Biography

David Marlow is Chief Operating Officer of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. He joined Gavi as Chief Operating Officer on 4 July 2022; and served as Chief Executive Officer (ad int) from 3 August 2023 through 17 March 2024.

David is a transformational global life sciences and social responsibility executive who has driven impact across multiple organisations and with various role responsibilities over more than 30 years: audit, finance, transformation, mergers and acquisitions, technology, legal and compliance, risk management and international operations.

Prior to joining Gavi, David served as Chief Operations Officer of the Mastercard Foundation, one of the largest private foundations in the world. Among his accomplishments at the Mastercard Foundation, David led the redesign and implementation of a new operating model, including an implementation plan for its strategy “Young Africa Works”; supported the significant COVID-19 response and resilience efforts across Africa; and played a key role in designing and implementing a US$ 1.5 billion, two-year “saving lives and livelihoods” programme to secure COVID-19 vaccines for the African continent, while building local Africa CDC capacity and capabilities.

David held various senior executive global roles at Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY), where he led teams across multiple functions. In his last role at BMY, as Senior Vice President and Company Transformation Lead, David led a multiyear transformation programme to implement a new company operating model. Prior executive roles include Senior Vice President, Finance Operations at BMY; Vice President, Finance at Mead Johnson Nutrition; and Global Divisional Controller at Philips Medical Systems.

A financial expert and chartered accountant who began his career in audit, David has a passion for people and cultures and has delivered significant business value through diversity and inclusion excellence and talent development. He has strengthened operations and finance pipelines of talent, capabilities and culture by pioneering the design and implementation of people development and mentorship frameworks, diversity & inclusion, and culture programmes.