Director, Impact Acceleration

Choosing a career with ECMC Group means joining a nonprofit corporation with a mission to help students succeed. With a vibrant mission and values, great benefits, and strong community involvement, ECMC Group companies are an ideal team to join.

Job Summary

The Director, Impact Acceleration is a key leader within ECMC Group’s Education Impact Fund (“EIF”), a $250M evergreen venture capital fund that aims to generate outsized impact in postsecondary education and workforce development alongside risk-adjusted financial returns. In collaboration with other members of the EIF team, this role will lead the fund’s Impact Acceleration Platform, providing pro-active, strategic support to EIF portfolio companies, working side by side with them on projects and strategies to enhance impact outcomes and financial returns. In addition, the Director will oversee EIF impact reporting, including impact evaluation and due diligence on prospective investments, analytics and reporting for existing portfolio companies, and working with internal and external stakeholders to develop compelling, data-driven narratives around our investments’ impact on ECMC Group’s mission of improving postsecondary access and outcomes for underserved learners. This role is suited for a passionate and entrepreneurial individual looking to leverage their skills in strategy, consulting, product development, and project leadership within a mission-driven context. The EIF team is a small, high-energy group where all individuals can take on significant responsibility as they grow within the organization.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Lead the ongoing development and implementation of the fund’s impact acceleration strategy and impact evaluation, measurement, and reporting approaches

Lead development of Impact Acceleration Playbook and approach to be used for impact focused value creation with portfolio companies

Oversee impact evaluation and diligence on prospective investments, including working collaboratively with startups and EIF teams to identify core metrics of impact, evaluate efficacy, and articulate alignment with the EIF impact thesis

Oversee impact measurement, reporting, and analytics for EIF portfolio; including creation and revision of data collection tools and processes, generation of our annual report, and execution of external impact communications strategy (e.g. authoring external reports, case studies, blog posts, participating at conferences and events, etc.)

Serve as a strategic, value-add advisor and consultant for EIF portfolio companies to help accelerate their growth and impact, including strategic and operational refinement/improvements and designing and developing their impact measurement and reporting capabilities

Identify, scope, and lead execution of impact acceleration projects, including generating stakeholder alignment and buy-in, leadership of internal resources

Serve as a player-coach on day-to-day project execution, ensuring successful delivery of presentations, analyses, strategic insights, deliverables, etc. Successfully balance multiple ongoing company relationships, project scopes, and driving projects towards timely completion.

Partner with ECMC Group leaders and business partners to activate internal opportunities for impactful collaboration with EIF portfolio companies

Build and maintain industry relevant network to support EIF deal sourcing and with to understand and help develop industry best-practices for impact measurement and reporting

Oversee and lead execution of identified initiatives across EIF advisory networks, community development, thought leadership, portfolio learning and community

Support EIF investment team processes, including deal sourcing and deal execution where appropriate; drives strong results from direct reports by providing appropriate work direction, strategic guidance, and performance management

Drives strong results from direct reports by providing appropriate work direction, strategic guidance, and performance management

Perform other duties and responsibilities as assigned

Required Qualifications

Bachelor's Degree in Education, Economics, Finance, Statistics, or related field and 8+ years work experience or Master’s degree and 7+ years work experience. Work experience must be in strategy, consulting, or in a leadership role at a startup.

Demonstrated experience in project leadership in a client-facing, consultative role. Experience delivering efficient project management and value-add insights to clients

Demonstrated use of analytical abilities, problem-solving skills, hypothesis driven thinking, and advanced quantitative skills (e.g. financial, statistics, and data science concepts)

Experience developing and/or working within an established evaluation framework to articulate meaningful outcomes toward intended goals

Demonstrated ability to craft and deliver compelling analyses, recommendations, and presentations that lead to decision-maker buy-in

Demonstrated ability to build and maintain strong relationships with colleagues, entrepreneurs, investors, and other stakeholders

Demonstrated ability to work independently, challenge the status quo, think creatively to deliver high quality, thoughtful, and accurate work in a timely manner

Demonstrated ability to effectively organize, plan, control and prioritize work/projects; regularly synthesizing and communicating progress to appropriate stakeholders.

Mastery of Microsoft Office tools, including the ability to perform advanced analytics in Excel and create compelling presentations in PowerPoint.

Preferred Qualifications

3+ years of work experience in education or workforce development related field

Demonstrated interest in social impact or impact investing

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed above are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

ECMC Group is committed to ensuring our diverse, inclusive and equitable culture is built on a strong sense of belonging, where everyone feels seen, heard and encouraged to show up as their authentic self.

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