AI Fellow – Africa Regional Offices position at the Gates Foundation.

AI Fellow - Africa Regional Offices (Full-Time)

Location: Nairobi, Kenya | Abuja, Nigeria | Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | Johannesburg, South Africa

Job Requisition ID: B021830

Employment Type: 12-Month Limited Term Employment

Application Deadline: November 11th, 2026

About the Gates Foundation

We are the largest nonprofit fighting poverty, disease, and inequity around the world. Founded on the premise that all lives have equal value, we believe people everywhere should have the chance to live healthy, productive lives. We offer a competitive benefits package, including comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage with no premiums, generous paid time off, paid family leave, foundation-paid retirement contributions, and regional holidays.

Position Overview

Are you an AI technologist looking to apply your skills for social good? The AI Fellows Program at the Gates Foundation is expanding to Africa. We are seeking top-tier, mission-aligned AI talent to join our first Africa-based cohort.

In this 12-month limited-term role, you will be embedded within our Africa team, collaborating closely with partners and government counterparts. You will be assigned 1 to 2 high-priority projects that leverage frontier artificial intelligence, machine learning, and large language models (LLMs) to address critical challenges in global health, development, and education across Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).

Key Responsibilities

Problem Identification & Scoping: Partner with the Africa team and project sponsors to scope practical AI solutions grounded in local realities and user needs.
Prototyping & Rapid Experimentation: Build rapid prototypes using modern LLMs and AI tools to test feasibility, generate insights, and develop reusable, modular solutions.
AI Solution Design & Delivery: Design, evaluate, and validate machine learning models and data pipelines. Ensure data integrity, security, ethical use, and alignment with robust software engineering practices.
Teaching & Capacity Building: Support internal AI literacy by developing workshops, guides, and playbooks, while mentoring team members on responsible AI adoption in Low- and Middle-Income Country (LMIC) contexts.
Responsible & Ethical AI: Embed equity, bias mitigation, explainability, and data privacy into every technical framework.

Sample Project Areas

Financing Flow Systems: Build decision-support tools that unify disparate financing flows, conduct periodic bottleneck diagnostics, and support informed decision-making across African countries.
Supply Chain Optimization: Design solutions to reduce essential medicine stockouts at district and facility levels, incorporating predictive analytics to flag risk and identify redistribution opportunities.
Health Planning: Build AI tools that rank interventions against budget ceilings and track them efficiently through procurement and cash release cycles.

Key Qualifications & Requirements

Education: Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Data Science, Engineering, Applied Math, or a related field.
Experience: At least 2 years of experience applying AI solutions, preferably within health, public financial management, or agricultural systems.
Technical Expertise: Strong foundation in modern AI/ML modeling, model evaluation, and hands-on experience with LLMs (prompting, retrieval, fine-tuning, or deployment) combined with solid software engineering and data skills.
Communication & Collaboration: Excellent cross-functional teamwork and the ability to articulate complex technical concepts clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
Mission-Driven: A deep, demonstrated motivation to apply AI responsibly for the public good and global health impact.

Note: Candidates must be legally authorized to work in the country of placement (Kenya, Nigeria, Ethiopia, or South Africa) without visa sponsorship. Relocation support is not provided.

Why Join Us?

Outsized Impact: Drive results in LMICs where innovations can accelerate progress fastest.
Global Network: Collaborate with multilaterals, NGOs, academia, and industry leaders across a footprint spanning over 140 countries.
Professional Growth: Lead high-visibility projects from day one with expert mentorship from leaders across AI, health, and development.