The Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation is seeking a Europe Associate to join our Hague office
The successful candidate will help identify mission-driven organizations for funding, evaluate potential grant and investment opportunities with our team, and advance the strategic priorities of both our organization and our portfolio in an effective, efficient, and equitable manner. As the Associate for the Europe portfolio, you will have the opportunity to help launch and support ventures that aim to create meaningful change.
Key responsibilities (Time allocations are intended to give a sense of the role; they will vary over time and by individual.)
- Find some of the world’s most incredible social entrepreneurs with big ambitions to make the world better (~25% of your time).
- Help us keep a wide-open lens with our open application process, reviewing online applications and identifying high-potential opportunities.
- Build your network and use ours to keep a pulse on where great leaders are entering the field of social change
- Use your insight, curiosity, and analytical skills to help us learn about social entrepreneurs and their ventures, and to help us determine their fit for our portfolio.
- Stay on top of social movements, social issues, and opportunities for high-impact change on a broad range of issues including education, criminal justice, climate change, economic opportunity, and health.
- Drive a world-class decision process with a world-class team (~50% of your time).
- Set goals with the team that make us better each year at finding, funding, and supporting a diverse and extraordinary group of entrepreneurs.
- Drive a diligence process that is rigorous, welcoming, fair, insightful, and inclusive. – Iterate on systems that keep us running smoothly as a team.
- Support our portfolio entrepreneurs to build strong enterprises (up to 25% of your time).
- Participate in check-ins with portfolio organizations.
- Work on special projects with current portfolio organizations, helping to support them as they build their organization and their impact.
- Use the DRK platform to build a social impact career (ongoing).
- Take the opportunity to lean into your strengths while adding value to DRK. There will be opportunities to take on projects and initiatives that build on your individual strengths and interests. We are committed to supporting your individual career path.
- Get exposed to an unparalleled range of organizations and issues, particularly around how to design and build organizations for impact at scale.
Ideal experience
The successful candidate will possess many of the following professional and personal abilities, attributes, and experiences:
- Passion and commitment
- Demonstrated passion for and commitment to Draper Richards Kaplan’s mission.
- Experience
- You have around 5-7 years of work experience in a rigorous strategic role. You may have a graduate degree with an MBA preferred or equivalent work experience in fields related to social impact, strategy, and/or impact investing. You understand what it takes to get a non-profit and/or a for-profit venture off the ground and have some familiarity with start-ups or fast-growing social mission organizations.
- Flexible and self-directed, with an ownership mindset
- Your flexibility, levelness, and sense of humor will help you get things done in our entrepreneurial environment and keep multiple balls in the air at the same time. You see your work through to completion and you know how to move others forward and drive alignment. You spot new opportunities to have an impact and you grab them.
- High EQ
- You are able to put entrepreneurs in our process at ease and bring out the nuances of their stories. While you are self-directed in your work, you love working with a team. You are energized by networking to constantly open your lens for new ideas and investment opportunities.
- Curious and smart
- Your open and creative intellect will enable you to spot potential. Your strong judgment and insight will enable you to evaluate opportunities and assess fit with DRK’s lens. Our team values well-informed opinions and respects good listeners. You do as well.
- Organized
- You have superb project management skills and exceptional attention to detail.
- A great communicator
- You can capture the heart of what an entrepreneur is doing and why it matters, and you can bring it to life for the rest of our team. You can represent DRK in a professional, engaging, and dynamic manner as you speak with many people in the field externally every week. Communication skills include the ability to fluently communicate and write in Dutch.
- Fun
- You enjoy learning, collaborating, and working smart and hard to effect change. You’re open to new projects and professional opportunities and get excited by the discovery process that comes with new venture diligence.
Relevant information:
- This full-time position will be based in The Hague, The Netherlands.
- This position follows a 2/3 model, requiring two days per week in the office (Monday and Wednesday), with the remaining three days being flexible for staff to work from home if they desire.
- The salary is competitive and commensurate with the seniority of the appointment.
We are a high-energy, super-curious, low-ego, and inclusive team motivated by a shared commitment to improving the lives of vulnerable or marginalized populations and leveraging our individual and collective skills to advance compelling organizations and committed leaders. With a deep appreciation for one another and the diversity of perspectives and expertise that each member of the team brings to DRK, we work in close partnership to find, fund, and support some of the world’s most high-impact, early-stage social ventures.
We are deeply committed to a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace where everyone is welcomed, valued, and supported. We know that a diverse workforce allows us to see problems in more nuanced ways, creating the thought leadership needed to find, fund, and support entrepreneurs and organizations who can change the world. We actively recruit, develop, and retain the most talented people from a diverse candidate pool. DRK is an equal-opportunity employer and encourages people from all experiences, abilities, and perspectives to apply.
Please find additional information about DRK Foundation and the European office here: Brochure DRK Foundation – Europe Associate.
To apply:
Informal inquiries and questions can be directed to Boris Evenhuis at boris.evenhuis@perrettlaver.com. Applications can be uploaded at https://candidates.perrettlaver.com/vacancies/, quoting reference number 7435. The closing date for applications is 09.00 CEST Monday 26th August 2024. Applications should consist of a cover letter addressing suitability against the person specification and a full curriculum vitae.