Director of Catalytic Capital

The Director of Catalytic Capital works within Align Impact’s Research team and is responsible for supporting the identification, selection, and monitoring of catalytic investment opportunities across impact areas and asset classes, including venture capital, private equity, private credit, real estate, and infrastructure. This role requires a demonstrated passion for, and a clear perspective on, the transformative role of catalytic capital in supporting an innovative, unconventional approach to impact investing. It wouldn’t be a stretch to imagine that catalytic capital might one day be seen as the R&D function for the future of capitalism. The Director should be inspired by this vision.

The Director will bring a strong understanding of sourcing, due diligence, and monitoring processes across asset classes, business cycles, and varying market conditions. They will have a proven track record of strategic planning and execution, showcasing their ability to translate organizational vision into actionable strategies.

Directors are expected to provide visionary leadership, make high-level decisions that support the organization’s direction, and contribute to shaping how Align Impact deploys client capital. They should possess a deep understanding of the impact investing landscape, strong business acumen, and the ability to influence and inspire both internal teams and external stakeholders. This role requires excellent communication skills to align and motivate teams around shared goals, as well as the capacity for high-level decision-making, to ensure the organization’s long-term success and adaptability in a dynamic market environment.

As Align Impact occupies a unique position in the impact investing ecosystem, the Director will be our ambassador to some of the most committed, innovative circles in the discipline. They should be able to represent both Align and our approach to catalytic investing with poise, fluency and deep knowledge. In addition, the Director will be expected to contribute to our collective understanding of how innovative approaches to capital formation can scale necessary solutions – and by identifying new solutions that have yet to be developed.

We are a team of self-starters and independent specialists with deep expertise in their domain areas. Team members who thrive are organized, communicative, intrinsically motivated, and passionate about applying their energy, time, and brain power to address systemic, big-picture, real-world challenges.

Primary Responsibilities

The outlined responsibilities will be the primary focus of this role. Notable is that the Director will be expected to manage the balance between team objectives and firm-wide priorities, with a slight emphasis on the latter. The Director will have direct ownership over team resources, planning and business-wide projects that impact their teams, and others in the organization.

1. House View: Set the overarching investment strategy for the team, contribute to decisions on strategic priorities, and ensure the team’s approach is proactive and aligned with long-term organizational goals.
2. Decision-Making: Identify, champion, and collaborate on strategic decision-setting for the team, ensuring alignment with the organization’s overarching goals.
3. People and Processes: Oversee overall management, growth, and planning responsibilities for the team and underlying processes and infrastructure.
4. Thought leadership: Contribute to publications (internal and external), speaking opportunities, and other avenues to express unique viewpoints held by the broader organization and/or the investments team.
5. Investment Thesis and Landscape: Set the overall framework for sector deep dives and investment thesis development, identifying strategic opportunities, making decisions on prioritization, and generating ideas in line with organizational objectives.
6. Sourcing: Oversee sourcing strategy and relationship management, focusing on managing and optimizing the firm’s overall sourcing capabilities.
7. Due Diligence: Direct the strategic framework for due diligence, ensuring alignment with organizational goals and industry trends, and providing high-level strategic insights during the due diligence process, guiding the team on key focus areas and technical insights.
8. Reporting and Monitoring: Direct the strategic framework for monitoring, ensuring alignment with organizational goals and industry trends, and providing high-level strategic insights during the reporting process, guiding the team on key focus areas and technical insights.
9. Specialization: Oversee and integrate multiple areas of specialization across the team and organization, leading strategic initiatives in your specialization, influencing the broader investment strategy, and mentoring/training others to develop expertise in the areas.

Qualifications

• 7-10 years of directly applicable experience including working in capital markets to deploy capital, Impact Measurement and Monitoring, meaningful thought leadership in the impact investing ecosystem, team leadership and management, and panel participation/public speaking
• Ideally the successful candidate will have earned an MBA, CFA, or other relevant designation (including a postgraduate degree in a related field)

Competencies and Values

The following competencies and Align’s core values (We partner generously, not just bill transactions, We build mindfully, not just shift radically and We guide transparently, not just challenge boldly) are used to measure everyone across the firm. The Director will be expected to pay particular attention to Competencies #6-9.

1. Focus: Ability to focus on primary responsibilities.
2. Quality of Work: Work is consistently completed on time, accurately, and with excellence
3. Individual Effectiveness: Displays knowledge and excellence in their role
4. Dependability: Trustworthy and reliable
5. Co-worker relations: Respectful, honest and cordial relationships with co-workers
6. Communication: Communicates in a clear, timely, and effective manner
7. Creativity: Imaginative and resourceful way of thinking and approaching situations
8. Decision-making: Makes informed decisions within a reasonable time frame.
9. Initiative: A demonstrated capacity for independent action and a willingness to lead.

Success in the Role

The successful candidate will bring to the position 10+ years of relevant experience in financial services or a related field. They will be expected to bring strong people and project management capabilities, initiative, and creativity. The Director will be a recognized leader within the organization and effectively collaborate with the Managing Director of Investments as well as the Executive team to contribute to and execute firm-level priorities. They will have significant leeway within their team to make decisions independently to serve collective outcomes.

To apply, please submit your resume and cover letter by clicking the link below.