Habitat for Humanity International seeks an Associate Director, Entrepreneurship and Innovation to lead the global efforts of the Terwilliger Center for Innovation in Shelter to raise the profile of affordable housing in the entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystems. The Associate Director, Entrepreneurship and Innovation will be responsible for establishing and managing a global network of relationships with accelerators, entrepreneurs, investors, business mentors and academic institutions.
This role will engage directly with two key Terwilliger Center initiatives: ShelterTech Accelerator and Shelter Venture Fund. ShelterTech Accelerator is a global initiative to identify, nurture and accelerate start-ups and early stage companies that are developing shelter solutions for low-income households. Shelter Venture Fund is a venture capital fund that invests globally in early stage, shelter-related companies that offer products or services to low-income households.
The Associate Director, Entrepreneurship and Innovation will report to Habitat for Humanity’s Director, Market Systems and Entrepreneurship, and will work across the Terwilliger Center’s multiple practice areas and geographical regions. The location of this position is flexible.
- Serve as the primary representative of the Terwilliger Center to the entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystem, with the aim of influencing greater focus on affordable housing
- Collaborate with the Terwilliger Center’s regional teams in Africa, Asia and Latin America to identify, develop and manage partnerships to run ShelterTech Accelerators
- Establish and maintain relationships with other accelerators to influence them to adopt shelter as a thematic focus
- Identify investors and business mentors that can support start-ups and early stage enterprises as they grow to venture-backed companies; monitor the effectiveness and inputs the investors and mentors provide to shelter-related companies
- Build and maintain a pipeline of early stage companies focused on housing, construction and shelter-related technologies for potential investment by Shelter Venture Fund and other investors
- Execute the due diligence and assessment of entrepreneurs for the Shelter Venture Fund and develop proposals for the investment committee
- Identify potential donors and coordinate grant proposals to fund the Terwilliger Center’s entrepreneurship- and innovation-related programs
- Participate in negotiations on behalf of Shelter Venture Fund on financing instruments and agreements. Support the Legal and Finance departments to ensure proper execution of funding.
- Nurture and mentor entrepreneurs emerging from ShelterTech Accelerators and those funded through the Shelter Venture Fund to ensure scale
- Liaise with relevant academic institutions conducting research into areas related to shelter technologies, business acceleration, and impact investing
- Prepare and deliver data-driven reviews of the progress and challenges of affordable housing technologies and business models
- Years of Related Experience: Minimum 5 years professional experience with start-ups, accelerators or venture capital in emerging markets
- Detailed knowledge of the accelerator ecosystem, with an established network of relationships
- Able to identify potential partners and cultivate and manage relationships
- Exceptional consultative and communication skills, with a proven ability to work with globally dispersed teams
- Strong project management skills with a demonstrated track record of leading initiatives from concept to completion
- Ability to travel globally up to 50% of the time
- Fluency in written and spoken English
Preferred
- Experience founding or leading a start-up in an emerging market context.
- Knowledge of affordable housing sector or construction technologies
- Strong financial modeling skills
- Master’s degree (M.B.A. or M.S.)
- Knowledge of Spanish, Hindi or Swahili