Job Description
Director, China Country Office
Beijing, China
Foundation Summary
Guided by the belief that all lives have equal value, we at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (the “Foundation”) pride ourselves on being ‘impatient optimists’ whose purpose is to work to reduce inequity. Our vision is to ensure a world where every person has the opportunity to live a healthy, productive life. We have four missions to:
• Ensure more children and young people survive and thrive;
• Empower the poorest, especially women and girls, to transform their lives;
• Combat infectious diseases that particularly affect the poorest; and
• Inspire people to take action to change the world
Key to enabling these missions is our commitment to science and innovation, collaboration and partnership, measurement and rigor, as well as optimism and risk taking. Based in Seattle, the Foundation has a worldwide staff of 1,600 people and is led by CEO Mark Suzman, under the direction of Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett. We have offices in the United States, Europe, India, China, South Africa, Ethiopia and Nigeria.
To learn more about job opportunities at the Foundation, please visit our Careers site
at www.gatesfoundation.org/jobs.
The China Country Director (the “Director”) reports to the President, Global Policy & Advocacy, who is based in the Foundation’s U.S. headquarters. The China Country Office (“CCO”) is responsible for overseeing all Foundation programs in China, working in close partnership with program strategy teams and other foundation offices.
Position Summary & Responsibilities
The Director is the Foundation’s senior leader in China. The Director will oversee a team of exceptional staff in Beijing, represent the Foundation at senior levels of key partners and stakeholders, advise Foundation leadership on engagements with China and Chinese organizations, and ensure the Foundation’s strategies are well designed and executed to advance the Foundation’s partnerships, programs, and goals in the country, as well as broader global objectives.
The Director is the Foundation’s principal representative in China acting as the ambassador for the foundation’s brand, mission, and work. In this capacity, the Director will represent the Foundation at senior levels of government, as well as with a wide range of multilateral, donor, business, media, and non-governmental partners in China, and at key domestic and international events. The Director will also protect and develop the Foundation’s reputation and relationships.
The Director will advise Foundation executive leadership, including co-chairs, CEO, global program Presidents and other Foundation leaders overseeing global health and development efforts, on issues related to China and the Foundation’s affairs in China. In this capacity, the Director will advise colleagues on policy and geopolitical, technological, and health and development affairs, providing strategic guidance and local intelligence to improve the design and execution of the Foundation’s partnership and strategies in China and globally. The Director will fully invest in understanding the programs and act as a strong partner for Seattle based leadership. The Director would be responsible for ensuring strong and productive connections and relationships between Seattle Headquarters and CCO.
The Director will ensure the CCO operates with integrity and excellence, and a spirit of constructive partnership, in all aspects of its internal and external work. The Director is responsible for hiring, managing, and developing the talent needed to achieve the Foundation’s goals. The Director will ensure successful employee onboarding, communicate performance expectations clearly, prioritize goals and resources, and facilitate the alignment and collaboration of Foundation teams. The Director will give and seek feedback, provide coaching, measure and assess progress fairly, hold staff accountable for their performance, support employee development, seek and incorporate lessons learned, and recognize and reward success and good performance.
In the performance of these functions, the Director must at all times demonstrate the highest standards of integrity, extraordinary diplomacy, and effective strategic, managerial, and negotiating skills to build alignment among diverse external and internal stakeholders to achieve results.
Key duties and responsibilities:
Reporting to and working under the guidance of the President, Global Policy & Advocacy, and in alignment with the Foundation’s global strategy and policies, the Director will:
Lead the Foundation’s CCO as a high-performing team that operates with all counterparts, internally and externally, at the highest standards of intellectual excellence, integrity, and collaboration. This includes nurturing an environment that enables respect, trust, transparency, and positive energy within the office, and demonstrate key leadership responsibilities of developing individuals and building great teams, prioritizing our collective success, and modeling constructive debate with courage and intellectual integrity.
Ensure a deep understanding of the purpose of the CCO and that it develops and executes ambitious strategies to support China’s contributions to global poverty, health, and development goals supported by the Foundation, both 3 domestically and around the world. The Director is pragmatic and has the contextual knowledge, the ability to lead and ensures the CCO successfully demonstrates impact.
Direct and control the activities for planning, staffing, budgeting, managing expense priorities, for both programs and functions, including allocating financial resources for program/functional groups and making trade-offs within a cluster or geography up to set amounts.
Provide intelligence and advice to shape and support the Foundation’s work in China or related to China, including supporting high-level visits to China from senior foundation leaders and some key partners. Ensure the Foundation is well informed in its engagements related to policy, foreign assistance and investment, financial regulations, biotechnology, and other key health and development priorities.
Develop and maintain strong Government relationships at a strategic level and maintain and strengthen partnerships with Chinese policymakers in the central government and in key provinces.
Establish and strengthen critical relationships with key foundation partners, including private sector businesses, funders and multilateral organizations operating in or with China, and Chinese media and influencers to align key agendas and resources with the foundation’s strategies and goals. This includes ensuring high quality interactions and clear and consistent communication with grantees and partners in the field.
Protect and strengthen the Foundation’s reputation and brand in China, including managing risk at a country level relative to fiscal, legal, reputation and compliance issues.
Oversee organization effectiveness aligned with the Foundation strategy to ensure there is a culture, workforce, and organization design to support the CCO strategy.
Ensure strong people management, including both the direct management of the country leadership team as well as holding their managers accountable for effective management of their teams.
Integrate and prioritize all Foundation work across the country to align with external country priorities, country strategy and internal capability/capacity.
Oversee all Foundation activities within China including but not limited to emergency responses, relationship management and operational issues.
Qualifications & experience
MBA, MD, JD, PhD, or equivalent degree with at least 15-20 years of significant management experience at a high level in global organizations.
Senior leadership experience in international relations, economics, government relations, development or public policy, and significant exposure to international issues and experience related to China, with a strong knowledge and awareness of development economics.
Demonstrated capacity to envision and analyze future opportunities and risks, collaboratively create and articulate a strategic plan, and execute the plan to materialize that vision.
Experience leading and implementing programs in China and working in a global organization, working with government, private sector, and civil society 4 across national & sub-national levels while effectively managing interactions between country offices and headquarters.
Representation experience in China with demonstrated ability to manage high level central government and key provincial government relationships.
Must have worked in Global organizations in the past with strong regional presence. Has an understanding of navigating through complexity and matrix environment.
Proven experience and ability to collaborate effectively with internal and external stakeholders, engaging with high-level government officials, key partners, media executives/reporters, business leaders, other influencers and grantees on a wide range of issues, including a demonstrated ability to build partnerships and working collaboratively with others to meet shared/joint objectives, both internally and externally.
Ability to manage complexity and ambiguity effectively, making sense of complex and sometimes contradictory information to effectively solve problems and manage relationships, and orchestrating effective decisions across a broad range of issues and stakeholders, assess progress, analyze gaps, and make necessary changes.
Demonstrated experience and ability to manage high-performing team with self-directed Deputy Directors and Program Officers, and establish and maintain high-integrity, collaborative culture, including the ability to manage conflicts and build consensus.
Demonstrated ability to work with flexibility, efficiency, and diplomacy in a complex, fast-paced environment both in China and across Foundation offices worldwide, including an ability to work in a wide range of cultural, geographic and operational situations, demonstrating culturally sensitive behavior with a diverse range of people and constituencies (including government officials, donors, traditional and religious leaders).
Excellent written and oral communications skills in both Mandarin Chinese and English.
Ability to travel up to 30% domestically and internationally.
As part of our standard hiring process for new employees, employment with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will be contingent upon successful completion of a background check.