Executive Director

Summary

We are seeking an entrepreneurial leader to drive membership growth and strategic direction of the Joint Impact Model (JIM) Foundation. You’ll lead a lean, globally distributed team to establish JIM as the preferred toolkit for economic, impact and climate risk management for investors and funders.

As Executive Director, you’ll focus on four core areas: growing and retaining our membership base, developing go-to-market strategy, setting organizational direction in partnership with the Supervisory Board, and building a high-performance team. You’ll work in close partnership with the Technical Director, who owns model development and technical excellence.

This role is a fractional engagement (60-80% time) for an initial period of 12 months. The scope and structure of the engagement may evolve as the organisation grows. While we cannot guarantee specific outcomes or timelines, we are exploring hybrid models that could create meaningful upside for entrepreneurial leaders who help us scale.

The Joint Impact Model Foundation

The Joint Impact Model Foundation is a non-profit organization that provides credible oversight for the development of the Joint Impact Model (JIM). The JIM enables its members (primarily financial institutions – including development finance and commercial finance actors) to estimate the impact of their investments by tracing financial flows through the economy. This analysis captures the resulting economic (value added), social (employment), and environmental (greenhouse gas emissions) impacts.

Launched by FMO and other international finance institutions in 2021, the foundation works towards harmonisation of key indicators to build accountability and steer financing in the US$140tn finance sector.

To further develop and grow the organization, JIM is now recruiting for an Executive Director.

Key Responsibilities

The ED role encompasses the following areas. Specific priorities and scope will be defined collaboratively based on organizational needs.

Strategic Leadership and Operations

• In partnership with the Supervisory Board, set organizational strategy and provide leadership vision.
• Develop annual business plans and budgets and maintain accountability for financial performance.
• Monitor developments in the impact and climate data sector to guide JIM’s competitive positioning.
• Oversee day-to-day operations to ensure delivery against strategic goals.

Membership Growth & Retention

• Build, grow, and retain a vibrant membership base of financial institutions, ensuring high satisfaction, strong retention, and measurable improvements in their impact management capabilities.
• Develop and execute go-to-market strategies targeting DFIs, impact investors, commercial banks, and other key segments.
• Lead member engagement, ensuring responsive support and continuous feedback loops that drive product improvement.

Fundraising & External Representation

• Serve as primary external spokesperson at industry events, stakeholder gatherings, and member forums.
• Lead fundraising efforts with DFIs, donors, and standard-setting bodies to diversify revenue and ensure JIM’s global alignment and interoperability.

Team Leadership & Culture

• Build a mission-driven, transparent culture suited to a lean, globally distributed team.
• Provide coaching and mentorship to staff, particularly commercial and membership teams.
• Ensure the technical team (led by the Technical Director) has adequate resources and is strategically aligned with business objectives.

Product Strategy & Prioritisation

• In collaboration with the Technical Director, set product roadmap priorities that balance member needs, commercial opportunities, and technical feasibility
• Ensure alignment between technical and business objectives.

Requirements:
Essential

• 10+ years of professional experience, with 3+ years of experience in leadership roles.
• Proven success in membership-driven, subscription-based, or platform business models (SaaS, data products, impact measurement tools, or similar)
• Experience engaging with development finance institutions, impact investors, or organizations focused on emerging and developing economies. This may include roles as a client, partner, member, employee, or consultant.
• Demonstrated P&L accountability, budget oversight, and financial reporting to boards.
• Proven go-to-market success: sales, business development, and/or institutional fundraising in B2B contexts.
• Strong stakeholder and membership management skills, with ability to build partnerships across commercial, impact, and technical communities.
• Experience building and leading cross-functional teams, particularly in distributed or remote settings.
• Comfortable understanding and discussing technical concepts (e.g. economic modeling, data architecture, software development) – conceptual fluency essential, hands-on technical execution not required.
• Entrepreneurial mindset with comfort navigating ambiguity in lean, fast-paced environments.
• Fluent in English; additional languages advantageous.
• Willingness to travel approximately six times per year.

Desirable

• Knowledge of ESG, sustainability, and/or climate data products.
• Expertise in impact measurement, GHG accounting, and sustainability reporting datasets and/or frameworks such as GTAP, PCAF or others.
• Previous leadership roles in early-stage organizations, startups, or non-profits.
• Experience leading organizational transitions or scaling early-stage organizations.
• Background in economic modeling, IT/software architecture or open-source collaboration.
• Proven ability to manage remote, distributed, or hybrid teams.

Benefits:
• Fractional engagement (60-80% FTE) for an initial period of 12 months with fixed annual compensation of €115,000. This is equivalent to approximately €143,000-€192,000 on a full-time basis. The scope and structure of the engagement may evolve as the organisation grows.

• While we cannot guarantee specific outcomes or timelines, we are exploring hybrid models that could create meaningful upside for entrepreneurial leaders who help us scale.
• A chance to lead and shape a pioneering organization in the field of impact measurement and sustainable finance.
• A dynamic, international team, passionate about impact and innovation, supported by an engaged membership network of leading financial institutions.
• Opportunities to build innovative business ventures on the backbone of the Stichting nonprofit business model.
• Opportunities for international travel, professional development, and engagement with global partners.
• A hybrid or remote working model (with preference for CET+/-2hrs).