Foundation jobs are posted on each foundation’s own careers page and filled through an online application system, and most of the five large foundations covered here take applications only for specific openings. Check where the job is based and whether you can work there before you apply: the Gates Foundation, for one, sponsors visas generally only for certain leadership roles.
A grant-making foundation is a charity that gives money to other organisations, such as research teams, charities and public bodies, to do work it wants done. Its staff choose and manage those grants, and run the foundation itself. This post covers the Gates Foundation, Wellcome, the Ford Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation and the Open Society Foundations, from their own careers pages.
Which foundations hire, and where are they based?
The five are based in New York, Seattle or London, with offices in other regions. Here is what each one’s own pages say:
| Foundation | Headquarters | Other offices, as its pages name them | How you apply |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gates Foundation | Seattle | Washington, D.C., London, Berlin, Abuja, Addis Ababa, Dakar, Johannesburg, Nairobi, Delhi, Beijing and, from 2026, Singapore | Online only; no resumes by email or post |
| Wellcome | London | None named on the pages we read; interviews usually take place in London | Online, for specific jobs only |
| Ford Foundation | New York | 11 offices in all, in places such as Bogotá, Lagos and Jakarta | Online, with a profile in its talent pool |
| Rockefeller Foundation | New York | Washington DC, Bangkok, Nairobi and Bogotá, plus a conference centre in Bellagio, Italy | Online openings page |
| Open Society Foundations | New York | Washington, London, Berlin, Rio de Janeiro, Bogotá, Mexico City, Amman, Brussels, Johannesburg, Dakar and Nairobi | Online, through its careers page |
The Gates Foundation’s hiring FAQ says all openings at its global offices appear in its job listings, so one list covers every office. Its careers page counts 12 offices, while the FAQ’s list names 11 places and no Singapore, so check the list for the office you want.
What do foundations hire for?
Three kinds of work recur across these pages: grantmaking and programme work, strategy, and the operations that run the foundation.
- Grantmaking and programmes. The Gates Foundation has more than 40 teams, working on issues from tropical diseases and vaccines to food security, sanitation and family planning. Staff on its careers page hold titles such as Senior Program Officer, Program Assistant and Program Coordinator.
- Strategy. The same page features a Senior Strategy Officer, a Deputy Director and a Director.
- Operations. Ford describes its staff as everyone “from program to operations professionals”, and Gates features a Program Chief Financial Officer.
The Open Society Foundations’ employment page names the skills the work uses, through the training it gives staff: leadership, communications, grantmaking, financial analysis, field scanning, flexible funding and organisational assessments.
You do not need a philanthropy background. The Gates Foundation says its employees come from business, tech, academia, medicine, government and nonprofits, that many have never worked for a philanthropy before, and that it hires both deep subject experts and generalists. It values people who understand how to work with governments, multilateral bodies, companies, public health agencies, universities and other donors. Wellcome says it employs people from a wide range of career backgrounds.
How do you apply to a foundation?
Through its portal, for one opening at a time. The Gates Foundation lets you fill in the form by uploading a resume or reusing an earlier application, and you need a separate application for each job. Its careers page sets out the stages:
- Application.
- An initial interview with a recruiter.
- A second interview with the hiring manager.
- Final interviews with team members.
- A job offer.
Each meeting usually lasts 45 to 60 minutes. Wellcome says that in most cases there are at least two interview stages, asks candidates to prepare a five to ten minute summary of their relevant skills and experience, and suggests the STAR method for answers. STAR method interview answers shows that method.
How do deadlines work?
Deadlines work differently from one foundation to the next. The Gates FAQ says most of its listings have no deadline, and it encourages you to apply as soon as you can. It also says its system changes a listing’s posting date after even a small edit, and that if the listing number stays the same, your first application still counts. Wellcome, by contrast, accepts no late applications and may close a vacancy early if it finds a suitable candidate before the deadline.
Ford and Open Society handle openings in their own ways. Ford calls its talent pool its first resource when a search starts, and says a profile there puts you first in line for matching roles. Open Society posts its vacancies on its careers page and cannot send notices of new posts, so it asks you to check back.
What do foundations ask of applicants?
Read the opening for its exact terms, but these rules come up on the foundations’ own pages:
- Experience. The Gates FAQ says its entry-level roles typically look for 3 to 5 years of experience in a related field or similar work.
- The right to work. Gates says most of its listings require the right to work in the country of the job without sponsorship, and that it sponsors visas in certain cases, generally only for certain leadership roles. Wellcome warns applicants from outside the UK that legal restrictions may affect its ability to employ them.
- A letter, sometimes. Wellcome’s recruitment process page says to upload a covering letter only if it asks for one, and to make sure your CV highlights the experience, skills and qualifications relevant to the role. Open Society’s applicant data notice lists a CV and a cover letter among what it collects.
- No informational interviews. The Gates FAQ says the volume of requests means it generally cannot hold them.
None of the pages we read gives salary figures for staff roles. The Gates FAQ says staff at its international offices get pay and benefits that reflect local practice in that country.
Do foundations take speculative CVs or agency applications?
Wellcome’s answer is no on both counts. It accepts applications only online and only for specific jobs, does not take volunteers, and does not accept speculative CVs from recruitment agencies. It pays fees only to agencies it has instructed, and says that all its vacancies appear on its own jobs page, even when it uses a search firm. It also says it never asks candidates to pay a fee or provide bank details during recruitment, so a request for money in Wellcome’s name does not come from Wellcome.
The Gates Foundation does not accept resumes by email or post. The other three foundations’ pages that we read do not say how they treat unsolicited applications.
What about internships and early careers?
Each scheme sets its own rules and windows:
- Ford Foundation. A ten-week summer internship at its New York office, with competitive pay but no figure given. Applicants must be full-time rising junior or senior undergraduates, permanent residents of the New York tri-state area, on needs-based financial aid, with a GPA of at least 3.0. The page says to come back in December to apply for 2027.
- Rockefeller Foundation. Opportunities for the next year’s programme are posted in January 2027 and reviewed on a rolling basis.
- Wellcome. A two-year graduate programme for recent graduates and master’s graduates. Its internship, general graduate and apprenticeship programmes are closed for now, with updates in 2027.
Questions people ask
Do I need experience in philanthropy to work at a foundation?
No. The Gates Foundation says many of its staff never worked for a philanthropy before, and hires from business, tech, academia, medicine, government and nonprofits.
Will a foundation sponsor my visa?
Do not count on it. The Gates Foundation sponsors visas generally only for certain leadership roles, and Wellcome warns applicants from outside the UK about legal restrictions.
Can I email my CV to a foundation?
Not to these two. The Gates Foundation does not accept resumes by email or post, and Wellcome accepts applications only online and only for specific jobs.
Do I need to apply again if a job is reposted?
Not at the Gates Foundation, if the listing number has not changed. Its system updates the posting date after small edits.
What we know and what we do not
The rules above come from the five foundations’ own careers pages, FAQs and applicant notices. We also wanted to cover Philea and the Council on Foundations, but both sites refused our requests, so this post says nothing about sector job boards. The foundations’ job lists load inside their application systems and we did not read them, so we give no count of openings.
Zorlya does not apply for you. When a role is in your feed, Zorlya scores it against your resume, names its source and links to the original posting, where you apply. How it works shows the steps. Before you apply, how to read a job posting helps you check the location and the work rules, and one resume for many countries helps you adjust a CV for an office in another country. If the opening does ask for a letter, see writing a motivation letter.