Chief Innovation Officer and Belfer Center Director

Job Summary

“We believe that when voices are heard, communities are connected and ideas are nurtured from the ground up, movements can grow and real change can begin. Through grassroots global initiatives, leadership programs and civic movements, the Belfer Center (the Center) has created a vibrant worldwide community built around big ideas and doing good”.

The Chief Innovation Officer and Belfer Center Director (CIO/Director) is responsible for leveraging the power of partnerships, and collaboration within 92NY’s diverse programming centers to strengthen and extend the reach of 92NY’s global core values, as a leader in distributed global programs, movements and digital initiatives for the 21st Century so as to help address major societal challenges, improve lives and advance dialogue and understanding.  With a focus on creativity and innovation, the CIO/Director will build on 92NY’s past initiatives such as Giving Tuesday, founded at 92NY in 2012, as well as its many important ongoing programs, including 92NY’s Women in Power fellowship program for emerging female leaders; its Share Our America bridging program, which seeks to address polarization across the United States through highly structured group conversations; and its UpTide accelerator for national community-building non-profits. The CIO/Director is also responsible for working with the leadership at 92NY to develop innovative ways to deliver 92NY’s traditional services and content, overseeing 92NY’s Strategic Planning Group, with a goal of raising 92NY’s profile and attracting new audiences consistent with the high level of quality with which 92NY has always been associated.    

Accountable for ensuring the Center approaches both in-person and online programming in increasingly collaborative and cross-disciplinary ways, the CIO/Director will cultivate new communities, stakeholders, and methods of fostering dialogue as well as avenues for increasing revenue streams. The CIO/Director will also focus on events, thought pieces and other strategies to make the Center an acknowledged, social good, thought leader.

Through partnerships within the organization and with outside entities, the Director will ensure that the Center is a catalyst for exploring and expanding opportunities for successful collaboration and programming across multiple platforms of delivery that promote social good, cement the Center’s role as a global thought-leader, increase revenue streams and fuel rapid, broad-based, and sustainable institutional growth.

Job Responsibilities Include

• Oversee strategic new initiatives that encompass a range of programmatic themes, and, through oversight of 92NY’s Strategic Planning Group, scaling and reinventing existing 92NY programs, helping them to plan strategically and innovatively; overseeing a team that focuses on programs, both in-person and globally via digital streams.
• Develop new revenue streams, including earned and contributed.
• Develop, lead, support and performance manage a productive team of skilled staff that works positively and collegially and is continually focused on the delivery of 92NY’s and the Center’s strategic goals and mission.
• Evaluate and react to the development and evolution of the digital and social good landscape, including changing trends, opportunities for growth, and challenges.
• Leverage social media and other technologies, as well as other innovative forms of content delivery to attract new audiences and build new communities seeking high-quality content across demographics and locations.
• Structure, negotiate and execute partnerships with media outlets, NFPs, NGOs, and for-profits which create content and drive increased visibility for 92NY, demonstrating 92NY’s commitment to social impact and good.  Build and maintain strong direct relationships with key partners.
• Coordinate closely with other staff institution-wide to further embed innovation throughout 92NY. Collaborate with cross-departmental teams to structure and execute successful initiatives, develop work plans, and conduct analysis and evaluation.
• In all cases, experimentation will be encouraged (meaning that not all initiatives will ultimately succeed); however, those initiatives that will be adjudged most successful will be initiatives that, in addition to raising the profile of 92NY and expanding 92NY’s audiences, have a meaningful impact on society, raise awareness of key issues, foster thoughtful and reasoned dialogue, and examine challenges and opportunities from multiple perspectives.

Experience, Education, & Skills Desired

• Bachelor’s degree, especially in Marketing, Communications or Arts Programming, with a Masters Degree, including a Masters in Public Administration and Public Policy or MBA a Plus.
• 10+ years of relevant experience leading major programmatic or community initiatives, with a premium put on prior entrepreneurial experience, conceptualizing and successfully launching innovative ground-up efforts, though exceptional candidates may be considered with less experience.
• Strong management skills, with the ability not only to conceptualize innovative ideas, but to turn those concepts into concrete programs and then to execute on those programs, measuring programmatic success against pre-determined and articulable metrics.
• Proven capability and success in proactively pursuing high-level collaborations across corporate, non-profit, governmental and media institutions.
• Proven capability and success in thinking strategically and executing tactically.
• Proven creative thinker and innovator.
• Superb communication and influencing skills, including strong writing skills.
• Strong editorial judgment and ability to shape internal and external messaging.
• Demonstrable ability to secure funding for programs and to cultivate new donors and support.
• Ability to represent the Center publicly to a wide range of stakeholders.
• Creativity, flexibility and a high-level of comfort leading internal and external teams.

Work Environment & Requirements

Application Instructions

Interested applicants should email a resume and a cover letter with salary requirements.

Due to the high volume of applications that we receive, we are only able to contact those applicants whose experience most aligns with the position profile.

Compensation Range

$190,000 - $210,000

 *This role may be bonus eligible.

The actual compensation offered will be based on a number of factors including, but not limited to the qualifications of the applicant, years of relevant experience, level of education attained, certifications or other professional licenses held, and if applicable, the location in which the applicant lives and/or from which they will be performing the job.