Gates Foundation AI Fellowship 2027: Paid AI Roles in Africa, Apply by 11 November

The Gates Foundation AI Fellowship is open for applications for its first Africa-based cohort, a 12-month paid role that puts artificial intelligence to work on health, development and education challenges across the continent. The Gates Foundation is recruiting AI Fellows to be based in Nairobi, Abuja, Addis Ababa or Johannesburg, and applications close on 11 November 2026. The vacancy carries requisition number B021830, and fellows will be employed full time on a limited-term contract rather than enrolled on a study programme.

Read the limits first. Applicants must already be legally authorised to work in the country where the role is based, and the Foundation said it will not provide visa sponsorship or relocation support. That condition rules out anyone who would need a work permit in Nigeria, Kenya, Ethiopia or South Africa, including applicants based in Nepal without existing work authorisation in one of those countries. The posting does not state a salary figure, describing the pay only as competitive under the Foundation's compensation structure, so no salary number can be quoted for this role.

At a glance	Details
Organisation	Gates Foundation (Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation), Africa team
Programme	AI Fellows Programme 2027, first Africa-based cohort
Role	AI Fellow, Africa Regional Offices
Requisition	B021830
Duration	12 months, full-time, limited-term employment
Locations	Nairobi, Kenya; Abuja, Nigeria; Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; or Johannesburg, South Africa
Application deadline	11 November 2026
Pay	Not stated in the posting; salaried, with Foundation employee benefits
Work authorisation	Must already hold the legal right to work in the country of placement; no visa sponsorship or relocation support
Application route	Online through the Gates Foundation careers portal (Workday)

Gates Foundation AI Fellowship: what fellows will work on

Fellows join the Foundation's Africa team and work alongside government counterparts and development partners on high-priority projects, with each fellow typically assigned one or two major projects and the chance to contribute to more as priorities change. The Foundation said the work covers health financing and decision support, healthcare supply chains and medicine availability, predictive analytics for healthcare, and AI for global development. Its example projects include decision-support tools that bring health financing data together across countries to find bottlenecks, a prototype to reduce stock-outs of essential medicines at district and facility level, and an AI tool that ranks health interventions against budgets, tracks them through procurement and forecasts stock-out risk.

Day to day, fellows scope AI applications from real operational needs, build prototypes with large language models and modern AI tools, design, develop and evaluate machine learning models, prepare and manage datasets and data pipelines, and build decision-support systems that fit into existing workflows. The Foundation said fellows also run model validation and performance testing, check that AI is used responsibly with attention to fairness, privacy and transparency, and run AI literacy workshops and mentor colleagues in responsible AI use. Fellows are expected to explain technical findings to technical and non-technical audiences alike.

Who can apply for the Gates Foundation AI Fellowship

The Foundation said applicants need a bachelor's or master's degree in computer science, data science, engineering, applied mathematics or a related field, plus at least two years of experience applying AI solutions, preferably in healthcare, agriculture, development or related systems. Applicants need a strong grounding in AI and machine learning modelling and evaluation, hands-on experience with large language models including prompting, retrieval, tool use, deployment or adaptation, and software development and data engineering skills strong enough to build end-to-end solutions.

Direct AI research experience is not required, and the Foundation said evidence of ability can come from applied coursework, research, internships or early professional experience. Applicants also need strong written and verbal communication, the ability to work with interdisciplinary teams and adapt as requirements change, and a genuine interest in using AI responsibly to advance public health, education and equitable development. The posting describes the role as suited to AI developers, machine learning engineers, data scientists and technology professionals who want their work to serve social impact.

What the fellowship pays and what fellows receive

The fellowship is a salaried 12-month position, and the Foundation said fellows receive its employee benefits, which it describes as comprehensive medical, dental and vision cover with no employee premiums, generous paid time off, paid family leave and Foundation-funded retirement contributions. Fellows also get professional mentorship and exposure to senior leadership and experts across AI, global health, development and policy, plus an international professional network spanning leading non-governmental organisations, governments, academic institutions and development partners.

The Africa cohort follows the Foundation's AI Fellows programmes in the United States and India, and fellows work across its Global Health, Gender Equality, Global Development and Global Growth and Opportunity teams. Because the role is structured as full-time employment, fellows are paid staff for the year rather than grant holders, and the Foundation said the experience is meant to build practical skill in developing, testing and deploying AI solutions for real-world challenges.

How to apply for the Gates Foundation AI Fellowship

Start on the Gates Foundation careers site and search for AI Fellow, Africa Regional Offices, using requisition number B021830 to find the vacancy. Read the full role description first, then choose the location where you already hold the legal right to work, since the posting cannot be moved between countries. Prepare a curriculum vitae that shows the AI systems you have built, how you evaluated them and who used them, and submit the application through the Foundation's Workday recruitment portal before 11 November 2026.

Apply only through the official careers portal. The Foundation charges no fee to apply, so anyone asking for payment to secure a place on the fellowship is not acting for the Foundation. With six days left from 5 November 2026, applicants should not leave the application to the final day, and anyone without work authorisation in Nigeria, Kenya, Ethiopia or South Africa should not spend time on a role they cannot take up. Readers tracking other paid AI opportunities may want the Anthropic Residency in AI safety, which closes on 22 November 2026, AI training jobs for software engineers, and Co-operative Bank Kenya AI jobs, where most AI and data roles close on 9 November 2026.

Sources: OYA Opportunities at https://oyaop.com/opportunity/scholarships-and-fellowships/gates-foundation-ai-fellow-program-2027-paid-ai-fellowship-in-africa-regional-offices/, Opportunities for Youth at https://opportunitiesforyouth.org/2026/11/03/gates-foundation-ai-fellowship-2026-apply-for-a-12-month-ai-fellow-position-in-africa-deadline-november-11/, Opportunity Lab at https://opportunitylab.net/gates-foundation-ai-fellows-africa-2026/ and Ethio NGO Jobs at https://www.ethiongojobs.com/ai-fellow-africa-regional-offices-position-at-the-gates-foundation/, all reporting the official Gates Foundation posting, requisition B021830. The posting states the locations, deadline, eligibility and application route quoted here; the salary is not stated in the posting.