Head, Leadership Lab

POSITION SUMMARY

LEAP | Pecaut Centre for Social Impact (LEAP) has launched a new Leadership Lab that will address sector-wide challenges facing leaders of social ventures (i.e. social purpose organizations) while also meeting the specific needs of LEAP’s portfolio. An innovative, comprehensive approach to leadership support, alongside LEAP’s areas of expertise in scale and sustainability, the Leadership Lab will provide personal and professional investments in social venture leaders. This unique role will leverage relationships with corporate and private sector partners, introduce innovative approaches to personalized coaching and professional development programs, and unlock existing and new networks to curate distinct service offerings that build on current and future-oriented leadership capabilities in the social sector. 

The Head, Leadership Lab will report directly to the VP Portfolio located in Toronto, Canada. The role is responsible for the strategy, design, development delivery and measurement of the core components of the Leadership Lab. The role will lead relationships with professional development and coaching organizations, curate in-kind and pro-bono service offerings to develop and facilitate leadership and professional development programs to cohorts of leaders. The Head will assess the impact of cohorts and workshops as part of a continuous improvement cycle, measuring impact and value delivered to leaders that improves the performance of LEAP’s portfolio and elevates the impact of the sector overall. The Head will inspire a dedicated network of leadership coaches and other stakeholders and curate a resource repository for leaders across the non-profit and charitable sector, while supporting LEAP’s broader strategy and mission. 

This role comes at an exciting time. LEAP has launched its new, ambitious Strategic Plan (2025-2029) and the Head, Leadership Lab will have the opportunity to contribute to, shape and advance our collective goals over the next five years. 

Key results for the position will include cohorts of leaders completing leadership and professional development offerings and applying knowledge to the growth and impact of their social ventures. This will accelerate and sustain scale and impact targets within cohorts as well as ensure action-oriented planning relative to impact in the broader social sector. 

THE IDEAL CANDIDATE

The ideal candidate brings an entrepreneurial mindset and a results focus, with strong interpersonal skills, and a deep understanding of both the charitable and corporate sectors. They are a strategic communicator and skilled network builder, capable of translating high-level strategy into tailored leadership and professional development offerings. They will foster collaboration, curate action-oriented engagement opportunities and integrate learning for continuous improvement aligned to the needs of social purpose leaders for improved organizational capacity and progress towards scaling targets of increased reach and sustained impact. 

ABOUT LEAP PECAUT CENTRE FOR SOCIAL IMPACT

LEAP envisions a society where everyone has the opportunity to reach their full potential. Since 2012, LEAP has built a unique model that unleashes the potential of collaboration and engages the unique expertise and resources of corporate, private, government and community partners toward collective impact related to some of Canada’s most urgent and complex social issues. 

LEAP transforms health, education, and employment by investing in measurable impact, identifying game-changing social ventures with exceptional leaders, and supporting them to scale and be sustainable. LEAP’s model is based on a depth and breadth of resources and collaborative partnerships that include: (1) consultant-style strategic and technical support between LEAP and the social ventures; (2) contextualization and application of LEAP’s unique proprietary resources, approaches, and tools; and (3) our sector partner pro bono engagement. 

To date, LEAP’s portfolio has consisted of 31 social ventures and has impacted the lives of over six million people across Canada. We achieve collective impact by working with our sector partners, all leaders in their respective industries: Boston Consulting Group, Ernst & Young LLP, McCarthy Tétrault LLP, Marts & Lundy, Hill+Knowlton Strategies Canada, and Google.org. To date we have mobilized pro bono services valued at over $20 million from these partners. 

RESPONSIBILITIES

Job Responsibility #1: DEVELOP AND IMPLEMENT LEADERSHIP LAB “INVESTMENT” PLAN 

  • Research trends related to leadership challenges and opportunities, such as coaching and professional development best practices across not-for-profit and private sector entities in Canadian and international contexts. 

  • Coordinate LEAP’s network of pro-bono and corporate partners as well as executive coaching champions. 

  • Facilitate cohorts of leaders based on their identified needs and LEAP’s focus on social venture scale and sustainability. 

  • Collaborate with social venture leaders to develop customized leadership workshops and development plans, e.g., service offerings related to well-being and resilience, change management and transformation, public speaking and executive communication. 

Time: 20% 

Job Responsibility #2: LEAD AND MANAGE LEADERSHIP LAB PARTNERSHIPS 

  • Build, nurture and maintain a network of partners and stakeholders that work in leadership and professional development across the GTA and Canada. 

  • Identify, engage, develop and negotiate public/private sector support for leadership training, coaching, mentoring and other services. 

  • Identify new partnerships and pro-bono/in-kind resources related to Leadership Lab priorities to ensure compelling and comprehensive support to an active leader network. 

  • Collaborate with LEAP’s Portfolio and Fundraising teams as required to secure financial and in-kind support to develop and deliver leadership programs. 

Time: 40% 

Job Responsibility #3: CONTRIBUTE TO LEAP’S KNOWLEDGE BASE AND THOUGHT LEADERSHIP 

  • Monitor and track the impact of leadership and coaching programs as part of a continuous improvement cycle alongside the Portfolio Team. 

  • Use lessons learned from Leadership Lab documentation to advance successful leadership and coaching workshops. 

  • Identify key insights and contribute to LEAP’s thought leadership across the social sector. 

Time: 15% 

Job Responsibility #4: DEVELOP AND OVERSEE LEADERSHIP REPOSITORY 

  • Build a knowledge base and repository with up-to-date, high-quality and curated assets for leaders to access to amplify the reach and impact of the Leadership Lab. 

  • Participate and facilitate sessions as part of LEAP’s annual meetings and workshops with insights from the Leadership Lab cohorts. 

  • Contribute to the development of action plans from roundtables and dialogues for leaders and multi-sectoral stakeholders. 

Time: 10% 

Job Responsibility #5: STAFF MANAGEMENT 

  • Lead, mentor, and provide support to direct reports aligned to LEAP’s values and culture. 

  • Orient, train, and coach direct reports (and other staff) as required. 

  • Complete all performance management activities for direct reports including performance planning, monitoring, and regular performance appraisals. 

  • Direct reports (to be hired): Manager, Leadership Lab and Coordinator, Leadership Lab. 

Time: 15% 

QUALIFICATIONS AND KEY COMPETENCIES

Experience/Education 

  • 10-12 years of relevant professional experience in the social impact sector and/or private sector. 

  • Significant experience in relationship and network building with a diversity of stakeholders. 

  • Experience in leadership development and coaching, with an emphasis on identifying, curating, and managing corporate partnerships to develop and align services to leadership and professional development needs. 

  • Experience in consulting, fast-growing entrepreneurial organizations or social ventures is an asset. 

  • Undergraduate degree in Business Administration / Public Policy and Administration / Organizational Design / Organizational Psychology / Non-profit leadership / Communications and Marketing. 

  • A master’s degree is highly desirable. 

Knowledge & Technical Skills

Technical Knowledge 

  • Network building and facilitation capabilities including stakeholder mapping and analysis, designing and leading multi-stakeholder events. 

  • Ability to foster and sustain a culture of ongoing learning and development through relevant organizational development initiatives. 

  • Advanced knowledge of the leadership training and coaching landscape, leading and emerging global trends, research and best practices. 

  • Strong knowledge of leadership development and coaching in a social impact context. 

  • Understanding and appreciation of the nuances and challenges of leaders in the non-profit and charitable sector. 

Technical Skills & Abilities 

  • Advanced leadership program design, development and facilitation skills. 

  • Outstanding analytical skills with a demonstrated ability to leverage insights to draw conclusions about the effectiveness of training programs and make/recommend informed decisions accordingly. 

  • Robust project management skills. 

  • Verbal and written fluency in English and French is highly desirable. 

Competencies/Personal Qualities

  • Demonstrated passion to generate large-scale social impact, motivated by LEAP’s model. 

  • A builder with an entrepreneurial mindset to shape and advance new thinking, service offerings and support for leaders. 

  • High proficiency in strategic management and experience using leadership development as part of an overall scaling and organizational growth strategy. 

  • Ability to cultivate broad networks, engage with top-tier pro-bono professional service providers, thought leaders and industry innovators. 

  • Social acuity to manage complex relationships from sector partners to social venture leaders. 

  • Superior communication skills, including verbal, written and presentation. 

  • Success in managing and retaining a high-performing team and motivating teams to produce quality materials within tight time frames. 

  • Ability to promote collaboration across the team and through effective leadership and communication. 

  • Self-motivated and proactive, able to work with a high degree of autonomy. 

  • Demonstrated cultural competence working across many different populations. 

Position: Permanent 

Reports to: Vice President, Portfolio 

Salary Range: $110K to $125K + Benefits 

Location: LEAP follows a hybrid working model, with the workspace at BCG’s office in downtown Toronto, Ontario. 

LEAP | Pecaut Centre for Social Impact is strongly committed to building a diverse and inclusive team and especially welcomes applications from racialized persons, persons of colour, women, Indigenous Peoples, persons with disabilities, LGBTQ2S+ persons, new Canadians, and others who may contribute to the further diversification of ideas. 

Final candidates will be vetted in accordance with our policies, including appropriate reference and background checks. 

We are committed to providing an accessible workplace. For individuals with disabilities, accommodation is available upon request. Should you require accommodation at any stage of the selection process, please let us know. We will work with you to meet your needs. 

Candidates should be legally eligible to work in Canada. We will not provide any relocation support. 

To apply, please send your cover letter and resume to hr@leap-pecautcentre.ca. Applications will be reviewed as they are received and until the position is filled. 

We thank all candidates who apply for their interest, but only candidates selected for an interview will be contacted.