Chief Executive Officer, Digital Impact Alliance

The Organization

We believe digital tools are the key to a more just and equitable world. The Digital Impact Alliance (DIAL) investigates digital transformation best practice across the globe. We combine practical research with evidence-based advocacy to identify, implement, and promote innovative digital tools that emphasize inclusion, trust, and human agency, with a particular focus on effective digital public infrastructure and data governance. We have partners in 40+ countries and digital principles that have spread to countries in every region. , We believe in a world where everyone can access life-enabling services. Our programs and tools will soon have reached over 20M people across six continents, and our research practice has written more than 60 publications. As key leaders in the development of the Digital Public Goods Charter and strong advocates for their endorsement, we have been able to foment significant progress in the uptake of making DPGs a more viable option for digital public infrastructure. Learn more at dial.global. DIAL is supported by donors, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), and 30 other donors. DIAL is hosted at the United Nations Foundation and the successful candidate will be hired as an employee of the UN Foundation.

The Opportunity

We seek a visionary thinker and doer to lead our powerful movement in its next phase of success. The new Chief Executive Officer will bring optimism, creativity, and critical thinking to lead our talented team’s operations, partnerships, and programs while advancing global thought leadership on digital development. Ensuring stability and ongoing success, the new CEO has the opportunity to grow the leadership team, advance programming, and share the DIAL story to partners and influencers. Candidates with a history of leading organizations through significant growth—including securing new funding for innovative programming—are encouraged to apply.

Location

Working across time zones and cultures, we rely on multiple tools to stay in close touch (Slack, Zoom, phone). We are open to candidates anywhere in the USA with a preference for candidates on the East Coast, especially Washington, DC. The CEO role includes extensive regional and international travel.

Essential Functions

Fundraising and Communications:

• Expand revenue generating and fundraising activities to support existing operations and programmatic growth, with a goal to raise $5.5M for FY24 budget
• Deepen and refine all aspects of communications—from web presence to external relations with the goal of creating a stronger brand to garner new opportunities
• Build partnerships in new areas, establishing relationships with the funders, and political and thought leaders for our focus areas of Digital Public Infrastructure and Data Governance
• Partner with Board members to set annual and multi-year goals and objectives across membership, marketing and fundraising, operations, programming, staff professional development, and financial management
• Facilitate effective Board communication on progress against all goals
• Identify Board learning opportunities to model a culture of learning
• Present accurate, timely, and reliable information to the Board of Directors

Thought Leadership:

• Advance our mission and the global dialogue within the digital transformation space through detecting and leveraging opportunities for innovation, specifically DIAL’s ability to lead and grow new initiatives
• Think innovatively in how interventions at the global level incorporate local voices and needs
• Strengthen coalition building and partnerships towards DIAL’s common vision and policy priorities by leveraging current alliances
• Increase DIAL’s global profile and visibility

Organizational Leadership:

• Lead a research-based, learning first team of over thirty staff to create actionable, pragmatic solutions
• Mobilize DIAL towards a desired future state in-line with overall organizational vision and goals
• Champion an organizational culture where diversity, inclusion and equity is embedded in all aspects of daily operations model
• Empower DIAL staff, partners, and advisors to be experts in our field who share knowledge and learning within the technology ecosystem
• Ensure ongoing programmatic excellence, rigorous program evaluation, and consistent quality of finance and administration, fundraising, communications, and systems; recommend timelines and resources needed to achieve the strategic goals
• Actively engage and energize DIAL’s staff, board members, stakeholders, partnering organizations, and funders
• Develop, maintain, and support a strong Board of Directors; serve as ex-officio of each committee; seek and build board involvement with strategic direction

Ideal Candidate

The new CEO will display acumen in board relations, staff leadership, fundraising, external relations, program development, and financial management. A flexible, optimistic, and entrepreneurial outlook is essential. Our ideal candidate brings the following competencies and values:

• Bachelor’s degree required and/or significant equivalent work experience.
• 15+ years of increasing responsibility in international nonprofit or public organizations, including 10+ years of team management experience
• Recognized thought leader in digital development and a powerful public speaker
• Excellence in organizational management with the ability to coach staff, manage, and develop high-performance teams, set and achieve strategic objectives, and manage a budget
• Demonstrated fundraising results (a track record of closing seven-figure gifts and building meaningful donor partnerships with institutional funders including governments and multilateral organizations), and strong donor relationships
• Successful track record of developing and executing strategies to diversify revenue streams and increase funding
• Experience creating and leading high-value partnerships with a variety of stakeholders, including members, funders, media, thought leaders
• Outstanding communication skills, with a commitment to embracing and adopting technology
• Demonstrated commitment to inclusion and equity
• Humor, kindness, and flexibility
• Collaborative leadership
• Unwavering commitment to quality programs and data-driven program evaluation
• Ability to work effectively in collaboration with diverse groups across a global workforce
• Past success working with a Board of Directors with the ability to cultivate existing relationships

Our Team: Culture, Compensation, and Benefits

We are a collaborative team of optimists who tackle persistent challenges, leaning on our values of impact, accountability, curiosity, and empathy. If you are a collaborative doer committed to advancing equity and inspired by high-impact, fast-paced, purpose-driven work, we encourage you to join our team. We offer a generous compensation package that includes healthcare, paid vacation, personal, and sick leave, retirement plan employer match up to 6% (vested upon hire), and back up childcare benefits.

Benefits & Compensation 

For full-time, benefit eligible employees, UNF offers an excellent range of benefits, including:

• a choice between two health plans through UnitedHealthcare (PPO or HDHP with HSA)
• dental insurance
• vision insurance
• flexible spending accounts
• 403b retirement savings plan with a generous matching contribution
• group term and supplemental life insurance
• short-term disability
• long-term disability
• health club discounts
• commuter subsidy
• back-up care
• employee assistance program

Additionally, all benefit eligible employees have 12 paid holidays, 20 vacation days, 10 sick days, 3 personal days, and 8 weeks of family leave care.

The United Nations Foundation is proud to be an equal opportunity and affirmative-action employer. The United Nations Foundation provides equal employment opportunity to all employees and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.

This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training.