Acumen is seeking a President who will play a pivotal role in leading the execution of the organization’s strategy, at a critical inflection point in its history. Reporting directly to the Founder and CEO, Jacqueline Novogratz, the President will be responsible for translating the CEO’s visionary leadership into actionable strategies and operational excellence.

This search is run in partnership with Bridge Partners. Click here to view detailed job description 
Please apply to this role by directly emailing [email protected]

The Vision:

Acumen dreams of a world where every individual can live with dignity. Established in 2001 by Jacqueline Novogratz, we merge the dynamism of entrepreneurship and investment, with the heart of philanthropy.

Our story is one of innovation, moral leadership, and transformational change. We seek a leader who will support our vision as we continue to extend beyond the conventional boundaries of investment, embodying our core values and leading the organization forward to create sustainable change in the fight against poverty.

Patience is a revolution. We solve problems of poverty unlike any other investor on the planet.

About Acumen:

Acumen is changing the way the world tackles poverty by investing in companies, leaders, and ideas. With a commitment to using entrepreneurial approaches to solving poverty and building a world of dignity, Acumen is on a path to managing multiple portfolios with assets totaling more than $750M. But we don’t invest in just any company promising impact. We invest in category defining companies. Our investments to date have brought critical energy, healthcare, agriculture and education resources to more than 650 million individuals. We deploy both philanthropic- backed capital as well as manage a growing portfolio of impact funds across multiple regions which share a commitment to solving poverty at scale. Thus, critical stakeholders range from the poor to the very wealthy, nonprofits to corporations, philanthropists to impact investors to more traditional LPs.

When markets work for everyone, people in poverty have the power to transform their lives.
We build these markets by training better leaders and investing in better businesses.

Our investment isn’t only about capital: we’ve been investing in innovators for nearly a quarter century, connecting with emerging leaders around the world and engaging them in collective dialogue, moral inquiry, and skill building. Acumen Academy is our global school for social impact, empowering individuals to create systemic change in their communities. To date, we have trained more than 1,750 entrepreneurial builders across 30 nations who, in turn, have impacted another 30 million people. Over 1.3M people who want to be part of building pathways out of poverty have signed up for our online courses. Not only will we grow this group but we will share insights from our work with anyone anywhere who wants to be part of building solutions to poverty.

In both our investing and leadership domains, our ambitions are great, for we ultimately intend to be a force for shaping not only how the world tackles poverty, but to be part of solving specific problems altogether.

Overview:

Acumen has grown from being a pioneer of the impact investing sector to leveraging a more than half billion-dollar platform that is focused entirely on deploying the skills and tools of capital and moral leadership to solve big problems of poverty – over time and at scale.

The President of Acumen will play a pivotal role in leading the execution of the organization’s strategy, at a critical inflection point in its history. Reporting directly to the Founder and CEO, Jacqueline Novogratz, the President will be responsible for translating the CEO’s visionary leadership into actionable strategies and operational excellence.

This role requires a dynamic leader with a deep understanding of, and commitment to, solving problems of poverty, using the tools of impact investment and leadership development.  The person’s superpower is driving change in a global, decentralized organization through exceptional operational management, team building and people skills.

The Role: 

Strategic Leadership:

• Collaborate with the CEO to establish Acumen’s strategic priorities in alignment with the organization’s vision and mission.
• Develop and implement the global operational strategy to execute against these strategic priorities.
• Foster a culture of innovation, creativity, accountability, and collaboration across all levels of the organization, working with the CEO, the management committee, and our most senior leaders.

Operational Execution:

• Lead, inspire and mentor high-performing teams that can effectively collaborate across geographies, functions and programs such that the full potential of the organization’s capacity to achieve its objectives is realized.
• Foster a culture of appropriate risk-taking and experimentation that keeps Acumen at the cutting edge. This will include ensuring the organization – and the funds we manage – benefit from world-class services, including Legal, Financial, Talent, Communications, Fundraising, and Insights.

Financial Stewardship:

• In collaboration with the CFO, drive financial planning and management ensuring the financial health and sustainability of the organization.
• Ensure proper systems and processes for timely financial information and reporting to include robust budgeting, forecasting and cash management processes across all regions and functions.

Governance:

• Safeguard our values and integrity by supporting compliance and governance, monitoring all material contract negotiations and overseeing risk management processes.
• Support the CEO to ensure effective management, sustainability and effectiveness of Acumen’s board.

Your Team:

You will lead a team of experienced and passionate and values-driven individuals, who are motivated by impact, including:

• Country Leaders responsible for developing and executing strategies that are adapted to the imperatives and constraints of the region but are also aligned to Acumen’s global strategy; ensuring proper staffing, team development and compliance with local regulatory environment as well as Acumen policies; and collaborating across the organization to leverage the expertise and experience that enables the highest level of execution.
• Program leaders, the Chief of Academy and the Chief of Ventures work in collaboration with the CEO and teams in region, to develop the strategies and products for our leadership development and investing programs, respectively, providing support through their teams to enable execution in region. This includes overseeing, with the Chief of Ventures, the management of five sponsored funds.
• Functional leads in finance, legal and talent who provide expertise and deep experience of bringing best practices to the regions, ensuring consistency and compliance across all entities, programs and functional teams.
• Fundraising responsible for developing products and raising funding for all initiatives of the organization, global or regional, backed by philanthropy or returnable capital. This team builds and maintains relationships across the funding landscape including the philanthropic sector, the development institutions, large and small foundations, and corporations.
• Marketing and Communications are the guides and stewards of our brand voice. They drive visibility, memorability and find ways to connect and influence our multiple audiences across channels.
• Insights and Impact teams collaborate with leadership and the regional teams to measure the impact of our work, in order to drive actions that amplify our impact and distill insights that can be shared with our teams, the sector and beyond, reinforcing Acumen’s position as a thought leader.

The Leader: About you:

You are a leader who thrives on enabling others to succeed. You have built, developed and nurtured high performing executive teams. You have a proven ability to address complex issues and develop simple, actionable solutions. You are an empathic listener yet resolute and tenacious in your determination. You have the patience to work toward long-term goals but approach those goals through the lens of urgency. You understand the intricacies of global markets and the challenges faced by low-income communities. And you are flexible and adaptable to changing circumstances.

We know that this is a tall order – but we also know that this exceptional leader is out there, ready to grasp this impactful opportunity! We seek a highly skilled professional with seasoned business experience, who has operated in global low-income societies and understands the opportunities and challenges of balancing social and financial ROI.

Who We’re Looking For:

• Experience: Proven experience in senior, enterprise-wide leadership roles and a strong track record of operational management, strategic planning, and execution in a growing organization.
• Social Impact: Alignment with Acumen’s mission, investment principles and values. A deep desire to understand the challenges, and leverage the opportunities, of poverty alleviation and social impact.
• Communication: Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to engage and inspire diverse stakeholders internally and externally.
• Ethical and Principled Approach: Deeply align with Acumen’s values, demonstrating a commitment to ethics and dignity in all aspects of your work, ensuring compliance with local laws and fostering a culture of respect and fairness across a global footprint.
• Collaborative Leadership: Strong capability to operate effectively across various functions and regions, leveraging influence within a multilateral organizational framework. The candidate should exhibit a solutions-oriented approach to addressing poverty through business strategies.
• Interpersonal and Cross-cultural Skills: Substantial cross-cultural experience, ideally gained from living and working in a variety of global environments. Excellent relationship-building competencies.
• Decision-Making: Evidence of the ability to consistently make good decisions through a combination of analysis, wisdom, experience, and judgment.
• Results-Oriented: Proven track record of exceeding goals and delivering results.
• Technical Skills: Understanding of finance and budgeting, HR, technology systems, strategic development and planning, public relations, and marketing.

Compensation:

• Acumen offers competitive compensation, excellent benefits, and a supportive working environment.
• For this position, the base salary range is $300,000 to $325,000 plus an annual bonus. Internal equity considerations and the average salary of the peer range will be reviewed before making a final offer.

Location, Travel & Eligibility:

• Location: New York City, NY
• Travel: A readiness to travel (approx. 10-20% anticipated), to connect with global teams. Note that there may be additional travel in the first 12 months, in order to familiarize with global teams and program activities.
• Eligibility: Legally authorized to work in the US.

Join Acumen

• Help build the next chapter of Acumen’s institutional abilities to influence financial markets to put humanity and the earth at the center.
• Work with a high functioning team to support visionary entrepreneurs, building empowered, high-performing teams, and fostering a more inclusive, equitable world.
• Serve as a catalyst for change, co-creating Acumen’s future and amplifying our collective impact.