPI and IFS advocacy goals in Asia and elevating DPI on the global agenda. 

• Represent the foundation with Asian government stakeholders, including central banks, ICT Ministries, home ministries, social protection ministries, and other government departments involved in designing, building, and regulating DPI.  

• Partner with the foundation’s South & Southeast Asia Office and Africa Regional Office to establish South-to-South peer learning mechanisms so that Asian and African countries can share learnings of how they design, build, and regulate DPI (including IIPS).  

• As part of these South-South peer learning efforts, build strong partnerships with the Monetary Authority of Singapore, the Singapore Ministry of Digital Development, and other government departments to ensure other countries can learn from Singapore’s efforts to build and regulate DPI (including IIPS) and AI-enabled services. 

• Represent the foundation with the World Bank, United Nations, International Telecoms Union, G20, G7, and other international bodies to establish DPI as the standard approach to digital development.  

• Support Asian regional bodies to develop regional standards for national and cross-border DPI and supporting regulations.  

• Partner with our DPI/IFS Resource Mobilization Lead to unlock donor financing to support country efforts to advance financial inclusion and build DPI more broadly.  

• Provide clear, concise and insightful written analyses and recommendations for investments.  

• Write and produce briefings, reports, email updates, and other materials on key global DPI policy and funding and other relevant issues for foundation leadership  

• Serve as a point of contact on DPI, IFS, and AI issues for internal and external stakeholders.  

• Advance the advocacy goals of priority GGO strategies, such as Agricultural Development, as needed. 

Your Experience

We are looking for a recognized global professional with deep sector and advocacy expertise in DPI and IFS. Additional knowledge and skills include:  

• Advanced degree preferred in public policy, business, international relations, development or a related field, with 10+years of senior-level experience in financial inclusion, DPI, or related fields in senior technical advisory roles in Singapore and wider Asia, preferably with a mix of service in the public and private sectors.  

• Deep understanding of DPI and IFS. 

• Experience developing and implementing advocacy and communications strategies to influence policymakers, donors, and other external stakeholders, including interactions with senior Asian policy makers, civil society organizations, the private sector, and other key external constituencies.  

• Understanding of the policy and regulatory enablers and safeguards for DPI and IFS.  

• Understanding of AI’s role in DPI and IFS and the policies and technologies that can enhance the impact of AI applications in health, social protection, agriculture, education, women’s economic opportunity, and other development priorities.   

• Understanding of the policies and enrollment strategies needed to close the gender gap in financial inclusion and ensure women can access and use DPI. 

• Understanding how DPI, AI, and IFS can advance a range of development objectives, including social protection, regional economic integration, women’s economic opportunity, and public service delivery.  

• Understanding of how digital policies are established at the country level and the role of international and regional bodies in informing those decisions.  

• Understanding of the role of donor funding in advancing DPI and IFS efforts. 

• Strong relationships with the Monetary Authority of Singapore, the Singapore Ministry of Digital Development, and other government agencies involved in building and regulating Singapore’s DPI. 

• Excellent strategic thinker and strategy development experience.  

• Innovative thinker who is hands-on and willing to go as deep or broad as necessary to achieve outcomes.  

• Demonstrated ability to organize/prioritize work and meet deadlines within a fast-paced environment with multiple and competing demands.  

• Demonstrated ability to question and challenge colleagues in a constructive manner.  

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, able to effectively synthesize information to reach diverse audiences and create consensus.  

Other Attributes  

• Comfortable in a wide range of cultural, geographic and operational situations, demonstrating culturally sensitive behavior with a diverse range of people and a deep commitment to development issues and high standards of personal integrity.  

• Ability to travel up to 25% domestically and internationally.  

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

 Application deadline: 5 April 2026

#LI-RT1

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.