The Center for Sustainable Finance and Private Wealth North America (CSP North America) is a non-profit, with tax-exempt status under section 501(c)(3) of the IRS. CSP North America is strategically focused on transforming social, environmental, and economic systems by enabling holders of wealth to use all their forms of capital for positive impact.
CSP North America was founded in February of 2022 to expand the work of CSP at The University of Zurich. CSP’s global vision is that scientifically robust evidence enables the entire portfolio of every wealth holder to fully advance sustainable development. CSP North America’s mission is to enable ultra-high net worth (UHNW) entrepreneurs with the community and knowledge they need to co-create regenerative systemic change.
Now that CSP North America is fully operational, the organization will focus on scaling its existing programs and growing its portfolio of programs and research in the North American region. In 2023 and 2024, the team will build the foundation for the entity to reach a working model for systems change investing, leveraging the collective power of self-made UHNWI’s.
CSP North America developed out of CSP at The University of Zurich, an academic research and teaching institution that has a distinctive edge in bringing together wealth holders, investment professionals, scientists, and policymakers to generate knowledge and mobilize substantial amounts of financial capital toward impact.
CSP at The University of Zurich was born out of the Impact Investing for the Next Generation program for wealth holders that was launched in 2015 at the Initiative for Responsible Investment at Harvard Kennedy School. The program is now in its 8th iteration, with 200 alumni globally and a module at MIT Sloan. Our “Next Gen Program” is at the core of our wealth holder training programs, and is complemented by the ACCELERATE program for self-made wealth holders. ACCELERATE is CSP North America’s strategic focus, together with an emphasis on utilizing polycapital – meaning financial and non-financial capital, systems change, regenerative approaches, and personal development, to transform our economic and financial system.
The CSP platform is deeply integrated within the global private wealth community, including via close partnerships with key impact investor networks such as Toniic and The ImPact, and the key groups at leading universities ranging from Harvard University to MIT Sloan and The University of Zurich.
The work of CSP addresses three barriers in steering capital to impact, including:
- Knowledge
- Capabilities
- Support networks
These barriers are addressed through:
- Scientific and applied research into the key questions of how finance can further sustainable development, as well as the aggregation of such research globally
- Training programs for ultra-high net worth individuals (UHNWIs) and wealth managers that translate insights into practice
- Engagement with key networks, banks and regulators that amplifies the work of CSP and its partners
In sum, due to its positioning, CSP has a distinctive edge in bringing together wealth holders, investment professionals, scientists, and policy makers in a protected environment. CSP generates and disseminates knowledge very effectively to trigger meaningful action, and to mobilise substantial amounts of capital toward impact.
The effectiveness of this unique model has been proven in hundreds of workshops and programs with ultra high net worth individuals globally, as well as advisors, moving substantial amounts of capital, as well as entire organisations. CSP generated over $ 10 million in operating revenues and grants for its work from actors ranging from private individuals and family offices, to foundations, to governments and firms.
As the Managing Director of a fast-growing entity that has a unique and highly-valuable position in an industry experiencing rapid transformation, you will play an integral role in shaping the development of the global finance ecosystem geared towards systems change.
You will have the opportunity to build an interdisciplinary team, facilitate regional and international collaboration across different sectors, exercise thought-leadership to influence stakeholders at the highest level and steer significant capital towards impact.
This is one of the most progressive, innovative, and impactful roles on the market. The MD of CSP North America will be leveraging the successful work that the team built up since 2015. This includes building on CSP’s global presence together with the CSP Zurich and CSP Singapore entities in a highly specific and exciting place in the ecosystem, at the nexus of science and the private wealth community.
Tasks
Management
- Strategic planning, coordination and implementation of training, outreach, and research programs of CSP North America, in collaboration with the CSP Zurich and CSP Singapore teams, as well as the attached Impact Foundation in Switzerland
- Development and ownership of workstreams, including partnerships, community management, business development, fundraising, and strategy implementation
- Grow, develop, and manage the Board of Directors and Advisory Board to ensure strategic focus and adherence to CSP’s Theory of Change (ToC) and values
- Recruitment, management and training of an interdisciplinary team, creating the conditions for a supportive and high-quality work environment
- Effectively manage the organization’s finances to ensure budgets across programs are in line with spending expectations and schedules
- Oversee preparation of financial reports and ensure programmatic compliance with all local laws, regulations, and legal requirements governing services provided
- Represent CSP locally and globally
Resource and Business Development
- Exercise financial prudence in stewarding the budget
- Develop and implement fundraising plans with customized strategies to cultivate and engage donors and grantmakers
- Ensure accountability to donors and grantmakers by overseeing the monitoring and reporting on program progress
- Cultivate relationships with partners and clients (eg. corporates and ultra-high-net-worth individuals), and ensure delivery of quality experiences for fee-paying services
Stakeholder Engagement
- Establish and maintain contacts with the financial industry, lead interdisciplinary collaboration with various stakeholders such as academic institutions, policy makers, non-profits, and foundations nationally and globally
- Actively serve as a spokesperson representing CSP North America to its constituency as well as to potential donors and supporters
- Cultivate relationships with leading media partners to position CSP as a thought leader in sustainable finance and private wealth and to advocate for best practices in this space
- Organize and implement regional and international outreach activities at the highest levels of research, policy, and practice
Requirements
- Experience: Minimum of eight years of experience in the relevant fields of sustainable finance and/or private wealth; Minimum of three years of experience launching and expanding programs and managing people, preferably in a nonprofit or social enterprise
- Technical skills: Strong technical skills with Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), Google Suite, Slack, and Asana.oliciting donations and pursuing relationships with funders.
- Autonomy: Entrepreneurial drive and go-getter personality with proven capability to develop and implement growth strategies as well as drive business development
- Strong management and administrative skills: The MD will need to be well-organized and able to prioritize and manage effectively given ambitious goals, evolving plans and uncertain resources. The MD should have applicable experience in developing and managing annual budgets in excess of $500K, and be comfortable playing various managerial roles as needed in the expansion phases of a growing program.
- Effective communication: The MD will represent CSP in many different settings with a variety of stakeholders – he or she must be able to listen well and hone in on what is important, as well as to succinctly and compellingly present the work and mission of CSP in diverse settings. The MD should be a clear writer and a confident public speaker.
- Deep cultural competencies: The MD must be a culturally competent leader, eager to learn, open to diversity, willing to thoroughly listen, and capable of working closely with people from different backgrounds.
- Confidentiality: The MD will be working with highly-sensitive personal data as it relates to the CSP community and should bring a level of trustworthiness in handling confidential data.
- Technical skills: Strong technical skills with Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), and Google Suite, Slack, and Asana.
- Education: Minimum Bachelor’s Degree required, with a preference for an advanced degree in a related field such as Business, Sustainability, Economics, Finance, or International Development
Benefits
- Be part of a very results-oriented, entrepreneurial, pragmatic, science-based, and fast-moving global team that is highly qualified and deeply intrinsically driven for the advancement of sustainable development
- Be deeply embedded in our unique global community of impact-minded academics (e.g., Harvard, MIT), practitioners (e.g. UBS, Credit Suisse), and investors (e.g. ultra-high-net-worth individuals and their family offices). Be part of an important movement and have a tangible impact on sustainable development
- $500 monthly stipend in the form of an IC HRA for employee healthcare
- Generous employer-matched 401k pension contributions
- 25 annual paid vacation days, 12 annual paid personal leave days, 11 paid holidays
- Generous parental leave policy
- $2,000 annual stipend for work-related personal development
- For the state of California only, the range of starting salary for this role is $110’000-200’000. Actual compensation is influenced by a variety of factors including but not limited to skills, experience, qualifications, and geographic location, and including a substantial variable performance-linked portion.
To apply, please submit, through our job portal, JOIN: (1) an example of your work (article, business plan, pitch deck, etc.), (2) your cover letter where you outline why you are interested in this role, where you see your fit, (3) your resume. Applications will be accepted until January 31, 2023. Applications without a cover letter will not be considered.
Location
This is a full-time (preferred) position, optionally remote or hybrid. The current staff is based near Monterey, CA. Regular office hours may include some early mornings and weekends due to the nature of training programs, community activities, and other CSP entities in Europe and Asia.
Regular travel to partner and client offices as well as to meetings, functions and events to represent CSP. Occasional international travel may be required.