United Nations Development Programme, based out of New York, seeks a Consultant-Research Associate for the Partnerships Bureau “Growing Inclusive Markets” Initiative

Background
Over the last few years, UNDP has been examining and encouraging the role that business can play in accelerating development. This work, and the role of the private sector in development in general was further catapulted into a top priority after the release of the report of the Secretary-General by the UN Commission on the Private Sector and Development in March 2004 in its report, Unleashing Entrepreneurship: Making Business Work for the Poor. UNDP is now keen to build on this work and identify how business can contribute to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by examining and reviewing the experience of companies in developing pro-poor business models. The new flagship UNDP multi-stakeholder Initiative on “Growing Inclusive Markets” is UNDP’s most visible strategic and sustained global advocacy tool for the important role of the private sector in achieving the MDGs.

Under the over-all supervision of the Programme Manager of the Growing Inclusive Markets Initiative, the Consultant/Research Associate will be working with key experts and members of the Initiative Team in the research, production and writing of a series of discrete deliverables (a background paper and a guidance note ) and provide overall research assistance to the Initiative in preparation for a toolkit produced for UN country offices to partner with companies to effectively implement and disseminate pro-poor business models

Specific tasks
The Consultant will be responsible for the following outputs:
1.    Background Paper on “ Patient Capital and Blended Financing Models in financing Pro-Poor Business Models”
Based on existing methodologies and a comprehensive analysis of both primary and secondary case studies, the consultant will conduct a desk study on “Patient Capital and Blended Financing Models in financing pro-poor business models”.
2.    Guidance Note for Strategy Note on “Putting the Growing Inclusive Markets Approach into Action: Initiatives and Localization Agenda”. Given the positioning of the Growing Inclusive Markets Initiative Report as a “provocation for action”, the second deliverable is a strategy note that will be developed in collaboration with the Growing Inclusive Markets Initiative Team to provide the basis for the terms of the reference for the post Report launch implementation strategy including the potential setup of a fourth work stream for Implementation. This strategy note will be developed by the current GIM team but will require the commissioning of a guidance note of lessons learned from existing initiatives currently underway including country level public private foras and action research platforms, and activities by other institutions involved in the space of inclusive business

The consultant will provide principal research assistance for the following output:
1.    Diagnostics to Implementation Growing Inclusive Markets Toolkit to assist in the development of business models and facilitate country level partnerships with the private sector by using GIM’s three step approach to identify and capture inclusive business opportunities: identify opportunities, understand the market conditions, and find solutions.
Position Requirements
•    Effective oral and written communications skills
•    Attention to details , problem-solving ability and strong follow-up skills
•    Proven ability to work independently and effectively, and handle multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment
•    Must be able to answer phones, keep calendars, order supplies, enter data, file, copy fax
•    Excellent organizational, time management, and strong interpersonal skills
•    Note taking skills, summarizing meetings and teleconferences

Qualifications
•    Masters degree in economics or public policy.
•    3 years of relevant experience and expertise in issues related to the private sector, the development of small and medium-sized enterprises, and in-depth knowledge of “pro-poor” business and their potential to contribute to development
•    Excellent writing skills, as well as strong analytical aptitude, communication and presentation skills
•    Computer proficiency: MS word and Power Point
•    Fluent in English, proficiency in French and/or Spanish is a strong asset.

Selection process
In accordance with UNDP consultancy procedures, traditional procurement rules will apply, in line with new guidelines pertaining to Special Service Agreement contracts (SSA). As such, UNDP considers the application and the performance during an interview as a technical offer to this request for proposals. Candidates that have been short listed will be asked to submit a financial offer / daily fee separately – both elements (technical and financial) will be relevant to make a decision for the assignment.

Interested candidates should submit email their resume with writing samples to the programme manager of the Initiative, Sahba Sobhani at gim@undp.org

Benetech has a unique and exciting opportunity for a General Manager for Bookshare.org, the world's largest collection of digital electronic books for the blind and print disabled. Benetech was founded in 1989 with an explicit goal to create new technology solutions that serve humanity and empower people to improve their lives. Led by Jim Fruchterman, a prominent social entrepreneur and MacArthur Fellow, Benetech’s mission is to lead the world in creative, effective applications of technology to unmet social needs.  We focus on projects that offer the greatest social return on funds invested.

In 2007 Benetech was awarded $32 Million by the Federal Government to expand Bookshare.org’s online collection to over 100,000 additional volumes in support of all print-disabled students nationwide.  Bookshare.org is one of the nation's foremost educational resources for disabled students in this country.

The General Manager for Bookshare.org is a key leadership position requiring an individual who has the ability to drive the Literacy Program to achieve and surpass its goals.  Reporting to the CEO, the person in this position is responsible for day-to-day operations, including planning and directing all aspects of product and program management, with the primary objectives of assuring customer satisfaction, retention and growth via quality, schedule and product performance.  In addition, this position is responsible for the attainment of short- and long-term strategic, financial and operational goals and directs the development of the programs to ensure future growth. As a general manager for a major segment of Benetech’s enterprises, this role includes managing external relationships and partnerships, lessening the Literacy Program’s dependence on relationships built by the CEO. 

The General Manager is an integral member of the senior leadership team.  This position is full time, and based in Palo Alto, California.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities
•    Lead and manage the work of the Literacy Program, primarily the Bookshare.org for Education (B4E) project.  This includes strategic planning, budget development, resource allocation, marketing and management to ensure that business objectives are met.
•    Implement recognized business planning methodologies, annual budgets and performance reporting based on key performance indicators.
•    Set operational and performance goals for each area of responsibility which are aggressive, achievable and tied to long-term goals.  Monitor performance to ensure progress is being made.
•    Ensure that all activities comply with Benetech’s goals and contract objectives.
•    Establish processes to measure, learn from, and improve program effectiveness and impact.
•    Ensure quality control of all programs, especially with regard to customer acquisition, retention and delivery of services.
•    Manage multiple projects and priorities working to satisfy internal and external requests.
•    Take a leadership role in articulating and implementing the vision and mission of the Literacy Program, including representing Benetech and the Literacy Program to outside constituencies, networking with business and community leaders, participating in industry events and public speaking.  Manage all essential relationships with strategic partners.
•    Advise the management team on key planning issues and make recommendations on important business decisions.
•    Foster an achievement-oriented culture based on continuous learning principles where employees are motivated and rewarded for both individual and team contributions.

Qualifications
•    Bachelor's degree required, advanced degree preferred
•    At least 15 years of progressive management experience with five (5) in an executive level position such as general manager or vice president
•    Solid working knowledge of budgeting, sales, business development, and strategic planning
•    Combination of both business and nonprofit/philanthropic experience preferred
•    Significant experience in the nonprofit sector as a manager, volunteer and/or board member and a personal commitment to Benetech’s nonprofit goal of technology serving humanity
•    Strong understanding of Benetech’s mission, and ability to serve as a passionate, effective advocate within the community
•    A record of significant accomplishment in building and managing effective programs in a start-up phase or environment, and a strong track record in business and management
•    Confidence, flexibility, and the ability to lead, plan and manage change are essential
•    Ability to work well within a multi-disciplinary team environment with high standards, integrity, and a sense of humor
•    Experience in managing, guiding, and developing a professional staff with an emphasis on teamwork and teambuilding.
•    Ability to generate respect and trust from staff and external constituencies
•    Excellent judgment, strategic thinker, enthusiastic and entrepreneurial
•    Exceptional interpersonal, communication, public speaking and presentation skills.

Salaries at Benetech are commensurate with education, experience and responsibility.  An attractive compensation package will be commensurate with background.
If you would like to help us grow Benetech, please send your resume and a cover letter to hr@benetech.org or Human Resources at 650/475-1066 (fax).

Benetech has a unique and exciting opportunity for a Librarian for Bookshare.org, the world's largest collection of digital electronic books for the blind and print disabled.  Benetech was founded in 1989 with an explicit goal to create new technology solutions that serve humanity and empower people to improve their lives.  Led by Jim Fruchterman, a leading social entrepreneur and MacArthur Fellow, Benetech’s mission is to lead the world in creative, effective applications of technology to unmet social needs.  We focus on projects that offer the greatest social return on funds invested.

In 2007 Benetech was awarded $32 million by the Federal Government to expand Bookshare.org’s online collection to over 100,000 additional volumes in support of all print-disabled students nationwide. Currently, the Bookshare.org library contains over 39,000 volumes. The librarian for Bookshare.org will shepherd the collection through its growth as one of the nation's foremost educational resources for disabled students in this country. This is a technical position and ideal for someone interested in the challenge of devising and implementing a cutting edge on-line cataloging scheme that meets the needs of a specialized population while maintaining standard library interfaces.
This position is full time, onsite in Palo Alto, California and reports to the Director of Operations for Bookshare.org.  Resumes from candidates requesting 30/hrs week will be considered. 

Essential Duties and Responsibilities
•    Select an appropriate classification schema for the collection based on several key criteria including compatibility with other accessible collections
•    Reclassify the books in the collection according to the new schema
•    Enable and coordinate cross-referencing with other collections of accessible books
•    Create and implement a collection acquisition plan for growing the collection
•    Liaison with professional library associations such as the ALA, IFLA and DAISY
•    Work effectively with all departments within Bookshare.org (Collection Development, Publisher Liaison, Partner Programs, etc.) to maintain the quality and integrity of the collection.

Qualifications
•    A degree in library science is required and 5+ years in Library and Information Management with an emphasis on utilization of Information technologies.
•    Technical expertise with metadata technology, such as Dublin Core, used to describe and classify books in an online digital collection is required
•    Very strong professional interpersonal skills and the ability to represent Bookshare.org's interests to a wide variety of stakeholders
•    Ability to work well independently and within a multi-disciplinary team environment with high standards, integrity and a sense of humor
•    Management experience is a plus
•    Experience working with school libraries at the K-12 or university level is highly desirable
•    Knowledge of the assistive technology field with emphasis on tools and technology for access to printed materials is a definite plus.

If you would like to help us grow Benetech, please send your resume and a cover letter to hr@benetech.org or Human Resources at 650/475-1066 (fax). In your cover letter, please (a) explain why you would like to work for us and (b) discuss your relevant background.
Salaries at Benetech are commensurate with education, experience and responsibility, and are competitive with private-sector positions.

The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) is an international non-profit organization whose vision is to make reporting on economic, environmental, and social performance by all organizations as mainstream as financial reporting. The GRI seeks to achieve this by developing, continually improving, and building capacity around the use of its Sustainability Reporting Framework: the core of which being the Reporting Guidelines.

The secretariat of GRI is looking for an active and experienced manager to help the organization to scale up reporting projects in the supply chain of large companies.

SME and Supply Chain Program Manager to create projects regarding sustainability reporting and manage Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) and Supply Chain network. The individual’s primary focus will be to implement all SME and Supply Chain reporting projects in various parts of the world, develop new projects including building partnerships and raising funds for the program. The manager will work in the Learning Services Team.  (S)He reports to the Director of Learning Services.

Job purpose
To increase quantity, quality and usage of sustainability reporting from SMEs and in the supply chain of large companies.

Responsibilities
1.    Identify and create SME and supply chain projects
2.    Manage SME and supply chain projects, including project budget control.
3.    Actively recruit partners to collaborate with
4.    Mobilize the SME and supply chain network
5.    Implement fundraising activities
6.    Manage and retain oversight of trainers and consultants in various parts of the world
7.    Represent GRI in public events on the SME and supply chain program.
8.    Develop concepts and content (for publications and articles).
9.    Other duties as requested.

Key competencies/requirements
1.    Two years work experience after graduation, working with project management including planning, execution, and budget management.
2.    Ability to raise project funds.
3.    Excellent communication and public relation skills to represent GRI.
4.    Native-speaker level fluency in written and spoken English, and preferably fluent in one other language.
5.    Ability to create new projects.
6.    Understanding of the business landscape involving SME and supply chain topics.
7.    Results oriented, ability to handle multiple tasks and work on precise timelines.
8.    Strong communication skills and attention to detail.
9.    Proven ability to create content (writing skills).
10.    Proven training skills and knowledge of training methods.
11.    Cultural sensitivity, preferably with experience living outside of home country.

Contact details
Interested candidates are requested to submit their resume in English together with a motivation letter in English before Friday 19th September 2008 before 12.00 noon CET.
Stichting Global Reporting Initiative
Attn. Monique Hutten, HR Manager
Keizersgracht 209
1016 DT Amsterdam
T. 020-5310011 // F. 020-5310031
Hutten@globalreporting.org // www.globalreporting.org
Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

Start date a.s.a.p., 40 hrs p/w (€ 35,000.= / € 45,000.=)
Location: Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Contract: 1 year initially – extension by mutual consent

GOOD is the integrated media platform for people who want to live well and do good. We are a company and community for the people, businesses, and NGOs moving the world forward. GOOD's mission is to provide content, experiences, and utilities to serve this community.

GOOD currently produces a website, videos, live events, and a print magazine. Launched in September 2006, the company has garnered praise for its unique editorial perspective and fresh visual aesthetic and is quickly positioning itself as a significant new voice in our culture.

Reporting to the Director of Strategic and Integrated Marketing, the Non-Profit Partnerships Manager will serve as primary contact with nonprofit partners, coordinating all internal and external resources to ensure the programs are effectively executed, evolving with the company, and that both the partners’ and GOOD’s needs are met.  Primary responsibilities include:

•    Cultivation, management and growth of key relationships between GOOD and the non-profit sector across all media platforms.
•    Seek out opportunities to engage existing and new non-profit partners in GOOD’s media endeavors (events, print, video)
•    Respond to all inquiries regarding nonprofit partnerships with GOOD and manage database of interested organizations and work with team managing the selection of non-profit partners
•    Negotiating terms and contracts with incoming nonprofit partners.
•    Identify and pursue growth and cross promotional opportunities through non-profit partnerships and assist with communications strategy for all issues relevant to our non-profit partnerships
•    Manage day-to-day communication with Choose GOOD partners
•     Develop and implement marketing strategies to conduct outreach to current prospective member organizations and their base, including a calendar of world events and important benchmarks for the company
•    Test, measure, refine, and report on the impact of partnership marketing programs, tracking subscription numbers against promotions (events, newsletters, editorial events)
•    Establish and further relationships with foundations and corporate philanthropic arms
•    Serve as liason between marketing, sales, creative and circulation/distribution platforms to develop strategy for non-profit engagement with GOOD community.
•    Coordinate and advise on aspects of GOOD’s corporate philanthropy.
•     Collaborate with marketing and events team to position GOOD presence at national workshops and conferences, to communicate the program to foundations, corporations, technology-leaders, community organizations, volunteer networks, etc.) in the philanthropic sphere
•    Devise social action campaigns around projects and other “calls to action”
•    Assist with company engagement in volunteer opportunities and other community relations
•    Developing and implementing plans which maximize partnerships through cause-related marketing, promotional activities, sponsorships, and customer marketing activities while also delivering on the partners’ business and philanthropy goals.
•    Collaboration with the Marketing team to make presentations and lead meetings externally with nonprofit partners and internal partners from other departments.

Primary Objectives:
•    Maximize subscription numbers through Choose GOOD campaign.
•    Brand development and positioning of GOOD in non-profit and philanthropic sector.
•    Forge and foster strategic and innovative relationships with cutting edge non-profits, foundations, corporations that further the business interests and mission of GOOD.

Skills and Requirements:
•    Strong leadership skills. Creative approach to strategy development. Strong networking and relationship building skills.
•    Strong verbal communication skills. Excellent written communication skills. Superior presentation skills.
•    Commitment to innovation in cross sector partnerships, social entrepreneurship and philanthropy.
•    Team player. Collaborative. Proactive, initiative taker. Results-oriented, with a commitment to following through.
•    Strong research skills, problem solving skills, and organizational skills with superior attention to detail.
•    Able to prioritize and work efficiently in a multi-task, startup environment.
•    Flexible. Positive outlook. Creative thinker.

Qualifications:
•    Bachelor’s degree
•    3 years’ professional experience
•    Proven understanding of the nonprofit and philanthropic landscape.
•    Experience with development, event planning, communications, and marketing preferred
•    Demonstrated competencies in Microsoft Office suite & databases.

Please send a cover letter and resume to jobs@goodinc.com. Include "Non-Profit Partnerships Manager" in the subject line.

The Advisory Council for the Fair Sentencing of Children, comprised of professionals working with: the American Civil Liberties Union, the Children’s Law Center of Massachusetts, Equal Justice Initiative, Human Rights Watch, the Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana, the National Center for Youth Law, the National Juvenile Justice Network, and the Youth Justice Coalition, is seeking highly motivated individuals to assume the position of National Coordinator for the Fair Sentencing of Children. The National Coordinator, with the support and advice of the Advisory Council, will work towards ending the sentencing of juveniles to life without the possibility of parole (JLWOP) in the United States. There are currently 2,484 persons in US prisons serving JLWOP sentences for crimes committed as juveniles. Campaigns to eliminate JLWOP sentences are ongoing in roughly a dozen states. The National Coordinator will support these campaigns and build a national movement through coalition building, legislative reform work, litigation support and public education. The responsibilities of the National Coordinator include, but are not limited to:

Coalition Building
• Bringing JLWOP advocates together regularly, through conference calls, in-person meetings, a listserv, and a website, to exchange news and ideas, strategize, and explore ways to work together.
• Reaching out to and promoting dialogue with the wider juvenile justice community, victims and victims’ rights organizations, law enforcement, and faith based groups.
• Reporting to funders and seeking ongoing support for the National Coordinator’s work.
State and Federal Legislative Reforms
• Compiling model legislation, lobbying strategies, expert witnesses, agendas, public statements, letters of support, and other useful documents and methodologies to share with legislators and advocates working on JLWOP reform legislation at the state and federal levels.
•    Conducting and coordinating research concerning the impacts of JLWOP sentencing and sentencing alternatives.
Litigation
• Monitoring cases in the courts from an impact perspective, and monitoring clemency applications of juveniles serving JLWOP.
• Directing defense attorneys to briefing resources and support (such as brief banks), and bringing new attorneys into reform networks.
Public Education
• Interacting with the press as a national expert on JLWOP; drafting opinion and editorial submissions.
• Continuously compiling and periodically publishing updated data on the state of juvenile life without parole sentencing in the United States.
• Advocating at and staying informed of developments at the international level to feed back to coalition networks and for public education purposes.

This position is currently a one-year full-time position, with an anticipated initial extension of one to two years. The National Coordinator is supervised by the Advisory Council for the Fair Sentencing of Children, and is supported by a half-time administrative assistant. It is anticipated that the National Coordinator will be based in Washington, DC; the Advisory Council will consider alternative placements.

QUALIFICATIONS: Applicants should have at least 4 years of relevant experience in juvenile or criminal justice policy or practice, law, grassroots organizing, public policy, policy reform, or legislative advocacy. An advanced degree in law, public policy, or related fields is preferred. The successful applicant must be highly effective at working in coalitions with diverse partners, an effective public speaker, a leader as well as a collaborative worker, and possess excellent speaking and writing skills in English. The ideal candidate will have good judgment and strong coalition building skills; excellent analytical and strategic-thinking capabilities; the ability to work quickly and effectively under pressure; the capacity to pay close attention to detail while working in a fast-paced environment and juggling multiple tasks; and the ability to work effectively independently, as part of a team, and in partnership with other organizations. A commitment to juvenile or criminal justice reform in the United States is essential. Applicants should be willing to travel.

SALARY AND BENEFITS: We seek exceptional applicants and offer competitive compensation commensurate with experience as well as generous benefits.

PLEASE APPLY IMMEDIATELY: by emailing on or before September 30, 2008, in a single submission to Advisory Council, National Coordinator for the Fair Sentencing of Children: (1) a letter of interest describing your experience and commitments relevant to this position as well as your preferred salary range; (2) your resume; (3) telephone numbers and email addresses for three reference persons; and (4) a brief (no more than 5 pages) persuasive unedited writing sample (no legal briefs or memoranda) that was solely authored by the applicant. Send applications to anlyn.addis@gmail.com. Only complete submissions will be reviewed. 

The Skoll Foundation was established in 1999 by eBay’s first president, Jeff Skoll, who serves as our founder and chairman. The foundation’s innovative approach to philanthropy is based on the belief that small investments can spur significant social change. Sally Osberg joined the foundation as its first president and CEO in 2001 and leads the organization’s team, drawing upon more than 20 years of social sector leadership experience.

Today, the foundation is dedicated to realizing a vision for a more peaceful and prosperous world. We advance systemic change to benefit communities around the world by investing in, connecting and celebrating social entrepreneurs. The foundation is focused on social entrepreneurs working six key issue areas - tolerance and human rights, health, environmental sustainability, economic and social equity, institutional responsibility, and peace and security - and whose models are at an inflection point where our support can accelerate significant impact. The core values of the Skoll Foundation workplace include respect, responsibility, leverage, innovation and tough-minded optimism.

Position Summary
The Program and Impact (P&I) team seeks a Program Officer who brings a combination of intellectual curiosity, a passion for social change, a focus on tangible results and a desire to work within a team culture that practices continuous learning and improvement.

The Program Officer will report to one of the senior program staff working on the Skoll Foundation’s “invest” programs (grants and loans directly to social entrepreneurs’ organizations and to other initiatives providing critical services to maximize the social entrepreneurs’ scale of impact).

Program Officers are expected to accept a high degree of individual responsibility for anticipating and meeting deadlines, analyzing and managing opportunities and risk, producing high-quality documents and graphic materials, maintaining records and welcoming feedback with the aim of continuous improvement and contribution to team performance.

Primary Responsibilities

• Manage a portfolio of grantmaking relationships, including screening and conducting due diligence on grant and loan applications, managing relationships with grantees, developing grant outcomes and milestones, and monitoring grant progress and impact.
• Review letters of inquiry and grant proposals. Draft and edit grant proposal summaries and recommendations for management and board review.
• Participate in the development and implementation of best practices in relationship management across the foundation, with a goal of strategically and seamlessly linking grantees to other foundation services, resources and staff.
• Serve as primary and secondary point person on a variety of foundation grantmaking programs and initiatives (e.g., the annual Skoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurs, Ecosystem Investments and Partnerships, Connect & Celebrate projects, Special Opportunities grants and impact assessment efforts).
• Participate, and at times lead, multidisciplinary teams addressing current and emerging foundation priorities.
• Interface with grant seekers, responding promptly and respectfully to a variety of inquiries.
• Participate in the development of processes to measure, learn from and improve impact.
• Help develop services, in addition to grants, that will provide value to grantees, improving their capabilities, scale and impact.
• Participate as a member of the P&I team in developing the department’s strategic plans.
• Prepare key funding documents related to assigned grants and dockets.
• Monitor assigned grants and take actions as necessary to ensure compliance.
• Undertake special projects, as assigned.
• Maintain collegial working relationships with colleagues and constituents

Qualifications and Abilities:

The ideal candidate for Program Officer will possess the following characteristics:

• Knowledge of the practices and contributions of social entrepreneurs and key sources of support in the ecosystem of social entrepreneurship.
• Experience and desire to work within a team environment with an emphasis on learning and continuous improvement.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities and work cooperatively to satisfy needs of internal and external constituents.
• Experience with evaluating and/or building the operational and financial capacity of organizations to undertake major initiatives.
• Strong interpersonal skills, sound judgment and discretion.
• Strong communication skills, particularly written.
• Demonstrated ability to work sensitively with diverse people and communities.
• High standards, integrity and a sense of humor.
• Expertise in MS Office (Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint) and general database systems.
• Competency in language(s), in addition to English, is desirable.
• Ability to travel domestically and internationally.
• In addition to the qualifications above, experience in any one or more of the following issue areas where the foundation focuses its grantmaking is of particular interest:
  • Environmental Sustainability (particularly climate change or water scarcity)
  • Health (particularly global pandemic prevention)
  • Peace and Security (particularly nuclear proliferation or Middle East conflict)
  • Economic and Social Equity
  • Tolerance and Human Rights
  • Institutional Responsibility
• Experience in the disciplines of program evaluation or organizational development are also of interest.

Education and Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree in any relevant discipline, or equivalent experience, is required.
• Minimum of five years of progressively responsible positions in the for-profit and philanthropic/nonprofit sectors.
• Combination of both business and philanthropic/nonprofit experience preferred.
• International work experience is desirable, preferably with social entrepreneurs or other local organizations in developing countries. Bachelor’s degree in any relevant discipline is required.

Compensation
A competitive compensation package will be commensurate with background.

Applicants
Please send a cover letter and resume to: jobs@skollfoundation.org. Please specify “Program Officer” in the message subject line. The foundation will contact qualified applicants. In your cover letter please tell us how your specific experiences and accomplishments address our needs and mission.

The Skoll Foundation (www.skollfoundation.org) was established in 1999 by eBay’s first president, Jeff Skoll, who serves as our founder and chairman. The foundation’s innovative approach to philanthropy is based on the belief that small investments can spur significant social change. Sally Osberg joined the foundation as its first president and CEO in 2001 and leads the organization’s team, drawing upon more than 20 years of social sector leadership experience. Today, the foundation is dedicated to realizing a vision for a more peaceful and prosperous world. We advance systemic change to benefit communities around the world by investing in, connecting and celebrating social entrepreneurs. The foundation is focused on social entrepreneurs working in six key issue areas - tolerance and human rights, health, environmental sustainability, economic and social equity, institutional responsibility, and peace and security - and whose models are at an inflection point where our support can accelerate significant impact. The core values of the Skoll Foundation workplace include respect, responsibility, leverage, innovation and tough-minded optimism.

The Business Technology Director is a senior level individual contributor position responsible for ensuring we leverage technology to advance the Foundation toward its mission.  This position’s primary focus will be on our business processes and systems.  These include grant management, customer relationship management, decision support and web publishing.  A prominent theme running through these processes is the imperative of improving our efficiency and effectiveness in capturing, sharing and harnessing information. The Business Technology Director will lead cross-functional project teams to analyze our current business processes and future needs, recommend initiatives and manage solution implementation. 

A secondary set of priorities involve oversight of the Foundation’s technology infrastructure and budget.   Our environment is a combination of in-house Microsoft Windows servers and PCs, ASPs and off-the-shelf business applications (e.g. Cybergrants and Great Plains), and open source web publishing tools (e.g. Plone). We outsource network/server management and help-desk support. The Business Technology Director will articulate the Foundation’s priorities, based on input from staff, vendors and others; recommend strategies and budgets; monitor performance; and serve as the primary point of contact with our service providers.  This is a service oriented role, requiring engagement at many levels ranging from design and oversight to hands-on technical work.    

The Director will advance staff productivity by identifying user competency needs and providing/sourcing training in targeted technologies.    

This new position will be a member of the Finance and Operations’ team, report to the Chief Operating Officer and work directly with all the Foundation staff.

Primary Responsibilities

• Lead processes for implementing, improving and leveraging business applications, with an emphasis on harnessing information in order to increase our efficiency and effectiveness.
• Oversee the specification and provisioning of the Foundation’s computer and communications infrastructure, primarily by working with external service providers.
• Manage technology based polices, risk management, business controls and procurement procedures.
• Evaluate and strengthen technology toolsets and user capabilities that improve individual skills and organizational effectiveness.
• Propose budgets and monitor expenditures for technology and communications. 
• Contribute to the plans and work of the Finance and Operations team.
• Undertake special projects, as assigned.

Attributes

• Takes a systems, data driven approach to solving problems and making decisions
• Effective listener, skilled in constructive dialogue and facilitation; instills trust
• Effective business partner, collaborating with staff and service partners to produce agreed upon outcomes
• High work standards, integrity, and sense of humor
• Skilled at distilling and effectively communicating complex information
• Resourceful self-starter, comfortable navigating through ambiguity and multiple priorities
• Comfortable and effective balancing strategic perspective with hands-on problem solving
• Service oriented

Qualifications:

• Minimum of 7 to 10 years of relevant work experience, including management of, or in depth exposure to, multiple aspects of information technology, with a distinguished record of accomplishments and growth.  Desired areas of expertise include:
  • Business process applications (e.g. CRM, contracts, business intelligence in a professional services environment) 
  • Project management  
  • Web based applications
  • Leveraging and managing third party service provider relationships
  • Enterprise technology infrastructure
• Demonstrated ability to work sensitively with diverse people and communities
• A sincere affinity for the Foundation’s work and values
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent combination of education and experience

Compensation
A competitive compensation package will be commensurate with background.

Applicants
Please send a cover letter and resume to: jobs@skollfoundation.org.by September 30. Please specify “BT Director” in the message subject line.  The foundation will contact qualified applicants. In your cover letter please tell us how your specific experiences and accomplishments address our needs and mission.