Managing Director - Economic & Social Inclusion, Strategy & Build

Company Description

Reports to: GDI Americas CEO

GDI is an incubator for transformational development ventures, working to build and scale the next generation of social impact solutions. From climate to agriculture, health to economic inclusion, we build across sectors to drive game-changing impact at scale. Whether the concepts originate from sector experts, or are developed and tested ourselves, we create new approaches to address persistent global issues. 

Over 12–36 months, we deploy our functional teams to help early-stage initiatives design their business strategy and model, develop their brand identity, hire and retain talent, and construct their financial and operational infrastructure. 

Since our founding in 2013, GDI has built a significant track record in our field, having now shaped over 70 social impact ventures.

Job Description

Global Development Incubator is seeking a senior hire to lead the development of a portfolio of innovative social impact initiatives in the United States (and potentially other OECD countries) aimed at advancing economic and social inclusion, particularly in contexts where structural inequities prevent marginalized communities from realizing their full potential. We believe that this is a time for bold experimentation to promote inclusive economic systems, strengthen social cohesion, and empower communities to create meaningful change. We recognize that there are many ways to address these challenges, and we welcome candidates with diverse perspectives on the most promising avenues for impact. Some may take a broad view, while others may focus on a specific driver—such as equitable access to capital, workforce development, social protection, financial inclusion, community-led solutions, or models for building shared prosperity. We encourage applicants to bring their own vision and expertise to this work, shaping the portfolio in ways that reflect both their insights and our shared commitment to fostering inclusive economies and societies.

A successful candidate will:

• Develop and refine a strategic vision for this portfolio while also creating space for new ideas, approaches, and frameworks that can drive inclusive economic and social systems in transformative ways.

• Engage with a broad range of stakeholders (community leaders, policymakers, private sector actors, philanthropists, and social entrepreneurs) to co-create and incubate initiatives that are responsive to complex challenges and rooted in local contexts.

• Identify and pursue opportunities that address the underlying drivers of exclusion, while shaping initiatives that have the potential for large-scale impact.

The successful candidate may take on a set of existing opportunities to further design and launch, while also exploring and shaping new opportunities that they believe could create significant and lasting change.

What is a Strategy & Build Managing Director? This role is a unique opportunity to shape and lead a portfolio of initiatives. GDI’s S&B Managing Directors collaborate with social sector leaders, experts, and entrepreneurs to address some of the world’s toughest problems, helping to turn big ideas into effective, value-adding organizations. These organizations may be multi-stakeholder initiatives (like Global Opportunity Youth Network and Resilient Water Accelerator), financing facilities (like Emergent and Aceli), and global public goods (like the Global Digital Health Monitor). 

Sometimes S&B Managing Directors hatch initiatives in-house. In other cases, entrepreneurs or donors come to us with a big idea that needs an incubation partner. In either case, you will act as a strategist, advisor, integrator, implementer, and often board member. You will work closely with a cohort of Strategy & Build managers and associates; you’ll also collaborate with GDI’s four other functional teams: finance and operations; brand, marketing, and communications; resource mobilization; and talent. While each Managing Director has significant autonomy to lead her/his own portfolio, we also collectively form a global community of practice of social entrepreneurs and system-strategists.

What does our current economic and social inclusion portfolio look like? The new Managing Director will have the opportunity to pursue existing opportunities and/or shape other opportunities that could create large-scale impact. For context, GDI has incubated several initiatives aimed at advancing economic and social inclusion. These include:

• Labor Mobility Partnerships (LaMP) works to generate trillions of income gains for people born in low-income countries by expanding access to work visas in high-income countries.

• The Dignity Restoration Project is building the operating infrastructur