Managing Director at IDEO.org

Managing Director, Nairobi

We’re on a mission to design a better world. And we want your help.

We’re a tight-knit group of designers, strategists, builders, writers, and connectors fueled by curiosity, optimism, and a passion for social change. Our work tackling some of the world’s toughest design challenges takes us all over the world—from communities across the US, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa. IDEO.org has recently launched a studio in Nairobi and we’re looking for an entrepreneurial, creative leader to make the location a thriving success.

• Creative Leadership
  • Shape standards of excellence across all aspects of IDEO.org Nairobi’s work--design, talent, impact, and business; inspire all members of IDEO.org’s team to strive for these standards; and support and hold team members accountable in achieving them.
  • Fully represent IDEO.org (our brand, values, and vision) to relevant external stakeholders, including the East Africa design community, partners, funders, and donors.
  • Proactively shape the culture and community in the Nairobi studio by designing and overseeing team building events and experiences.
  • Demonstrate a commitment to break down and reach across organizational “boundaries”--studios, teams, and functions--in service of making IDEO.org a more cohesive, engaged, and connected team and a more efficient and effective organization.
  • Actively manage, mentor, and nurture the development and performance of designers in the Nairobi studio, including exemplar management of each employee’s career progression, and ensure that they are unleashed to do the best work of their lives.
  • Deepen relationships and connections between IDEO.org Nairobi and IDEO studios and teams around the world.
• Design Excellence
  • Balance dedicated time to project work with guiding relevant projects and leading initiatives across the studio.
  • Work with our cohort of growing design leaders and directors across studios to evolve our collective understanding of design excellence at IDEO.org.
  • Create and facilitate opportunities for members of the IDEO.org Nairobi team to showcase, discuss, and critique design work in service of upholding and advancing this standard of excellence.
  • Demonstrate a breadth of knowledge and judgment to shape design beyond a singular discipline.
  • Recognize and foster valuable new directions for craft and content expertise connected to your depth of experience and skillset; both enhancing our effectiveness and leading the industry.
• Social Sector ←→ Design Advocacy
• Create and share content and craft points of view that demonstrate the value of design to the social sector and the value of the social sector to designers.
• Lead and continuously build on a portfolio of design work in Nairobi that is recognized by others and provides clear value to IDEO.org.
• Participate in and seek out speaking opportunities at high value design and social sector conferences that advance IDEO.org’s brand, design’s value in the social sector, and the social sector’s brand in design.
• Business and Partnership Development
• Build and maintain a community of advisers to inform the development and strategy of the Nairobi studio.
• Leverage your existing network to integrate IDEO.org Nairobi into the fabric of the East African market and unlock resources and support for human-centered design.
• Identify the strategic and organizational issues facing IDEO.org’s partners and become a trusted advisor, extending beyond the scope of our work.
• Develop a short- and long-term business development plan that outlines revenue and partnership requirements to activate the location’s strategy and other organizational priorities as determined by the CEO and CFO
• Lead conversations with prospective partners about new challenges for IDEO.org to tackle with them and work with design teams to scope projects that position us for success in delivering impact, design excellence, and exceptional growth and development experiences for our team
• Win (the right) work to sufficiently cover annual revenue, utilization, and portfolio goals developed in partnership with the CFO and CEO
• Cultivate and sustain a wide portfolio of relevant cross-sector relationships (e.g., foundations, companies, government, philanthropists, nonprofits) that over time can bring critical resources and opportunities to your location and IDEO.org more generally

Location Leadership

• Partner with the CEO, Executive Leadership Team, and Board of Directors to craft and execute IDEO.org’s strategy, priorities, and goals.
• Ensure financial and operational success of Nairobi, including budgeting, grants management and reporting, and adhering to key organizational systems.
• Engage as a member of the Executive Leadership Team, shaping and demonstrating ownership for organization-wide decisions and communicating decisions to the Nairobi studio.
• Invest in building an equitable and inclusive Nairobi studio by helping recruit and onboard people from diverse backgrounds, and lead by example in illuminating and minimizing unconscious biases across the studio.
• Lead an experience team to make the IDEO.org studio a thriving, creative, energetic place to work, mobilizing other local leadership support.