Spring Impact - Lean Practice Director by Prospectus

LEAN PRACTICE DIRECTOR Appointment brief August 2020

All photos from Spring Impact clients 1

SPRING IMPACT | LEAN PRACTICE DIRECTOR

INTRODUCTION Dear Prospective Candidate, You will be joining at an exciting and strategically important moment to shape Spring Impact’s brand-new Lean Practice. Spring Impact was started out of frustration that there are so many proven solutions that could solve vital problems in society, yet those solutions struggle to scale up and reach more people. In our first 9 years we’ve worked with over 200 organizations and helped our partners change an ever-increasing number of lives in ways of which we are exceptionally proud. Through this work we’ve found ourselves in the position to address the barriers to scaling social impact in broader ways. We’ve learned that while the issues that keep people and communities from thriving are present in abundance, the tools, resources, and skills necessary to be ambitious, take risks, rapidly learn, and become nimbler are often beyond reach. Often organizations we have worked with grow their programs to a significant size and then have to redesign to scale further. While this is possible, we have found that organizations are more likely to succeed at addressing problems at scale if they design from scale from the start and iteratively adjust to changing external environments along their scaling journey. We believe that organizations waste precious time and resources planning their next step, rather than taking small risks that provide experiential learnings and ultimately increase the likelihood of success. As the COVID pandemic has demonstrated, even mature organizations with well-proven solutions need to remain agile and move nimbly in the face of uncertainty.

In order to help the world’s most promising social impact organizations address problems at the scale of the need that exists in the world, Spring Impact is partnering with Ann Mei Chang to bring the tools and mindset of Lean Impact to the people who occupy the front lines of social change. Spring Impact’s Lean Practice Director and CEO will work together closely to set strategy and develop Spring Impact’s new Lean Practice globally. As part of the small senior team at Spring Impact, you will play a critical role in shaping our future direction. While we have delivered several lean projects already, we know that we have hardly scratched the surface of what is possible and the opportunity to achieve greater impact. Our greatest assets are our highly motivated, smart, good-humored and caring team, engaged board, and trusted partnerships with non-profits and foundations. Despite the challenging times we have good reserves levels and committed funders and which will support a smooth transition into the role. This role is made for someone passionate and experienced in helping teams stay focused on the problem, ideate, use data for decision-making and continuously experiment as they strive for large scale social change. We are looking for someone who is driven by being externally facing and creating new opportunities, is a self-starter, and is able to work with others to create a cohesive team culture. If this sounds like you, we hope that you will be as excited by the mission, organization and opportunity that has been created at Spring Impact as we are, and that you’ll consider joining us so that together we can make an exponentially bigger impact. Dan Berelowitz CEO

SPRING IMPACT | LEAN PRACTICE DIRECTOR

WHO WE ARE & WHAT WE DO WE STRIVE TO CREATE, SCALE AND SUSTAIN THE MAXIMUM SOCIAL IMPACT. At Spring Impact our vision is a world where social problems are addressed at scale. From London to San Francisco, our twenty-strong team comes from a variety of fields and backgrounds, sharing an entrepreneurial drive, energy and determination to make a difference. Imaginative, endlessly curious, and highly skilled at demystifying the process of scaling, we use Spring Impact’s systematic approach to help non-profits and social enterprises turn their ambitions into action. Key to this vision is equipping social impact organizations with the mindset and tools they need to be ambitious, take risks, rapidly learn, and become nimbler. Many social impact organizations have committed local leadership, want to innovate, and are changing their communities for the better. The problem is that most don’t design for scale from the beginning, and are unable to act nimbly in the face of uncertainty. This wastes precious time and resources.

HOW WE WORK While ideas that could change the world naturally grab attention, we are fascinated by the behind-the-scenes bit; how innovations move from helping a handful of people, to truly changing lives at scale. We have spent the last decade completely obsessed with scaling impact, learning as much as we can and sharing this knowledge far and wide to make it achievable for more organizations While we do transformational one-on-one work with lots of non-profits and funders, we also help to challenge the way impact is scaled across the social sector. We know we will only meet this goal by offering our methodology and tools as open-source so that others can apply them to their work.

If you’re drawn to the idea of working to tackle a range of the world’s problems, from supporting the US health system to enabling refugee children to access education, this may be the place for you.

SPRING IMPACT | LEAN Practice DIRECTOR

THE GREATEST CHALLENGES OF OUR SECTOR ARE TO DESIGN FOR SCALE AND MOVE NIMBLY IN THE FACE OF UNCERTAINTY. WHO WE WORK WITH We work with a range of organizations across the world because we enjoy the learning and the challenge of assessing scale in different contexts. In the last few months we’ve begun working on lean principles and tools with a San Francisco-based workforce development non-profit, an international NGO that strives to balance fishermen’s livelihood needs with environmental concerns in coastal areas across the world, and a US national non-profit that ensures a better start to life at birth. In addition to direct consultancy we develop and share insight gained through our consultancy work, along with the latest expertise on scale from the social and commercial worlds. We offer up practical tools and methodologies to the sector, as well as bringing together thought leaders to explore key issues through research, networks, and events.

We are developing the Lean Practice in partnership with Ann Mei Chang to address these challenges of designing for scale and moving fast. Ann Mei Chang is a leading expert on social innovation who brings together unique insights from her extensive work across the tech industry, non-profits, and the US government. Previously, as Chief Innovation Officer at USAID, Ann Mei served as the first Executive Director of the US Global Development Lab, engaging the best practices for innovation from Silicon Valley to accelerate the impact and scale of solutions to the world’s most intractable challenges. Ann Mei Chang is the author of Lean Impact: How to Innovate for Radically Greater Social Good.

We are currently updating our well-regarded, open-source Toolkit with fresh knowledge and research and would like to build more tools inspired by the Lean Impact methodology. To learn more about our work, see our website here.

SPRING IMPACT | LEAN PRACTICE DIRECTOR

THE OPPORTUNITY WE AIM FOR SYSTEMS-LEVEL CHANGE WHERE EVERY ORGANIZATION THAT HAS THE POTENTIAL TO SCALE HAS THE MINDSET AND TOOLS TO DO SO. Our impact milestone on the way to achieving this vision is to give over 500 teams the mindset and tools they need to scale up their programs in the next 5 years. This milestone has been chosen because it’s ambitious — and yet we believe achievable — if we are careful to design the program for inherent scalability. Covid-19 has brought to light how ill-equipped most organizations are to respond at the pace required to keep up with rapidly shifting external environments. The principles and practice of Lean Impact will make a significant contribution to helping the sector respond effectively and address problems at scale now and in the future. In the near term we plan for the program to continue being entirely virtual due to COVID-19, but this may change in the future. We plan to experiment with the offering to make it as affordable and scalable as possible. Spring Impact’s Lean Practice Director will be tasked primarily with developing and delivering a strategy to achieve our impact milestone and build foundations from which to scale further.

Developing the program will, for example, include thinking about how Spring Impact leverages technology platforms and strategic partnerships, as well as dovetails rapid experimentation and lean impact methodology with Spring Impact’s scaling methodology. While this is a new practice area, the Lean Practice Director will be fully integrated into Spring Impact’s traditional work to help organizations scale up. There will be opportunity for the new Director to help Spring Impact’s own continuous improvement to make our scaling methodologies as impactful as possible. By leveraging the current momentum for lean approaches, the new Director has the opportunity to influence the way the social sector works globally.

SPRING IMPACT | LEAN PRACTICE DIRECTOR

FINANCIAL MODEL SPRING IMPACT IS A NON-PROFIT IN BOTH THE US AND THE UK. For most engagements, we operate as a consulting firm and charge on a project basis. Philanthropy is usually the ultimate funder of an engagement. We are able to earn enough on a project by project basis to break even at the end of the year, and then we supplement this income with other grants which allow us to invest in new initiatives and our growth. With the new Lean Practice, we expect there will be a number of individual engagements with organizations and that funders will ask us to work with cohorts of their investments.

SPRING IMPACT | LEAN PRACTICE DIRECTOR

THE TEAM WE ARE A TEAM OF 20 PASSIONATE PROFESSIONALS, DRAWN FROM A VARIETY OF FIELDS, WHO HAVE CHOSEN TO FOCUS THEIR TALENTS ON SCALING SOCIAL IMPACT. We have a US office, with most team members based in the Bay Area, and a UK team, based in London. Increasingly, even before Covid-19, we have operated as a virtual team with regular meet ups and so we will consider this role based anywhere in the world as long as it is in a time zone which allows the Director to work with the US and UK.

Our board, international advisory board, partners and committee members are distinguished leaders from diverse fields in the for-profit and non-profit sectors. Read about our team here.

SPRING IMPACT | LEAN PRACTICE DIRECTOR

ROLE DESCRIPTION JOB TITLE

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Lean Practice Director

SALARY Competitive

LOCATION Anywhere, with domestic and international travel

Strategic vision and leadership • Collaborate with the CEO, Directors, and board to develop and deliver the Lean Practice • L ead internal strategic initiatives that dovetail rapid experimentation and lean impact methodology with Spring Impact’s scaling methodology

REPORTING TO US or UK Country Director depending on location, working closely with the CEO

SUPPORTED BY

• L ead advocacy to shift the sector’s practices towards thinking ambitiously and staying focused on the problem, acting nimbly in times of uncertainty, and continuously experimenting

The Director will be supported by a practice lead and administrative staff and will be able to draw on the Spring Impact team to staff client engagements and progress strategic initiatives. As the Lean Practice grows we expect new direct reports will be added quickly

• E nsure open communication regarding the measurement of financial, programmatic, and impact performance against stated milestones and collaborate with other Directors to create a strong global leadership team

PURPOSE The new Director will develop and deliver the Spring Impact’s global Lean Practice, joining a senior management team of Directors focused on other functions, geographies and issue areas. The new Director will significantly raise Spring Impact’s profile, develop new relationships, drive advocacy and thought leadership objectives; gain business and funding to support Spring Impact’s expansion; structure and lead teams to deliver outstanding client work; build and maintain strong client relationships; represent Spring Impact in public settings; serve as a mentor and role model for staff; and work collaboratively with other directors, the CEO and board in setting strategy and leading the organization.

SPRING IMPACT | LEAN PRACTICE DIRECTOR

Thought leadership, external relations and business development • Advocate for lean methodologies and Spring Impact’s mission at conferences and events in speaking roles where possible

Consultancy and client relationship management • Provide strategic leadership and accountability to internal teams to deliver high-quality and effective consultancy to clients that supports Spring Impact’s strategic objectives, including projects that are delivered on time and budget

• W rite blogs and articles that influence the way the sector operates

• B uild and maintain strong, high level collaborative senior client relationships, influencing senior social impact and funder leaders to adopt and implement Lean Impact mindset and tools

• W ork closely with funders to shape the way that they fund for scale • C reate sector collaborations that will forward Spring Impact’s mission

• S upport improvements and strengthening of Spring Impact’s lean experimentation and scaling methodology and approach to better deliver against client and organizational strategic objectives

• Develop new approaches to develop a scalable offering

• C ollaborate with the communications team to formulate and execute comprehensive marketing, branding and development strategies that support the practice

Internal operations • Oversee the financial status of the practice including developing long and short-range financial plans, ensuring project profitability, monitoring the budget and ensuring sound financial controls are in place; set financial priorities accurately so that the organization is operating in a manner that supports the needs of the program and staff

• D evelop and maintain the strong external relationships needed to forward the practice

• E nsure that Spring Impact has a consistent flow of work and oversee resource management for the practice

Team development • Effectively manage and motivate team members

• Lead critical internal strategic initiatives as required

• E nsure there is a consistent pipeline of new business and fundraising opportunities, including consulting work and capacity building grants

• S upport recruitment, on-boarding and development of staff • E xecute appraisals, staff feedback and create development plans for reports • P rovide timely and constructive feedback to managers and other staff where appropriate

SPRING IMPACT | LEAN PRACTICE DIRECTOR

PERSON SPECIFICATION EXPERIENCE & QUALIFICATIONS Key experience, knowledge and skills • Experience with the key approaches and challenges in building a culture of innovation, setting up innovation projects to succeed, running nimble experiments, and applying a range of innovation tools in practice

Personal qualities and behaviors • Passionate about solving problems at the scale of the need that exists in the world

• E xperience with the social sector, and with scaling social impact preferred

• C redible at executive level, comfortable functioning at the highest levels of client organizations

• Reputation and credibility as a social innovator ideal

• S easoned leader/director with strong entrepreneurial drive, who thrives on intellectual challenge and “raises the bar” in terms of client service delivery

• E xperience in consulting and understanding of the consulting firm business model • E xperience and success in business development; sales and fundraising with established relationships with philanthropists and non-profit leaders

• Shares Spring Impact’s values

• H ighly motivated, ambitious, mission driven and client-service oriented • H igh emotional intelligence, open to learning and exploring new ways of achieving success

• Experience and success in influencing as a thought leader • C ollaborative and engaging with outstanding interpersonal skills; demonstrated ability to build and maintain relationships with a wide array of people — junior and senior, for-profit and non-profit, and from diverse backgrounds • D emonstrable commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion

SPRING IMPACT | LEAN PRACTICE DIRECTOR

HOW TO APPLY To apply to become the Director of Spring Impact’s Lean Practice, please upload a resume and a supporting statement via the Prospectus website. The supporting statement should be no more than two pages of A4. Please explain your interest in the position and provide evidence of your suitability against the Person Specification. Spring Impact is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate against employees or qualified job applicants based on race, religion, color, sex, age, national origin, disability, veteran status, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, or any other status or condition protected by applicable law. This policy extends to, but is not limited to, recruitment, selection, compensation, benefits, promotion, training and termination.

RECRUITMENT TIMETABLE Deadline for applications 30 Sep 2020

Interviews with Prospectus 9–21 Oct 2020 First round interviews with Spring Impact TBC 2020 Panel interview with Spring Impact TBC 2020 Final interview with Spring Impact TBC 2020

At Prospectus, we believe passionately that a truly inclusive workplace leads to increased social impact. We are committed to supporting our clients build more inclusive teams. To understand how we are performing, we ask that you kindly complete the brief equal opportunities questionnaire when you submit your application via our website.

These dates may be subject to change and applicants will be advised in advance should this happen.

Finally, please ensure that you have included your contact number and email address, as well as any dates when you will not be available or might have difficulty with the indicative timetable.

If after reviewing the Appointment Brief you feel you meet the criteria and you would like to have an informal discussion about this role, or you have any queries about the process please contact Børge Andreassen or Joan Mwangi with a copy of your resume.

Applications should be made via the Prospectus website at: prospect-us.co.uk/jobs/details/HQ00177058

RECRUITMENT PROCESS Should you decide to make a formal application, you will receive feedback within seven working days of the closing date.

Email to borge.andreassen@prospect-us.co.uk or joan.mwangi@prospect-us.co.uk

Please note that we are only able to accept applications sent via this portal. We can only consider applications from individuals with a current right to work in the United States or United Kingdom.

SPRING IMPACT | LEAN PRACTICE DIRECTOR

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