About Purpose
Purpose builds and supports movements to advance the fight for an open, just, and habitable world. We use public mobilization and storytelling to help the leading organizations, businesses, activists, and philanthropies engaged in this fight. We also create campaigning labs and new initiatives that can shift policies and drive change. To do this, Purpose brings together world-class talent from the world of creatives, content development, storytelling, campaigning, grassroots organizing, and political strategy to build new creative campaigning models.
Guided by smart strategy and powered by participation, our work reframes issues, engages new audiences, shifts public discourse, and ultimately drives targeted action and creates lasting impact. Join the team that made all this work!
For more information on Purpose, please visit the website.
The Opportunity
Purpose is looking for a Partner & Managing Director for its North America region. The Partner and MD is a key leadership role at Purpose responsible for our work in North America as well as serving as a global leader in the company, contributing to strategic decisions across the organization.
We are seeking an individual committed to our mission to fight for a just, open, and habitable world. In this role, you will join our internationally diverse team and lead our project work, business development, and market-facing reputation in the region.
The Partner & MD will be supported by the Senior Director of Operations, North America, who oversees key day-to-day business and people operations that drive effective project and program delivery in the region. The role will also work closely with Purpose’s global C-suite and partner team as well as other key functional teams including Partnerships; Capabilities; People, Culture & Experience, to continue the growth of our North America business.
As the senior most person in the region, you will be critical in driving Purpose’s business strategy, ensuring our offerings and capabilities are matched to the needs of the market, and building a strong reputation within our target client and funder communities. Serving as the principal representative with senior clients, partners, and stakeholders, you will also lead multidisciplinary teams and oversee large complex projects, from inception through delivery, ensuring that the process and deliverables meet clients' high expectations.
A strong spokesperson, thoughtful leader, and strategic thinker, you’ll be equally comfortable representing Purpose at events, pitching new projects to funders, solving thorny client issues, and inspiring the team at regular get togethers.
Candidates based in and around New York are encouraged to apply. We operate a highly flexible, hybrid work policy with our office based in New York City.
Candidate Profile
The Partner & MD will be the principal market-facing leader of Purpose in North America, focused on the strategic delivery and further growth of our impact, leading projects, and business development.
Areas of responsibility include:
Business Development
- Developing and implementing a business development strategy that will enable the organization to continue its growth over the coming years.
- Proactively seeking out new clients and partners from the philanthropic, NGO, multilateral, business, foundations, and government sectors.
- Leading the partnerships and business development function of the North America office, with accountability for financial targets, project profitability and the delivery of successful competitive pitches.
- Working with our parent company, Capgemini, to foster new and shared opportunities for collaboration.
Project Management
- Acting as the principal across North America-based projects, responsible for high-level client, partner, and stakeholder management.
- Building and leading project teams including strategists, campaigners, creatives, and impact measurement specialists.
- Setting and maintaining the highest standards for internal and external deliverables.
- Maintaining and growing strong client relationships at the highest levels of our partners’ organizations.
Organizational Strategy
- Participating in strategic decision-making on key questions such as the development of our business model and technology/service offering, our growth strategy, our partnerships, and the evolution of the organization.
- Working with our global team of partners to develop the North American business strategy in alignment with the global trajectory of the organization.
- Collaborating regularly with the Partnerships and Capabilities teams across Purpose’s international network.
- Researching and staying abreast of best practices in online engagement, corporate social responsibility, and social innovation.
Team and Organizational Leadership
- Leading and nurturing an equitable, inclusive, and accessible workplace environment that allows all employees at Purpose to have a sense of fulfillment, belonging, impact, growth, and development.
- Building a cohesive, collaborative, multidisciplinary culture in North America.
- Working in close partnership with the People Experience and Culture Teams to drive learning and development in alignment with our mission and strategic goals.
Candidate Profile
While it is understood that no single candidate will offer every desired attribute and competency, the following is a representative list of the ideal candidate profile and priority tasks and responsibilities:
- Experience in a senior leadership role in an impact-driven organization, ideally in a client services environment.
- Demonstrated experience working across the social impact ecosystem, working with philanthropic foundations, the corporate sector, government, and/or non-profits.
- Extensive experience in developing, executing, and leading social and progressive impact projects.
- Solid trajectory leading and executing creative public engagement strategies, with a particular focus on digital.
- Strong business development experience that has generated funding and revenue.
- Experience managing in a consultancy/agency environment or other similar setting and a strong understanding of the dynamics of such a business preferred
- Comfortable with full transparency, able to navigate difficult conversations with grace and sensitivity.
- Strong entrepreneurial sensibility – you've had success in building campaigns, projects or organizations that employ new, innovative models to drive social impact or have worked and contributed to such ventures.
- Digital fluency, especially regarding social media tools and their role in public mobilization.
- Adept equity-minded manager of distributed, cross-functional, multidisciplinary, diverse teams with a passion for people management and experience building and supporting team culture and professional development initiatives.
- Sophisticated interpersonal, presentation and communications abilities coupled with mature client/funder relationship management skills.
- Deeply networked in the nonprofit, foundation, corporate, government, and multilateral sectors in the US.
- Experience with leading change management within a rapidly growing organization.
- Possess an entrepreneurial spirit, a nimble approach, and comfort in adapting and responding to quickly changing situations.
- A dot connector and problem solver.
- Share Purpose's progressive, internationalist worldview, including a global sensibility, multicultural awareness, and experience in global work, international affairs, and/or policy expertise and with the ability to be a cultural contributor.
- Fluency in languages besides English is a plus.
In addition, strong candidates will offer:
- Significant experience building, growing and leading initiatives or client-led projects with a social impact focus, especially within an agency or consultancy environment.
- A strong reputation in the North American market as a thought leader on social or environmental issues with experience speaking at events and publishing thought leadership content.
- High bar for quality, rigor, and integrity.
- An ability to work autonomously, diplomatically driving the business forward while obtaining results through ambiguity and conflicting needs.
- Expertise with standard business tools, including exceptional presentation development and productivity and communication platforms (Slack, Notion, Google Suite, other).
Compensation, Benefits & Additional Information
This role is a full-time staff position, offered at the Partner & Managing Director tier with a salary range starting at $200k+ with additional variable compensation against co-determined parameters - along with 401K matching, medical, dental and vision benefits, and a generous paid time off policy.
Purpose takes on some of the biggest challenges in the world, which affect people of different identities and backgrounds in different ways. We are stronger and most effective with a diverse team leading the charge and are committed to building a team that represents a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills.
As an equal opportunity employer, we welcome the unique contributions that individuals bring in terms of their education, opinions, culture, ethnicity, race, sex, gender identity and expression, nation of origin, age, languages spoken, veteran’s status, color, religion, disability, sexual orientation and beliefs.
Contact
Koya Partners, the executive search firm that specializes in mission-driven search, has been exclusively retained for this engagement. Molly Brennan and Sarah Avendaño of Koya Partners have been exclusively retained for this search. To express interest in this role please submit your materials here. All inquiries and discussions will be considered strictly confidential.
Koya Partners is committed to providing reasonable accommodation to individuals living with disabilities. If you are a qualified individual living with a disability and need assistance expressing interest online, please email NonprofitSearchOps@divsearch.com. If you are selected for an interview, you will receive additional information regarding how to request an accommodation for the interview process.
About Koya Partners
Koya Partners, a part of Diversified Search Group, is a leading executive search and strategic advising firm dedicated to connecting exceptionally talented people with mission-driven clients. Our founding philosophy—The Right Person in the Right Place Can Change the World—guides our work as we partner with nonprofits & NGOs, institutions of higher education, responsible businesses, and social enterprises in local communities and around the world.
For more information about Koya Partners, visit www.koyapartners.com.
