Managing Director, Community

Role

The Skoll Foundation is hiring a Managing Director, Community based in Washington, DC. This role is eligible for a hybrid work schedule, including Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday required onsite in the Washington, DC office.

The Skoll Foundation is a private grantmaking foundation that seeks to build a sustainable world of peace and prosperity for all by investing in, connecting, and championing social entrepreneurs and other social innovators. Together, we advance bold and equitable solutions to the world’s most pressing problems. 

The Managing Director, Community leads the vision, strategy, and execution for how the Foundation serves, connects, and activates its community of Awardees and grantees year-round.

This role owns the full arc of community engagement: from designing creative digital and in-person connection experiences to managing a portfolio of grants and programs that directly support Skoll partners. The Managing Director also leads the Community Convening at the Skoll World Forum in Oxford — shaping the content, agenda, and experience design for the Foundation’s annual gathering of its closest community members.

The Managing Director, Community is the Foundation’s internal expert on community building. They translate deep knowledge of what the Skoll Community needs into strategic direction for convenings, programming, grantmaking, and tools to support community connections and peer support year-round. 

Ideal Candidate

The ideal candidate brings relational depth, programmatic creativity, and the judgment to steward a global community of accomplished social entrepreneurs with care and ambition. They will be a natural community builder; someone who listens deeply, connects people with purpose, and designs programs and experiences that create genuine value. 

A strategic thinker with operational range, the Managing Director will bring demonstrated experience leading community engagement at scale, including convening design, digital engagement, cohort-based programming, and grants management. 

The Managing Director will bring strong people leadership skills, building and mentoring a small team while navigating ambiguity with steadiness. They will be intellectually curious about the evolving needs of social entrepreneurs and grantees, and entrepreneurial in designing new approaches to meet those needs. The Managing Director will bring deep knowledge of the social innovation ecosystem and a genuine passion for the Skoll Foundation’s mission to catalyze transformational social change.

ResponsibilitiesCommunity Strategy & Connection (35%)

• Lead the strategic vision for how the Skoll Foundation serves, connects, and activates the Community, setting direction for year-round programming, engagement, and support


• Design and implement creative approaches to connect community members to each other, both online and in person, fostering peer exchange, collective action, and meaningful relationships across geographies and sectors.


• Manage community communications, including Foundation updates, newsletters, and responses to Community inquiries 

Skoll World Forum (30%)

• Own the content, agenda, and experience design for the annual Community Convening at SWF; the Foundation’s signature gathering of Awardees during Forum week in Oxford.


• Working directly with community members, shape the Community Convening to reflect the community’s most pressing needs, interests, and aspirations, designing sessions, facilitated conversations, and engagement moments that create genuine value for participants.


• Collaborate with the Forum production team on logistics, scheduling, and execution to deliver a seamless experience.


• Lead Community invitation process and support ongoing registration needs.


• Provide community intelligence to inform broader Forum programming, including topics, speakers, and delegate referrals that reflect the Skoll Community’s perspective.

Grants, Programs & Community Investments (25%)

• Identify and develop new programmatic and funding approaches to meet Community needs — bringing creativity and entrepreneurial thinking to how the Foundation supports its closest stakeholders.


• Source and manage a portfolio of grants that directly support and/or extend the impact of the Skoll Community and its leaders.

Cross-Functional Leadership (10%)

• Represent the Skoll Community perspective across Foundation teams and in cross-functional planning — ensuring Community needs and insights shape investment strategy, convenings design, and organizational priorities.


• Develop and implement systems and data to measure the effectiveness of community engagement.


• Mentor and directly supervise Community team staff, using a supportive and collaborative approach. 

Required Education and Experience

While no one candidate will embody all of the qualifications below, the ideal candidate will possess many of the following professional and personal abilities, attributes, and experiences:

• A Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience and a minimum of ten (10) years of progressive experience in community building, network stewardship, program management, or a related function within philanthropy, social entrepreneurship, international development, or the social sector.


• Demonstrated success designing and leading community engagement strategies, including convening, digital engagement, cohort-based programming, peer learning, and community-driven content.


• Experience designing participant experiences that foster meaningful connection, both in-person convenings and digital/virtual formats.


• Excellent written and verbal communication skills; ability to communicate with empathy, clarity, and professionalism with a global audience of senior leaders.


• Strong people leadership skills: building, managing, and mentoring small teams; navigating ambiguity with steadiness.


• High proficiency with Salesforce, SharePoint, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and collaborative project management tools such as Asana or Microsoft Teams.


• Ability to travel internationally, including extended on-site time at the Skoll World Forum in Oxford, UK.


• Able to work onsite three days a week, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, in Washington, DC.

Preferred Education & Experience

• Experience managing grants portfolios or community investment programs.


• Deep knowledge of the social innovation and social entrepreneurship ecosystem, with an active network spanning entrepreneurs, funders, and ecosystem builders.

Cultural Alignment

• Enthusiastic and flexible collaborator with humility, a positive demeanor, and exceptional service orientation, ready to roll up sleeves and collaborate across the Foundation’s small team.


• A keen sense of integrity, professionalism, and commitment to creating a positive organizational culture.


• Comfortable working and managing in a fast-paced environment and adaptable to change.


• Interest in social innovation and alignment with the Skoll Foundation’s mission to catalyze transformational social change.

Benefits

The Skoll Foundation offers a comprehensive benefits package including a discretionary 10% employer sponsored retirement contribution, flexible time off, paid holidays, medical, dental, and vision coverage, and generous retirement plan offerings.

Salary Range

The full salary range for this role is $175,500 to $280,800 USD. New hires typically start between the range minimum and the midpoint, or $175,500 to $236,000 USD, based on job-related skills, experience, and expertise evaluated during the interview process.

The Skoll Foundation is an equal opportunity employer. We encourage applications from candidates of all backgrounds.