Co-Director

Co-Director for Ashoka Poland

Location: Warsaw, Poland
Application deadline: March 29, 2014

Ashoka is looking for people who are convinced that the future of Poland and CEE region depends upon cultivating a spirit of initiative taking, entrepreneurship, problem solving and innovation across all generations and sectors of our societies.

Challenges:

• You will lead the transformation of Poland into a country that invests in its social innovators and entrepreneurs and where more and more citizens see themselves as changemakers;
• You will be engaged in our search and selection of leading social entrepreneurs across Poland;
• You will create and lead partnerships with business to support our fellows to grow their innovations;
• You will spread the stories of leading social entrepreneurs worldwide to showcase how entrepreneurship and social innovation are the most effective forces behind lasting change;
• You will develop creative solutions to engage key networks and stakeholders from all sectors to turn Poland and the region into a vibrant hub for social innovation and entrepreneurship.
• At Ashoka we work in teams of entrepreneurial minds towards our common goals. You will join our integrated European Team and you will co-create strategic direction for the country and for the region together with a strong international team.

About Ashoka:

In 1980, Ashoka pioneered the concept of social entrepreneurship and has since identified and invested in nearly 3,000 social entrepreneurs in 70 countries across the world. Ashoka in Poland has been operating since 1995 and to date has identified and elected 73 Ashoka Fellows, who are the founders and CEOs of the leading social organizations in the country. Ashoka has been offering to its Fellows financial support (stipends), long-term capacity building programs with business partners to help them to scale and increase social impact of their work. In the past years Ashoka has expanded its activities towards building new and influencing the existing social business alliances towards creating an environment where everyone can be part of lasting social change.

Examples of Ashoka’s initiatives include:

• corporate partnerships supporting companies to define their future, that are capitalizing on the experience and knowledge of Ashoka social entrepreneurs in the fields such as health, employment, IT for social change and more;
• long-term partnership with venture capital and business professionals who share their management expertise, competence and financial support with Ashoka Fellows and their management boards;
• educational programs enabling social organizations to define their business models and diversify sources of funding;
• marketing and communication activities to promote social innovation and entrepreneurship as key drivers for positive change;
• long-term engagement strategies with diverse business partners co-creating both social and economic value for Ashoka Fellows, Ashoka and society.

Join a team of entrepreneurial change leaders:

Ashoka provides an inspiring international platform for entrepreneurial people to develop and hone skills, expand thinking, and implement brilliant ideas while creating new ones. Working on highly complex, long-term projects, Ashoka offers opportunities to solve large scale social problems, and to work with leading innovators in all areas of social concern. Read more about whom we are looking for: https://www.ashoka.org/getinvolved/team

Staff selection:

Ashoka has a unique and rigorous screening process for hiring staff at all career stages. We are interested in people that reflect our culture and values and we also appreciate competences and skills developed throughout candidate’s life.

We are looking for an entrepreneurial individual:

• who has started and led activities their whole life (e.g., founding an organization or company, starting a movement, or re-shaping the work of an existing organization) and with broad professional experience;
• who has experience in working in international teams and will accept a good amount of local and international traveling;
• who is driven by the mission of Ashoka and passionately interested in the historical change it seeks;
• who puts team goals ahead of personal ambition and has the highest ethical fiber, professional standards and empathy;
• who focuses on the big picture, yet is not afraid to get his/her hands “dirty” with day-to-day operations;
• very good knowledge and understanding of Polish and English, knowledge of any other European languages will be an asset.

To apply, please send us:

• your CV and a LETTER in English addressing your fit with Ashoka’s staff selection criteria outlined above and your experience in launching entrepreneurial ventures, commitment, and ethical fiber;
• please also include a paragraph on why you think you will be able to creatively approach the challenges outlined above and how you would like to contribute to the work of Ashoka more generally.

Please send materials via email to [email protected] by March 29, 2014. Email topic: Co-Director Poland. Only complete applications will be considered.

For more information, please visit www.ashoka.org