Senior Director, Innovation Challenge

ABOUT US

Aspen Institute

The Aspen Institute is a global nonprofit organization committed to realizing a free, just, and equitable society. Since its founding in 1949, the Institute has been driving change through dialogue, leadership, and action to help solve the most critical challenges facing communities in the United States and around the world. Headquartered in Washington, DC, the Institute has a campus in Aspen, Colorado, and an international network of partners.

Commitment to Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

To achieve our mission of a more free, just, and equitable society, we commit to working proactively to advance the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion across our myriad endeavors such as the recruitment, compensation, training, and advancement of staff. The best people-serving institutions make this commitment, and we seek to be a leader in the ways that we do so and learn from others. Visit our website to learn more about our commitment and recent actions taken toward building and nurturing a diverse and inclusive environment.

Innovations Challenge: Reimagining the Workplace for Women

The Innovation Challenge: Reimagining the Workplace for Women is a new initiative of the Aspen Institute that will advance innovative, high impact, actionable solutions that lower barriers for women in the workplace, and help women thrive to the benefit of themselves, their families, the economy, and the community at large. The program will run over 3 years and consist of a grant competition, advisory and other competition judging groups, as well as significant engagement with workplace thought leaders, decision-makers, media, policy makers, and others in the space.

ABOUT THIS ROLE

The Senior Director of the Innovation Challenge will oversee the initiative of the same working title, a new stream of work of the Aspen Institute. The Senior Director will work closely with Aspen colleagues and our partner to launch, manage and run the program; engage with relevant organizations and thought leaders from civil society, academia, and the public and private sector; and develop high quality programming and impact metrics. With extensive leadership experience, operational excellence, and passion for the issues, the Senior Director will be an energetic and natural leader and enjoy working with diverse teams and stakeholders.

The Senior Director will report to the Leadership team of Aspen Digital (www.aspendigital.org) that is overseeing the initiative on behalf of the Aspen Institute. The Senior Director will directly manage a team of at least three to begin with, while drawing on other team members and resources of the Aspen Institute (e.g. for event support). The salary range for this role is $190,000 - $215,000.This is a hybrid, Washington, DC-based position and selected candidates are expected to work in person at the Washington, DC office approximately two days per week. This is a full time role for a three-year-term.

WHAT YOU WILL DO

• Be responsible for day to day management and implementation of a fast-paced, very ambitious project with distinct stages (competition, convenings, thought leadership, external engagement), and a team of direct reports, issue area experts, and contractors

• Oversee multiple workstreams, ensuring the team hits all milestones and deadlines, and can swiftly course correct and adapt to changing conditions if needed

• Help source vendors with significant budgets, and serve as day their day manager and point of contact, and ensure all milestones are met at the highest quality

• Help identify members of external advisory group, serve as day to day point of contact, and help facilitate group through various stages of programming and decision making.

• Be the point person for day to day questions and needs of funding partner, as well as for Aspen leadership, and ensure steady and comprehensive updates and comprehensive flow of communications on all sides.

• Develop, design, and implement programming in collaboration with various teams of the Institute, including planning and successful delivery of strategic convenings of different sizes that engage external stakeholders and high caliber partners

• Solicit input from a broad range of stakeholders, and capture, polish, and facilitate sharing of insights and learnings from programming towards shaping and publishing of thought leadership pieces

• Develop impact indicators for competition winners, track progress and iterate and adapt over the duration of the initiative

• Ensure spending within budget, and collaborate close