Gates Foundation Senior Data Engineer Job 2026 in the USA – Salary Up to $259,700
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is inviting applications for the position of Senior Data Engineer, IT Enterprise Data Solutions in Seattle, Washington, USA. This is a full-time professional opportunity for experienced data engineering specialists interested in developing secure, scalable and reliable data platforms for one of the world’s leading philanthropic organisations.
The successful candidate will join the foundation’s IT Enterprise Data Solutions department, where they will help design, develop and maintain enterprise data solutions that support strategic decision-making, reporting, analytics and artificial intelligence initiatives.
The position offers an attractive annual salary ranging from $157,400 to $236,000, with a higher salary range of up to $259,700 for qualifying positions in Seattle and Washington, D.C.
Candidates should have at least seven years of relevant data engineering experience, strong technical expertise in cloud data platforms and advanced proficiency in SQL and Python.
Job Overview
| Job Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Organisation | Gates Foundation |
| Position | Senior Data Engineer |
| Department | IT Enterprise Data Solutions |
| Location | Seattle, Washington, USA |
| Job Reference | B021732 |
| Job Type | Full-time |
| Work Arrangement | On-site |
| Experience | Typically 7+ years |
| Salary | $157,400–$236,000 |
| Seattle Salary Range | $173,100–$259,700 |
| Application Deadline | Not specified in the supplied listing |
About the Gates Foundation
The Gates Foundation is one of the world’s largest nonprofit organisations working to fight poverty, disease and inequality.
Founded on the belief that everyone deserves the opportunity to live a healthy and productive life, the foundation works with governments, businesses, nonprofit organisations and other partners to address some of the world’s most pressing development challenges.
Its work focuses on improving global health, reducing poverty and addressing inequalities through research, innovation, strategic partnerships and investments.
The foundation also recognises the importance of technology and data in improving institutional effectiveness and supporting evidence-based decisions.
About the Senior Data Engineer Position
The Senior Data Engineer will play an important role in designing, building, operating and continuously improving the foundation’s Modern Data Platform.
Working within the Data Engineering team, the successful candidate will translate business and technical requirements into reliable data pipelines, enterprise data products, data models and platform capabilities.
The role involves collaborating with data and AI engineers, business systems analysts, product owners, data analysts, business intelligence engineers and information security specialists.
A major objective is to improve the availability, quality, security and usability of organisational data.
The successful candidate will also help develop data infrastructure supporting enterprise reporting, AI-assisted knowledge discovery, enterprise search, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) and advanced analytics.
Key Responsibilities
The Senior Data Engineer will undertake responsibilities across several technical areas.
Data Engineering and Solution Development
- Design, develop, test and deploy enterprise ETL and ELT data pipelines.
- Build reusable data ingestion and transformation processes.
- Develop curated data products and dimensional data models.
- Implement data transformations using SQL, Python, Spark/PySpark and Databricks.
- Support migration from legacy data warehouses to modern cloud-based data architectures.
Platform Security and Reliability
- Monitor and optimise data pipelines, storage and databases.
- Implement data quality controls, logging, monitoring and automated alerts.
- Investigate production incidents and perform root-cause analysis.
- Apply security practices involving encryption, identity management and access controls.
- Implement automated testing, CI/CD and release management processes.
Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Analytics
- Develop data pipelines supporting enterprise search and AI applications.
- Prepare high-quality data and metadata for AI-assisted knowledge discovery.
- Support retrieval-augmented generation and other AI use cases.
- Collaborate with AI, Business Intelligence and Information Security teams.
- Evaluate emerging data technologies and recommend suitable solutions.
Technical Leadership and Collaboration
- Conduct technical design and code reviews.
- Establish reusable engineering standards and practices.
- Mentor other data engineers and provide technical guidance.
- Maintain technical documentation and operational procedures.
- Collaborate with architects and product teams to deliver enterprise data solutions.
Qualifications and Experience
The foundation is seeking experienced professionals with strong technical backgrounds in enterprise data engineering.
Applicants should have a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Data Engineering, Information Systems or a related discipline. An equivalent combination of education and experience may also be considered.
Candidates should typically have at least seven years of relevant data engineering experience, particularly in designing, implementing and operating enterprise data platforms.
Additional requirements include:
- Strong practical experience with Azure data services, Databricks, Snowflake and dbt Cloud.
- Experience with Azure Data Factory and Fivetran is strongly preferred.
- Advanced proficiency in SQL and Python.
- Practical experience with Spark/PySpark or Scala.
- Knowledge of lakehouse, cloud data warehouse and ETL/ELT architectures.
- Experience with dimensional modelling and enterprise data quality.
- Knowledge of CI/CD pipelines, automated testing and version control.
- Understanding of data security, privacy, governance and access controls.
- Experience supporting analytics platforms such as Power BI.
- Familiarity with metadata and governance platforms such as Collibra.
Candidates should also demonstrate excellent communication skills, analytical thinking and the ability to explain complex technical concepts to different stakeholders.
Experience working with distributed engineering teams and external technology vendors is beneficial.
Salary and Benefits
The Gates Foundation offers a competitive compensation package.
The advertised annual salary ranges are:
| Location | Annual Salary |
|---|---|
| General salary range | $157,400–$236,000 |
| Seattle and Washington, D.C. | $173,100–$259,700 |
The foundation indicates that new employees are typically offered salaries between the minimum and midpoint of the applicable salary range. Final compensation depends on qualifications, relevant experience and expertise.
Employee benefits include comprehensive medical, dental and vision coverage without employee premiums, generous paid time off, paid family leave, foundation-funded retirement contributions, regional holidays and opportunities to participate in employee communities.
Important Work Authorisation Requirements
Applicants must have unrestricted authorisation to work in the country where the position is located.
The Gates Foundation does not provide immigration-related sponsorship for this vacancy. This includes employment visa sponsorship and other work authorisations requiring employer documentation or immigration support.
International applicants should therefore carefully assess their eligibility before applying.
How to Apply
Interested candidates should submit their applications through the official Gates Foundation recruitment portal.
Position: Senior Data Engineer, IT Enterprise Data Solutions
Job Reference: B021732
Location: Seattle, Washington, USA
Applicants should review the complete vacancy announcement and ensure they meet the technical experience and work authorisation requirements.
Final Thoughts
The Senior Data Engineer opportunity at the Gates Foundation is an attractive career option for experienced technology professionals seeking to contribute to data-driven global development.
The position combines enterprise data engineering, cloud architecture, artificial intelligence enablement and technical leadership within an organisation working to address global poverty, disease and inequality.
Professionals with strong Azure, Databricks, Snowflake, Python and SQL expertise may find this opportunity particularly valuable.
Candidates who meet the experience and US work authorisation requirements are encouraged to review the vacancy and submit their applications through the official recruitment portal.
