4 months ago I quit a company I co-founded due to ethical concerns about our impact on society. This company was Violet Management, and it was making more money than any of my previous ventures. However, our services, marketing, and sales initiatives had become reliant on highly predatory and unethical practices to drive these results. After addressing my concerns with my co-founders and investors for the current issues and the future trajectory of the company, I had to accept my viewpoint for change was not shared. So, after much consideration, I quit and sold my shares in Violet due to these differences. I am happy to go into detail about what these concerns were in an interview. As much of Violet's services, sales, and marketing departments were built by me, I live with the shame of knowing that these are all still being used. Motivated by this, I made the decision to permanently pivot my career to the charity sector. My new aim is to use my skillsets and experiences to create positive change. Thus, when I discovered this job posting on Charity Job I was very excited. Forward Institute would have helped me in my situation with Violet's leadership, and so I have a sincere affinity for Forward Institute's goals. I am now passionate about progressing ethical capitalism and using my skillsets to do good. I believe my experience and personal growth journey makes me an excellent fit for this role, as I sincerely understand and believe in the importance of Forward Institute's work.
The role's 3 core components:
I previously led and managed partnerships with a variety of stakeholders in my positions at Violet Management, GEAR, and Social IQ. This included leading and managing external organizations relationships with those: B2B partners, investors, advisors, and different strategic commercial partners.
As a Founder, I also always take responsibility for income and company growth. Most recently I grew Violet Management to earn 7-figures in just under 3 years with 4 other co-founders. As an entrepreneur, I am very comfortable with ambiguity and managing emergent situations. I left my last position at Violet Management due to disagreements with my partners and investors about our growing use of predatory and dangerous marketing practices. I feel I am thus very comfortable addressing, challenging, and pre-empting areas of tension between FI’s commercial and impact drivers, along with doing the same for our partners to support efforts to embed responsibility in their organizations.
I have also custom-built CRM solutions to optimize relationship management and engagement. This is something I feel I can use to help in my role to develop and optimize business and sales divisions for FI. I have also built end-to-end tracking solutions for all aspects of my business ventures, and I feel this can help me capture, understand, improve and communicate the impact FI is having with partner organizations. For example, for Violet, I created mental health reporting systems which you can see in my article to build happier teams here. I also have many ideas that I’d love to share in an interview for ways FI can develop strong new partnerships with influential organizations and individuals at the C-level in organizations.
I have previously led and managed partnerships with a variety of stakeholders. This has included leading relationships with B2B partners, investors, advisors, and strategic commercial partners.
As a Founder, I always take responsibility for income and company growth. Most recently I grew Violet Management to earn 7-figures in just under 3 years with 4 other co-founders. As an entrepreneur, I am very comfortable with ambiguity and managing emergent situations. I left my last position at Violet Management due to disagreements with my partners and investors about our growing use of predatory and dangerous marketing practices. I feel I am thus very comfortable addressing, challenging, and pre-empting areas of tension between FI’s commercial and impact drivers, along with doing the same for our partners to support efforts to embed responsibility in their organizations.
I have also custom-built CRM solutions to optimize relationship management and engagement. This is something I feel I can use to help in my role to develop and optimize business and sales divisions for FI. I have also built end-to-end tracking solutions for all aspects of my business ventures, and I feel this can help me capture, understand, improve and communicate the impact FI is having with partner organizations. For example, for Violet, I created mental health reporting systems which you can see in my article to build happier teams here. I also have many ideas that I’d love to share in an interview for ways FI can develop strong new partnerships with influential organizations and individuals at the C-level in organizations.
>Be the principal market-facing leader of the Institute, with responsibility for managing our overall partnerships with organisations across all the different strands of our work
>Take overall responsibility for the Institute's income, driving the growth of a healthy and meaningful portfolio of work that sets us up to achieve our mission. It’s important you help us to grow thoughtfully and with purpose - pre-empting and managing with skill any tension between commercial and impact drivers
>Cultivate deep, trusted and long-term relationships with our partners - by advising, challenging and supporting their efforts to embed responsibility at the heart of their organisation>Manage our partnerships team – ensuring we have a best-in-class approach to how we manage our relationships and develop new business and sales
>Help lead our work to capture, understand, improve and communicate the impact we are having with our partner organisations>Develop strong new partnerships with influential organisations, building strong CEO and ExCo level sponsorship
Develop our growth strategy
>Work closely with the CEO and leadership team to develop the long-term strategy of the Institute>Work with each area of the business to develop a strong model for growth and impact, and guiding the development of new programmes and services>Help guide the evolution of our business model, service offering, growth plans, and the evolution of our culture and capabilities>Shape a commercially responsible, accessible and competitive operating model >Work with the leadership team on the development of new products and services
Build our reputation
>Work closely with the CEO and Chair to effectively steward our wider network of senior level relationships, including our advisory board and sponsors inside partner organisations>Work closely with the Director of Communications to build an effective and impactful approach to building our brand awareness and reputation>Be a credible figurehead for the Institute in the external environment, and work closely with the CEO and our Director of Communications and Public Affairs to lead on our relationships with other organisations in the purpose and responsibility ecosystem>Research and stay abreast of best practice in purpose driven business, leadership development and social innovationABOUT YOU
CRITICAL TO THE ROLE
>10+ years experience working in a senior strategic and commercial role>You are energised to help us build and grow the Forward Institute as we continue to scale>You can easily build credibility and rapport with senior leaders in very different organisations across the private and public sectors. The role is very outward facing so it’s essential you develop relationships quickly, are smart, personable and curious>You will be comfortable balancing critical commercial decision making with the necessary focus on our impact and mission>You are passionate about what we are trying to do, have a serious interest in responsible leadership and are curious about what is going on in the world>You are ambitious, motivated by bold ideas and big goals – and are restless in pursuit of impact>You are passionate about purposeful and responsible business, with a track record of working with senior leaders on strategy, leadership, culture change and collaboration>You’ve got commercial and sales nous - you’re listening for meaningful opportunities to advance the mission and are thoughtful about different ways to grow our impact
IT WOULD BE BRILLIANT IF…
>You’ve helped lead change. Ideally you have experience in a large organisation and understand what it takes to really make change happen in large corporate environments>You can bring international perspective to your work and/or are thoughtful around the growing questions and challenges of responsibility in a fast-growing environment>You have experience of working with the private sector, either from within or as your primary market>You have a strong interest in social justice issues, equality and diversity
YOU’LL LOVE IT HERE IF YOU…
>Are optimistic, bring warmth and good humour to work, have a strong collaborative work ethic and bring positive intent to every situation>Are driven by hope and optimism, tempered with pragmatism and inspired by the potential of our mission, our partners and our team>Would thrive in a small but growing and highly collaborative team (there are 30 of us right now, and we’ll be growing to ~50 in the next couple of years)>Have a curious mind and are always open to the insights and perspectives of others and can flourish in ambiguous and highly fluid settings>Are passionate about building and scaling a quality operation, holding impact and people at its core>Love the idea of working somewhere people share your values and are fully focused on making a meaningful impact on the world>Would enjoy working in a fast-paced environment, are happy to work without a big support structure around you, and would like to grow with a small but ambitious organisation as it develops over timeABOUT US
About the Forward Institute
We have a bold mission: to make responsible leadership the only leadership. We help leaders and some of the world’s most influential organisations become more sustainable, equitable, purposeful and responsible. We work in three ways:
1)We run world-class leadership programmes – building a movement of hundreds of senior leaders committed to mobilising their organisations to tackle the most important challenges faced by society.2)We partner with major organisations to help them place purpose and responsibility at the heart of their culture, leadership and decision making. 3)We conduct research to advance understanding of responsible leadership, share our learning with others and help shape the wider system.
The pandemic, profound inequalities in society, climate change and the growing sense of a divided world all feed an increasing sense of urgency for us to accelerate our work. We have some big goals, so we’re growing our team to keep pace with the scale of our aspirations.
We’re searching for passionate, curious and naturally inclusive individuals who believe in our mission, and are eager to grow and help us develop new areas of our work. Our talented team bring experience from working with multinational companies, agencies and consultancies, large public sector bodies, NGOs, and social enterprises.
BENEFITS
CORE DETAILS
Salary: £100k+, based on seniority and experience. We are serious about building a world-class team and view this role as vital to our future success. We are a non-profit, mission driven organisation so whilst we cannot offer remuneration levels at top private sector levels we will offer a competitive package for the right person (based on experience and impact)
Type: Our preference is for this to be a full time role – but our priority is to get the right person so we would be open to a discussion around a more flexible arrangement
Start date: To start as soon as possible
We are based in London, one of the world’s most diverse cities, with a workforce that’s 36% ethnically diverse and where 39% of the working population is of working-class background. We want our workplace to reflect the community we belong to. That’s why we welcome people from all walks of life who have the skills we seek
OTHER BENEFITS
>Private health insurance with Vitality (which also provides discounted gym membership)>Pension allowance (5% employer contribution)>Generous holiday allowance (30 days)>Hybrid working, with an allowance for setting up your home working environment>An intense but fun working environment. We’re a rapidly growing, high energy and ambitious team who love our work and making a big impact. >Working for an organisation where we take our values and purpose seriously, and work hard to practice what we ‘preach’>An opportunity to observe systemic change as it happens and be part of the team working out how big business can have a positive impact on the world>We invest in our people: not just through benefits but through training and development and promoting our team>All our team have access to world-class development opportunities and an amazing range of speakers – from senior leaders like Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller (former Director General of MI5) to entrepreneurs like Sir Tim Smit (Founder of the Eden Project) to thought leaders like June Sarpong (Head of Creative Diversity at the BBC)
LOCATION
Our office is in Holborn, within easy walking distance of a number of over- and underground stations. We expect the team to split their work between the office and home.
HOW TO APPLY
Please send your CV and a covering letter or video, following this link answering the following two questions:
>What is it that you are passionate about and what makes you a great fit for the Forward Institute?>Why are you interested in this specific role?
Applications without a covering letter or video will not be considered.
The deadline for submissions is Monday 24thOctober 2022. First round interviews will take place the week of 31st October.
Additionally, we are currently recruiting for a Managing Director of our Advisory business, and a number of other roles - details of these roles can be found on ourjob page
You will need to hold any relevant Visas/Work Permits.
Apply for this positionABOUT USThe Forward Institute was set up in 2015 by a group of major organisations with a bold mission: to make responsible leadership the only leadership. We believe that much depends on our collective leadership over the next decade. So we’re on a quest to help leaders and some of the world’s most influential organisations become more sustainable, equitable, purposeful and responsible.
We work with organisations in three ways:
The pandemic, profound inequalities in society, climate change and the growing sense of a divided world all feed an increasing sense of urgency for us to accelerate our work. We have some big goals, so we’re growing our team to keep pace with the scale of our aspirations. We’re searching for passionate, curious and talented individuals who believe in our mission, and are eager to grow and help us develop new areas of our work. ”Do you have the ambition to do something significant for society? If working with exceptional people on problems that matter gets you excited, we want to hear from you."