AI Fellow - Africa Regional Offices

About the role

The Gates Foundation's AI Fellows Program accelerates the responsible use of AI in global health, development and education. The first Africa-based cohort joins the Africa team, working with partners and government counterparts to bring AI tools that clarify and inform decisions. Each fellow is assigned 1-2 high-priority projects over 12 months, embedded in the Africa team, and may contribute to several projects concurrently. The position is based in Abuja, Nigeria, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Johannesburg, South Africa or Nairobi, Kenya; candidates must be able to work legally in the host country without visa sponsorship, and relocation support is not provided.

Key responsibilities

• Identify and scope AI solutions with the Africa team and project sponsors, grounded in user needs and local realities
• Prototype rapidly with modern LLMs and AI tools, document findings and turn them into recommendations for scale
• Design and deliver AI/ML models integrated into decision-support tools, with rigorous evaluation and validation
• Prepare, curate and manage datasets and data pipelines, ensuring integrity, provenance, security and ethical use
• Develop reliable software using clean code, version control and robust testing, and leverage LLMs including prompting, retrieval, tool use and fine-tuning
• Teach AI literacy through workshops, guides and playbooks, and mentor the Africa team on responsible AI use in LMIC contexts
• Collaborate across teams and geographies, translating AI research into practical solutions and communicating technical concepts clearly
• Embed equity, bias mitigation and data privacy, and share thought leadership on responsible AI

Required profile

• Bachelor's or master's degree in Computer Science, Data Science, Engineering, Applied Math or a relevant field
• At least 2 years of experience applying AI solutions, preferably in health or agricultural systems
• Strong foundation in modern AI/ML, including modeling, evaluation and hands-on LLM work, combined with software engineering and data skills