Managing Director

Job description

ReGenerate is an exciting charity with a big ambition to make purpose-driven business the new normal. Together with a senior network of business and government leaders we identify how businesses can profitably solve the big social and environmental issues of our age, and work with those leaders to drive business action and educate the government on how to support this purpose-driven business approach.

The team, board and wider network are all deeply passionate about our mission because we believe it is necessary. Social and environmental challenges are mounting: there are six million people so far in the depths of poverty that they would need to double their income to narrowly escape it, and we are currently unlikely to limit global warming to 1.5°C. But the government and charities cannot tackle them alone: national debt levels are at their highest since the 1960s, and charity turnover makes up just 1% of business turnover. Together, we are committed to unlocking the power of business to profitably do good.

The role is a rare opportunity for an exceptional candidate to help ReGenerate at a vital stage in our development, and ensure we grow strongly and achieve our ambitious mission.

The successful candidate will run the “engine room” of ReGenerate, including our insight and research work, our network of senior government and business Ambassadors and operations. Success in the role will require a passion for our mission, an ability to problem solve, excellence at managing senior stakeholders, funders and teams, good strategic and operational capability, and a high alignment with the principles we set out below.

You will work alongside a talented and passionate team, and an engaged senior network of business and government leaders who are all excited about this mission and will be ready at hand to support you.

We are passionate about employing people based on character, talent and potential alone. We’ve even done projects on it. We welcome applications from under-represented groups, so if you think that may be a barrier to working with us, be it a disability, a need for flexibility, a criminal record or anything else, we would ask you to please apply.

Why we are hiring

ReGenerate was set up four years ago and has had some remarkable success, ranging from helping reshape the (then) Prime Minister’s Business Council approach and membership through to mobilising employers who recruit over 100,000 people a year to innovate in hiring ex-offenders and care leavers.

Through experimentation in our first two years, we developed a clear strategy and approach to achieving our mission. This clarity and effective execution has led to growing opportunities to work with leading politicians, civil servants and leaders of strategically important businesses to unlock the power of business to profitably do good.

We are hiring a Managing Director because the organisation needs to grow at the same time in order to take advantage of these remarkable opportunities.

What the role will entail

Working closely with the Chief Executive and wider leadership team, you will be responsible for ReGenerate’s (a) Insight Function, (b) Good Business Ambassadors Network, and (c) Operations. We briefly explain each of these below.

a: Insight Function

ReGenerate specialises in identifying how businesses can do more to solve big social and environmental challenges in a way that is aligned with their economic engine and profitability. Our Insight Function is where we work with senior leaders to help identify if and how businesses could profitably solve these challenges. This typically involves a mixture of qualitative and quantitative research and interviewing innovative leaders. The output is often concise papers or decks explaining the problem, how businesses could help to profitably solve it and what the government could do to support.

We are working on topics such as tackling poverty and marginalisation through providing good jobs (The Good Jobs Project), and improving children’s early childhood development. A key focus for the successful candidate to begin with will be on how businesses can help with early childhood development.

In addition, this function will also help to strengthen the general case for purpose-driven business, and support our government and business functions with research insights. As you build the Insight team, you will collaborate closely with our government and business functions to ensure that research outputs are aligned with strategic priorities. Initially, the team will consist of 1-2 other members, with plans to grow as the function matures.

b: The Good Business Ambassadors

ReGenerate is proud to host the Good Business Ambassadors Network. It is a community of around 70 senior decision-makers from across business, entrepreneurship, investment and government who are passionate about the power of business to profitably do good.

The successful candidate will oversee the running of this group, working with an events planner, expert convenor and with other directors working with government and business stakeholders to help curate the group and the problems it tries to solve. The successful candidate will help integrate Ambassadors into ReGenerate projects and oversee the running of up to two high-quality gatherings of Ambassadors each year.

c: Operations

ReGenerate is growing, and we need someone with significant strategic and operational ability to help ensure the different parts of the organisation work well together to achieve our mission. This includes for example, ensuring that there is a clear process for determining which projects we take on, and how they progress through to government education and business action. The successful candidate will also need to ensure that we have systems and processes in place that are right-sized to enable the team to flourish in going after our mission. This will range from ensuring effective stakeholder and funder management to human resource practices.

Who we are looking for

Who you are

We work with people based on the six principles below. They are important to us as we believe they are fundamental in our efforts to achieve our mission.

• Mission focused. We are focused on the success of our mission, instead of that of any person, organisation or movement.
• Independent. We are independent of any political party, business or movement but will work with all to further our mission.
• Humility. We are not attached to fixed solutions, but rather to constantly learning and improving. We recognise that any understanding or learning we gain is open to challenge and have the humility to recognise the inherently iterative nature of our work.
• Ambition. We are ambitious and hopeful that our work will help unlock the full power of business for the benefit of people and the planet. While we are currently UK based, we hope that our work will inspire and support change around the world.
• Openness. We are committed to openness, sharing learning wherever and whenever possible while respecting the need for discretion at times.
• Collaboration. We believe collaboration, not competition, is a unifying principle of successful ecosystems.

Your skills and experience

This is our wish list. If you do not meet all of the criteria, but think you could thrive in this role we would still like to hear from you. We value diverse perspectives and skills, including those gained outside of traditional career paths. If in doubt, please email us at the address below.

• Leadership experience. You are a servant leader in the way you inspire people to engage, help identify ideas that can help further the mission and collaborate to create change.
• Problem solving and research ability. You will be excellent at problem solving how businesses can profitably solve social and environmental challenges. You will understand what makes businesses tick, and be excellent at identifying what will benefit them as well as solve the issue. You will be comfortable working with qualitative and quantitative information, and be excellent at turning it into insights that enable senior leaders to act. You will be adept at turning your hand to multiple challenges and quickly understanding what would help move the dial.
• Strategic and operational management experience. You will be experienced at helping small organisations function effectively, aligning operational delivery to strategic intent in a way that helps the team to flourish. This will range from effective business planning through to implementing and/or overseeing everything from stakeholder management software to new policies.
• Stakeholder management. You will be excellent at working well with senior leaders from business, the government, charities and philanthropy. This will range from running advisory groups to managing existing funders to aid continued support, and working with the CEO to identify new potential partners.
• A clear communicator. You are a clear and persuasive written and verbal communicator. This includes presentations to senior leaders through to communicating through slide decks and research reports.

Practical details

• Start date: ASAP
• Hours: Full-time
• Location: Hybrid (2-3 days per week in our office in Central London)
• Duration: Permanent
• Salary: £65k to £100k depending on experience
• Holiday: 28 days plus bank holidays

Interested?

• Email your CV and one-page cover letter to [email removed - click apply for more details].
• The deadline for applications is 5pm on Monday 27th September 2024.
• We are passionate about employing people based on character, talent and potential alone. We’ve even done projects on it. We welcome applications from under-represented groups, so if you think that may be a barrier to working with us, be it a disability, a need for flexibility, a criminal record or anything else, we would ask you to please apply. We are excited to meet candidates from all backgrounds, and we are committed to ensuring an equitable recruitment process. If you require any accommodations during the application or interview process, please let us know.