Managing Deputy Director, Legal (Contracts & Transactions)

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

"Guidance, Solutions, Integrity" describes the Legal division’s approach to providing responsive legal guidance supporting pursuit of the foundation’s mission and implementation of the foundation's programmatic and operational strategies. The Legal team delivers comprehensive legal services by providing efficient and reliable legal guidance, managing legal risk, and supporting the development of solutions to achieve the mission of the foundation and its affiliated entities.

The Legal team partners with our colleagues across the foundation and its affiliated entities to enable mission-driven work by maintaining an efficient, well-run global organization where employees can thrive and make their best contributions. Doing this well requires effective collaboration, strong alignment, and thoughtful planning across both operational and programmatic teams – as well as shared accountability for mitigating risk and optimizing the foundation’s operational resources.

Applications will be accepted until 5:00pm PST on June 20, 2025.

Your Role

You will lead the legal support responsible for a high volume of commercial, operational and other contracts and transactions, including complex and high-risk engagements. You will manage a team of legal professionals, including lawyers who directly support individual contracts, transactions and other charitable activities as well as those responsible for developing and maintaining playbooks, negotiation guides, tools, and frameworks to support consistent and efficient contract execution across the foundation and its affiliates. While you will not be responsible for drafting and negotiating every individual contract, you will be a key resource for professionals across the foundation supporting those contracts and other transactions, ensuring alignment, consistency, and risk mitigation.

You will also lead and contribute to cross-foundation strategic initiatives focused on improving efficiency, risk practices, and enterprise systems. You will act as the Legal Division’s relationship manager to the Strategic Sourcing & Procurement team, ensuring legal input is embedded into procurement strategy and implementation. Additionally, you will serve as the escalation point for certain high-risk contract matters and coordinate cross-functionally with legal subject-matter experts to deliver integrated legal guidance that supports foundation-wide activities and impact.

This is an exciting opportunity to apply your legal skills to some of the world’s most pressing challenges. You will be part of a dynamic legal team supporting high-impact work that improves lives across the globe.

What You’ll Do

• Oversee and manage the Legal Division’s support of commercial, operations, and other contracts and transactions, ensuring consistency and appropriate risk mitigation.

• Oversee the development and implementation of legal tools (e.g., templates, clauses, fallback positions) and decision-making and risk frameworks across operational, programmatic, and other contracting.

• Structure, negotiate, draft, and provide guidance on complex contracts and transactions, including those with significant legal, financial, or reputational considerations.

• Partner with Strategic Sourcing & Procurement leadership, affiliates, and other internal client groups to become a trusted partner and support procurement strategies, system implementations, and process automations that integrate legal considerations and risk frameworks. 

• Provide strategic legal counsel to help shape and evolve the foundation’s risk frameworks for contracts and other transactions and activities to reflect current foundation priorities, emerging best practices, and industry standards. Collaborate with internal stakeholders to ensure risk posture remains responsive to operational and programmatic needs, enabling innovation and speed while safeguarding the foundation’s legal and reputational interests.

• Lead and develop a team of direct reports while actively engaging with the Legal Leadership Team and partnering closely with other Managing Deputy Directors to ensure coordinated and aligned legal support across the foundation.

• Collaborate with the Legal Leadership Team and broader legal team to ensure effective coverage, work allocation and communication regarding legal issues related to the foundation, all from a “one team” perspective.

• Manage outside counsel as needed.

• Support training and education on legal and contracting issues, with a focus on promoting efficient, high-performing, and risk-adjusted contracting and transactions practices.

• Some travel may be required.

Your Experience

• Juris Doctor degree and current bar membership in good standing are required.

• Minimum of 10 years’ experience in the practice of law with proven subject matter expertise in contracts and procurement.

• Demonstrated ability to advise on legal risk, influence at senior levels, and collaborate across business functions.

• Substantial law firm experience and in-house experience, preferred.

• Experience in philanthropic, nonprofit, or mission-driven sectors.

• Knowledge of enterprise procurement systems and legal aspects of sourcing and purchasing.

• Experience leading or contributing to cross-functional, organization-wide transformation or legal operations initiatives is highly desirable.

• Outstanding drafting and negotiating abilities are required.

• Experience successfully managing a team of other legal professionals.

• Strong business sense and client focus.

• Ability to work with flexibility, efficiency, enthusiasm, and diplomacy both individually and collaboratively as part of a team effort and effortlessly transition between leading and supporting roles as required.

• Capability to adapt engagement to collaborate with personnel at all levels, ranging from senior executives to technical specialists.

• Quickly grasp and  embrace new and rapidly evolving subject areas, demonstrating intellectual curiosity and an excitement to engage proactively and confidently with unfamiliar topics. 

• Strong interpersonal skills, maturity, sound judgment, and ability to communicate in a clear and compelling manner with internal and external audiences.

• Self-motivated and  with a strong sense of ownership and urgency; able to independently drive work forward and deliver high-quality results in a fast-paced environment where individuals manage their own portfolios and priorities.

• Passion for the mission of the foundation.

• Highest standards of ethics and integrity.

• Sense of balance, humor, and perspective.

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

The salary range for this role is $293,200 to $454,400 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 $319,500 to $495,300 USD. As a mission-driven organization, we strive to balance competitive pay with our mission. New hires salaries are typically between the range minimum and the salary range midpoint. Actual placement in the range will depend on a candidate’s job-related skills, experience, and expertise, as evaluated during the interview process.

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

If you require assistance due to a disability in the application or recruitment process, please submit a request here.

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.