Senior Associate, Strategy and Build – GDI Americas

Summary

The Global Development Incubator (GDI) is an incubator for transformational development ventures that builds and scales social impact solutions across sectors. The Senior Associate will research, shape, and develop new initiatives into ventures while managing strategy, stakeholder relationships, workplans, budgets, implementation, communications, and donor engagement.

Responsibilities

• Proactively identify the need for and execute complex impact, financial, market, and policy analyses
• Lead research, quantitative and qualitative analysis, stakeholder mapping, and market landscaping, owning the responsibility for their accuracy and reliability
• Converting analyses into actionable key takeaways that can be clearly communicated to internal teams and external stakeholders
• Support Directors in sourcing, evaluating, and shaping opportunities and concepts for incubation
• Make recommendations on the fit of an initiative to GDI’s objectives and services, and support early “blueprint” development for new initiatives
• Design and facilitate stakeholder convenings, workshops, and working sessions, and represent GDI in external meetings
• Support Directors and our partners to develop strategies for systems change
• Develop materials that convey the strategy to align stakeholders and mobilize resources for implementation
• Support the development and delivery of structured external-facing communications, especially reports and presentations
• Lead interviews with senior professionals, experts, community members, and other stakeholders
• Own the translation of strategy blueprints into actionable plans: build and manage workplans and budgets, and drive delivery
• Support founding teams to deliver key components of “Design” and “Build” plans, ranging from early program design and piloting to developing organizational infrastructure
• Manage day-to-day relationships with founding teams, consultants, and partners; help early-stage initiatives stand up their operating rhythms
• Coordinate consultants and/or service providers, including assisting supervisors in preparation, processing, and administration of consultant and technical services contracts/agreements
• Track risks, issues, stakeholders, and potential funders
• Coordinate support from other GDI teams
• Travel as needed to support implementation
• Draft concept notes and fundraising materials, and support Directors in managing funder relationships
• Review and analyze financial expenditure reports against budgets and donor agreements
• Collect, organize, and prepare program and financial information for donor progress and internal grant management reports, as well as routine queries
• Regularly brief leadership on progress, risks, and issues
• Contribute to the refinement of incubation methodologies based on your hands-on experiences
• Support broader knowledge management and dissemination

Skills

• 3+ years of professional experience, including running projects or initiatives end to end: managing workplans, budgets, stakeholders, and delivery
• Demonstrated facilitation skill: you can design and run a dynamic working session with people who don't agree, read the room, and leave with a decision. Emotional intelligence, cultural responsiveness and sound political instincts
• Comfortable operating across funders, governments, nonprofits, and private companies, and able to represent GDI credibly in senior external settings
• Sound judgement in using AI tools for real work: Comfort using AI tools for research, analysis, drafting, workflow, while importantly knowing when it is reliable and when it isn't, and adapt as capabilities change
• Strong analytical judgment: able to structure a problem, direct and quality-check analysis (whether your own, a colleague's, or a model's) and surface what leadership actually needs to know
• Exceptional verbal and written communication skills; self-directed and resourceful, with high standards for quality output. A curious and creative intellect, and a style that includes flexibility, levelness, and a sense of humor and humility
• GDI is only able to consider candidates based in and authorized to work in the United States without visa sponsorship
• Grounding in US political economy, democracy, institutions, economic inclusion, and the wealth gap is a plus, not a screen, as GDI deepens its domestic work

Qualifications

Must Haves

• 3+ years of professional experience, including running projects or initiatives end to end: managing workplans, budgets, stakeholders, and delivery
• Demonstrated facilitation skill: you can design and run a dynamic working session with people who don't agree, read the room, and leave with a decision. Emotional intelligence, cultural responsiveness and sound political instincts
• Comfortable operating across funders, governments, nonprofits, and private companies, and able to represent GDI credibly in senior external settings
• Sound judgement in using AI tools for real work: Comfort using AI tools for research, analysis, drafting, workflow, while importantly knowing when it is reliable and when it isn't, and adapt as capabilities change
• Strong analytical judgment: able to structure a problem, direct and quality-check analysis (whether your own, a colleague's, or a model's) and surface what leadership actually needs to know
• Exceptional verbal and written communication skills; self-directed and resourceful, with high standards for quality output. A curious and creative intellect, and a style that includes flexibility, levelness, and a sense of humor and humility
• GDI is only able to consider candidates based in and authorized to work in the United States without visa sponsorship

Nice to Haves

• Grounding in US political economy, democracy, institutions, economic inclusion, and the wealth gap is a plus, not a screen, as GDI deepens its domestic work

Benefits

• Employer contributions to health, dental, and vision insurance plans for employees and dependents
• 401(k) matching contributions