US DIRECTOR Appointment brief August 2020
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SPRING IMPACT | US DIRECTOR
INTRODUCTION You will be joining at an exciting and strategically important moment in the organization’s growth. Spring Impact is on a mission to scale social impact so that great ideas change more lives. Whether non-profits are improving access to education, tackling poverty or fighting injustices, their amazing passion, creativity, and determination inspire us every day. Our frustration is that many exciting social innovations that mission-driven organizations put their heart and soul into developing could be helping many more people. We’re driven by an ambition to help these organizations bring about profound, not piecemeal, change. Since our founding, we’ve worked with over 200 organizations and helped our partners change an ever-increasing number of lives in ways that we’re exceptionally proud of. Through this work we’ve found ourselves in the position to address the barriers to scaling social impact in broader ways. We want to improve the way impact is scaled across the field, so non-profits and funders are in the strongest position to achieve their missions successfully, sustainably and cost-effectively. Our new strategy, in the process of being shaped, seeks to understand how we can continue to help organizations scale through our consulting model, while building a supportive ecosystem that allows them to thrive. The CEO and Directors work together closely to set strategy and develop the organization globally, while each Director has a significant amount of autonomy to shape their individual areas of responsibility. As part of the small senior team at Spring Impact, you will play a critical role in shaping this strategy. Then you will have the opportunity to pinpoint how we can use our US resources to maximize social change in the US and beyond. While a lot of work has been done, we know that we have hardly scratched the surface of what is possible and the opportunities to achieve greater impact. In the past two years we’ve done a lot of work to build firm foundations globally from which to grow. 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 to support a smooth transition into the role. This role is made for someone passionate and experienced in creating large scale social change, driven by being externally facing and creating new opportunities, and a self-starter 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 so that together we can make an exponentially bigger impact. Kathy Vizas Chair of Board, USA
SPRING IMPACT | US DIRECTOR
Dan Berelowitz CEO
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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 and our mission is to scale up social innovations. From London to San Francisco, our twenty-strong team come 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. If you’re drawn to working to tackle a range of the world’s problems, from supporting the US health system to better scaling innovation to enabling refugee children to access education, we may be the place for you.
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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 field. We know we will only meet this goal by proactively opening up everything we learn to the sector, so that it can truly evolve.
SPRING IMPACT | US DIRECTOR
WHO WE WORK WITH We work on a range of domestic US and international organizations because we enjoy the cross learning and the challenge of assessing scale in different contexts. Our client make-up spans the social sector.
While we are agnostic to issue area we do have clusters of projects in Early Childhood Development and Health. Of the over 200 projects we’ve worked on here are a few examples of live projects led out of the US office: • W e are at the start of a partnership with Ariadne Labs in the US to where we are helping capture innovation happening during the birthing process so that it can be scaled up globally.
TOTAL PROJECTS BY CLIENT TYPE 6%
12%
• W e have been long time advisors to Tostan who work across Africa to empower communities to achieve their vision for the future. There a number of ways that we can further support them to scale. • W e are starting a project with the Centering Healthcare Institute to help them run lean experiments to create new scalable solutions. For more examples and case studies visit the insights section of our website.
14% CONSULTANCY AND PROGRAMS We work directly with mission driven non-profits and funders around the world, supporting them to develop and implement plans to scale their social impact.
68%
Not-for-profit
Funder
Social enterprise
Public sector
We use practical tools, like our five-stage process, to demystify scaling. Our consulting team provides support with everything from strategy, to planning sustainable finance. DEVELOPING AND SHARING INSIGHT We distill and share all of the useful nuggets of insight gained through our consultancy work, along with the latest expertise on scale-up 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 and example key issues through research, networks, and events. We are currently updating our well-regarded, open source Toolkit with fresh knowledge and research. To learn more about our work, see our website here.
SPRING IMPACT | US DIRECTOR
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THE OPPORTUNITY Building upon all Spring Impact has learned, there is an opportunity to bring in a new leader in the US to drive the organization further towards achieving its mission. With this new hire, we aim to shape the dialogue and actions of the social sector so that more organizations scale up and fewer resources are wasted on reinvention of the wheel.
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SPRING IMPACT | US 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.
This financial year, we’re projecting revenue of $1.2M in the US operation, with the majority of income accounted for by client-facing engagements.
We cover our costs on a project by project basis, and then use any surplus and supplemental income from donations to supply reserves and invest in new initiatives and our growth.
Direct philanthropic contributions to Spring Impact are a much smaller portion of our revenue, even while up ~10% from the previous financial year.
US PROJECTED REVENUE FOR THE CURRENT FINANCIAL YEAR 15%
Client-generated revenue Philanthropic contributions
85%
SPRING IMPACT | US DIRECTOR
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THE TEAM WE ARE A TEAM OF 20 PASSIONATE PROFESSIONALS, DRAWN FROM A VARIETY OF FIELDS BUT 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 were operating as a virtual team with regular meet ups and so we will consider a US Director based anywhere in the US with easy access to the Bay Area. Our US office structure currently consists of 7 members of the consulting team and one office administrator.
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Our board, international advisory board, partners and committee members are distinguished leaders from diverse fields in the for-profit and nonprofit sectors. Read about our team here.
SPRING IMPACT | US DIRECTOR
SPRING IMPACT | US DIRECTOR
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ROLE DESCRIPTION JOB TITLE
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
US Director
SALARY Competitive LOCATION
Strategic vision and leadership • Collaborate with the CEO, Directors and board to refine and implement the strategic plan while ensuring that the budget, staff, and priorities are aligned with Spring Impact’s mission.
US with domestic and international travel
REPORTING TO CEO
DIRECT REPORTS 2 direct reports who manage a staff team of 7
• P rovide inspirational leadership and direction to staff and ensure the continued development and management of a professional and efficient organization. • E stablish effective and transparent decision-making processes that will enable Spring Impact to achieve its long-and short-term goals and objectives.
PURPOSE The US Director will drive forward Spring Impact’s work in the US. They will join a senior management team of other Directors focused on other functions, geographies and issue areas.
• C ultivate a strong working relationship with the CEO, board and committees and ensure open communication about the measurement of financial, programmatic, and impact performance against stated milestones and goals.
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.
• I n partnership with the CEO help to build a diverse and inclusive Board that is highly engaged and willing to leverage and secure resources.
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• C ollaborate with other Directors to create a strong global leadership team.
SPRING IMPACT | US DIRECTOR
Thought leadership, external relations and business development • Be a thought leader in the social sector. • A dvocate for Spring Impact’s mission at conferences and events in speaking roles where possible. • W rite blogs and articles that influence the way the sector operates. • 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. • D evelop new approaches to achieve Spring Impact’s mission.
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. • B uild and maintain strong, high level collaborative senior client relationships. • P lay a part in delivering client engagements such as facilitating workshops comprised of senior leaders or supporting clients to adopt and implement recommendations. • S upport improvements and strengthening of Spring Impact’s methodology and consultancy approach to better deliver against client and organizational strategic objectives.
• C ollaborate with the communications team to formulate and execute comprehensive US marketing, branding and development strategies that support organizational objectives.
Internal operations • Oversee the financial status of the organization including developing long and short-range financial plans, ensure project profitability, monitoring the budget and ensuring sound financial controls are in place; set financial priorities accurately to ensure 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 Spring Impact’s mission.
• E nsure that Spring Impact has a consistent flow of work and oversee resource management.
Staff development • Support recruitment, on-boarding and development of staff.
• Lead critical internal strategic initiatives as required.
• E nsure that there is a consistent pipeline of new business and fundraising opportunities including consulting work and capacity building grants.
• E xecute appraisals, staff feedback and create development plans for reports. • P rovide timely and constructive feedback to managers and other staff where appropriate. • E nsure office/team is compliant with human resource law and standards.
SPRING IMPACT | US DIRECTOR
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PERSON SPECIFICATION EXPERIENCE & QUALIFICATIONS Key experience, knowledge and skills • Understanding of some of the key approaches and challenges in successfully scaling social impact.
Personal qualities and behaviors • Passionate about Spring Impact’s mission. • Shares Spring Impact’s values.
• E xtensive experience including serving significant time in senior strategic and operational roles. • S ignificant experience working within, or aligned to, the social sector (non-profits and social enterprises). • U nderstanding and experience in the US social sector, and ideally in international development. • 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.
• C redible at executive level, comfortable functioning at the highest levels of client organizations. • S easoned leader/director with strong entrepreneurial drive, who thrives on intellectual challenge and “raises the bar” in terms of client service delivery. • H ighly motivated, ambitious, mission driven and client-service oriented. • H igh emotional intelligence, open to learning and exploring new ways of achieving success. • Demonstrable commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.
• 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. • E xcellent presentation skills, including strong verbal and writing capabilities. • A bility to effectively manage and motivate team members and guide client engagements.
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SPRING IMPACT | US DIRECTOR
HOW TO APPLY To apply to become the US Director of Spring Impact, please upload a resume and a supporting statement via the Prospectus website. The supporting statement should be no more than two sides 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. 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. Candidates need to prove current right to live and work in the United States to be considered for the position. 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.
RECRUITMENT TIMETABLE Deadline for applications 20 Sep 2020
Interviews with Prospectus 25 Sep–05 Oct 2020 First round interviews with Spring Impact TBC 2020 Panel interview with Spring Impact TBC 2020 Final interview with Spring Impact TBC 2020 These dates may be subject to change and applicants will be advised in advance should this happen.
RECRUITMENT PROCESS Should you decide to make a formal application, you will receive feedback within seven working days of the closing date. 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. Email to borge.andreassen@prospect-us.co.uk or joan.mwangi@prospect-us.co.uk
Applications should be made via the Prospectus website at: prospect-us.co.uk/jobs/details/HQ00177587 Please note that we are only able to accept applications sent via this portal.
SPRING IMPACT | US DIRECTOR
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