Vice President, Portfolio  

THE OPPORTUNITY

LEAP | Pecaut Centre for Social Impact (LEAP) is seeking a dynamic and inspiring leader to join our team as Vice President, Portfolio. In this newly defined role, and as part of the Senior Leadership Team, the Vice President will play a critical role in propelling LEAP’s current stage of exciting organizational change and growth.  

Do you have a deep understanding of the social sector, social entrepreneurs, and recognition of the need to do good, better? This unique position offers the opportunity to blend your enthusiasm for scaling organizations and social impact, your ability to move easily from strategy to specific projects, your analytical and technical consulting skills with your passion and experience to support the growth of LEAP while amplifying social impact.

Reporting directly to the Managing Director and working closely with the Board of Directors, the Vice President will be responsible for providing leadership and strategic direction to LEAP’s portfolio of social ventures, to a network of external partners, and to a dedicated internal team. In addition, this position will support the Managing Director and collaborate with other Senior Leadership Team members in the overall management of the organization’s performance. The VP Portfolio is accountable for implementing bold and compelling initiatives that support the mission, as well as contributing to the overall success of the organization.  This is an opportunity to work on the cutting edge of social entrepreneurship, social impact, philanthropy and public-private-social sector partnerships.

LEAP’s current portfolio consists of two initiatives, The Equity Opportunity (2022-2026) that seeks to build an equitable and resilient future for women in Canada, and Healthy Futures (2019-2024), that addresses chronic disease using innovative approaches to tackle smoking cessation, food insecurity and physical health. A third initiative is in the early define phase, which will further evolve LEAP’s portfolio.  In addition, LEAP will also be embarking on its own scaling strategy, with the development of the next five-year strategy (2025-2029).

ABOUT LEAP | PECAUT CENTRE FOR SOCIAL IMPACT

LEAP | Pecaut Centre for Social Impact envisions a society where everyone has the opportunity to reach their full potential. Since 2012, LEAP has built a unique model of venture philanthropy 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 30 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.

THE IDEAL CANDIDATE

A highly driven, experienced leader and manager with strategic, analytical, and technical (consulting) skills, the Vice President will be excited to contribute to advancing LEAP’s work to catalyze large scale social impact by selecting, supporting, and scaling breakthrough social ventures through the power of collaboration across a diverse group of stakeholders.  As part of the leadership team of a small, nimble, and growing organization, the Vice President will have a bias for action and focus on continuous improvement.

The Vice President will bring a sophisticated approach to building and leveraging networks and evidence-based solutions to systemic social problems, while inspiring existing and new partners across Canada to co-design (and fund) LEAP’s initiatives. The successful candidate will have a strong understanding of venture philanthropy, exceptional interpersonal skills and experience working with executives across sectors, while helping to develop and build strong teams across a high-performing, cohesive culture with strong engagement and alignment. Results oriented with the ability to juggle multiple work streams in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment, the person will be a natural relationship builder, comfortable collaborating across a network of partners and supporters. The Vice President is an empathetic leader who can execute thoughtful and ambitious growth strategies within a dynamic organization. They promote a results-based approach to ensure operational excellence across a diverse demographic including the organization’s team, stakeholders, donors, supporters, and the public. 

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Job Responsibility #1: PORTFOLIO STRATEGIC DIRECTION

Provide leadership and oversight in the development and execution of comprehensive and integrated strategies for LEAP’s portfolio function as below: 

  •  Establish the portfolio’s long term and annual goals and budgets with the Senior Leadership Team.

  • Support the early-stage and ongoing engagement of stakeholders relevant to LEAP’s initiatives, inclusive of Board members/committees, sector partners, and advisors.

  • Lead research and development related to new opportunities and launch new initiatives.

  • Lead the selection of social ventures together with internal and external teams.

  • Support the Managing Director in the creation of a strategy for all social ventures, inclusive of alumni.

Job Responsibility #2: PORTFOLIO IMPLEMENTATION & COMPLIANCE

Provide leadership and oversight of successful implementation of LEAP’s portfolio of initiatives as below:

  • Ensure high standards and a culture of continuous improvement across the portfolio in all areas of LEAP’s model, which include due diligence, capacity-building support, strategic advice, leadership coaching, monitoring and evaluation plans, and social impact measurement.

  • Day-to-day management of LEAP’s portfolio to ensure delivery of results in line with organizational and external stakeholder objectives and budgets.

  • Lead the standardization of LEAP’s model and toolkits to create efficiencies in implementation, and alignment with best practices.

  • Strengthen LEAP’s organizational and infrastructure capacity with respect to the evolving needs and reality of the portfolio.

  • Ensure maximization of social impact across the initiatives and portfolio through data collection, analysis, evaluation, and creation of an evidence base.

  • Ensure compliance with donor and external stakeholder commitment and expectations in relation to the portfolio and initiatives, inclusive of reporting.

Job Responsibility #3:  PEOPLE AND ORGANIZATIONAL LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT

Ensure organizational effectiveness leading to the external and internal success and sustainability of LEAP in alignment with its long-term strategic direction as below:

  • Foster the cultivation of a high-performing, cohesive work culture and environment aligned with LEAP’s mandate and values, with strong engagement, alignment, and accountability, inspiring and maintaining high morale.

  • Provide leadership to people operations in collaboration with other Senior Leadership Team members, including developing and implementing policies and procedures that reflect best practice and support the organization’s growth and advancement.

  • Lead, mentor, provide direction and support to the Portfolio Team (currently five but growing). 

  • Participate in annual and strategic planning to establish short- and long-term goals.

  • Support the Managing Director with organizational improvement through special projects such as process optimization, performance measurement, organizational diversity, equity and inclusion, and new strategic initiatives.

  • Support in managing communications and reporting to the Board through the organizational dashboard, balanced scorecard, and/or other methods.

  • Ensure staffing plans support the organization’s current realities and growth plans.

Job Responsibility #4: EXTERNAL PARTNERSHIPS AND PROFILE

Provide leadership and oversight in the development of the sector partner strategy as below:

  • Strengthen the process to measure sector partner engagement, involvement, and governance to ensure mutually beneficial partnerships.

  • Mobilize pro-bono support and secure commitments as required for the initiatives and portfolio.

  • Ensure LEAP is consistently presented with a strong and positive image to internal and external stakeholders to enhance overall organizational reputation and facilitate broadening LEAP’s reach.

Job Responsibility #5: REVENUE GENERATION

 Support the Managing Director, Board members and VP Philanthropy and Partnerships in LEAP’s overall revenue generation strategy as below:  

  • Ensure alignment of the portfolio to potential donors and funding opportunities.

  • Provide strategic input and relevant content to ensure revenue generation opportunities with government, foundations, and donors.

  • Represent LEAP to potential funding partners.

QUALIFICATIONS AND COMPETENCIES

  • 12+ years of relevant professional experience (e.g. management consultant, non-profit, philanthropy, venture capital) in a role with comparable levels of complexity and/or an advanced degree (e.g. MBA).

  • Passion and enthusiasm for the mission of LEAP and for creating equitable social impact.

  • Strategic and creative problem-solver with an entrepreneurial attitude who can create and execute an impactful plan, and equally savvy in a data driven approach to decision-making.

  • A visionary leader who believes in the power of people to effect social change. Demonstrated success in building and retaining a high-performing team and motivating teams to produce quality materials within tight time frames and simultaneously manage multiple projects.

  • Ability to analyze complex situations, break them down into manageable components, and identify the most impactful solutions.

  • High proficiency in strategic management and experience developing scaling strategies.

  • Oversight and integration of consulting, research, data collection and analysis, and stakeholder relationship management to accomplish overall outcomes.

  • Advanced experience in organizational and project management, planning, budgeting, risk management to meet strategic and operational deliverables.

  • Strong understanding of key non-profit financial metrics, as well as financial modelling.

  • Outstanding analytical and time-management skills and demonstrated track record in managing multiple and changing priorities.

  • Comfortable with the ambiguity of a growing and evolving organization, and a passion for building an organization, both strategically and with a “hands-on” attitude and approach.

  • Social acuity to cultivate and manage diverse relationships from sector partner boardrooms to front-line venture clients.

  • Experiencing providing leadership, supporting, and mobilizing senior volunteers/executives both as members of the Board of Directors and other networks of the organization.

  • Excellent communication skills including superior verbal, written and presentation skills. Verbal and written fluency in English and French is highly desirable.

  • Demonstrated proficiency using Microsoft 365, G-Suite, database tools, and ability to develop top-notch consulting decks.

Position: Permanent

Reports to: Managing Director and is a member of the Senior Leadership Team

Compensation: $160K-$185K + 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 candidates facing historical/current barriers to equity based on ancestry, race, ethnic origin, colour, First Nations status, disability, sex, gender, sexual orientation, being new to Canada, and others who may contribute to the further diversification of ideas.

We support an inclusive recruitment process and 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. 

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

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.