Associate Managing Director

Reports to: Managing Director

Job Family: Executive Leadership – Global Development & Specialized Asset Stewardship

Location: Hybrid / Global (international travel, including high‑risk regions)

Role Overview

The Associate Managing Director (AMD) – Knowledge Philanthropist is a senior executive leadership role responsible for integrating conservation stewardship, global development operations, research and innovation (RDI), and enterprise risk management within a mission‑driven, knowledge‑intensive organization.

The AMD operates at the intersection of land asset governance, international duty of care, and strategic knowledge mobilization, ensuring that organizational knowledge—whether internal expertise or externally contributed pro bono talent—is systematically captured, valued, and applied to advance mission outcomes while safeguarding legal compliance, ethical standards, and workforce well‑being.

This role carries both strategic and operational authority, with direct accountability for executive risk decisions, innovation performance, conservation compliance, and global staff safety.

Role Context: Executive Incubator Placement

This role is situated within the TalentDevOps Executive Incubator, a governed professional environment where real organizational operations function as both learning infrastructure and executive assessment context.

The Associate Managing Director role within the Incubator:

• Operates with real executive responsibility, not simulated authority
• Exercises scoped and governed decision rights, aligned to board‑approved structures
• Is subject to longitudinal observation and evaluation through Executive Learning Labs and Executive Forums
• Does not assume permanent employment, unrestricted authority, or guaranteed compensation unless separately authorized

Appointment reflects readiness to be evaluated as an executive under live conditions. Performance in this role contributes to evidence toward an Executive‑Ready: Governance Environment Proven designation but does not guarantee title continuation or advancement.

Core Responsibilities

1. Executive Leadership & Governance

• Serve as a key member of the executive leadership team, contributing to organizational strategy, governance integrity, and long‑term capacity building.
• Operationalize ethical standards, fiduciary responsibility, and governance discipline through consistent, principled decision‑making.
• Ensure compliance with applicable employment, nonprofit, conservation, and international operational laws and standards.

1. Knowledge Philanthropy & Innovation Leadership

• Act as the organization’s chief Knowledge Philanthropist, embedding a culture of external knowledge integration across departments.
• Hold senior leadership accountable for identifying, recruiting, and ethically engaging external experts, pro bono professionals, and community knowledge holders.
• Oversee knowledge management and innovation systems that support continuous learning across the innovation lifecycle.
• Ensure volunteer and donated professional contributions are valued using replacement‑cost methodology and integrated into impact reporting.

1. Conservation & Specialized Asset Stewardship

• Provide executive oversight of conservation easements, land trusts, and specialized environmental assets.
• Ensure compliance with Land Trust Standards and Practices, accreditation requirements, and stewardship best practices.
• Oversee geospatial data systems, monitoring protocols, and stewardship documentation.
• Lead high‑stakes landowner and partner relationship management, including risk assessment and dispute resolution.

1. Global Operations, Risk & Duty of Care

• Lead enterprise risk management (ERM) across domestic and international programs.
• Maintain direct executive responsibility for Duty of Care, including physical, psychological, and security safeguards for staff and volunteers.
• Oversee Travel Safety Plans (TSPs), crisis preparedness, evacuation protocols, and remote monitoring systems.
• Lead or support executive response during critical incidents or humanitarian crises.
• Ensure consistent safeguarding, vetting, and volunteer background screening processes.

1. Workforce Well‑Being & Psychological Safety

• Integrate pre‑deployment, deployment, and post‑deployment mental health supports into operational planning.
• Ensure access to psychosocial support, psychological first aid, and post‑incident therapeutic resources.
• Recognize workforce well‑being as a non‑delegable executive responsibility tied to governance and legal duty of care.

1. Strategic Planning, Budgeting & Performance

• Translate organizational strategy into annual work plans, budgets, and execution frameworks.
• Ensure rigorous evaluation of initiatives using advanced impact and risk methodologies.
• Support executive accountability and continuous organizational learning.

Impact Measurement & Accountability

The AMD is evaluated using a multi‑dimensional executive accountability framework, including:

• Social Return on Investment (SROI)
• Venture Portfolio Stewardship (VPS)
• Total Impact Quality (TIQ) indicators
• Knowledge Philanthropy metrics, including valued volunteer hours and external expertise integration rates

Transparency, stakeholder engagement, and verification are required.

Governance Commitment: Give-or-Get Policy

As part of Celestial Point Inc.’s governance expectations, individuals serving in this role are required to participate in the organization’s Give‑or‑Get Policy.

This role carries a $1,000 annual Give‑or‑Get commitment, which may be fulfilled through a combination of personal giving, fundraising activities, donor engagement, or other Board‑approved pathways.

The expectation is 100% participation, not uniform financial capacity. Multiple fulfillment pathways exist to ensure equity, access, and ethical alignment.

Participation in the Give‑or‑Get Policy is a condition of service in this executive leadership role and reflects shared responsibility for organizational sustainability and public trust.

Qualifications & Readiness Indicators (Incubator‑Aligned)Demonstrated Readiness (Required)

This role requires evidence of executive capability, not credentials alone. Readiness indicators include:

• Ability to reason at the system and governance level
• Capacity to make decisions under ambiguity and accept accountability for outcomes
• Comfort operating within defined authority boundaries
• Disciplined judgment under observation and review
• Willingness to receive corrective feedback and adjust behavior in real time
• History of ethical leadership, conflict navigation, and institutional responsibility

Education & Experience

• Advanced degree in public administration, environmental management, international development, law, organizational leadership, or related field—or equivalent professional experience.
• Senior leadership experience in nonprofit, conservation, humanitarian, or complex mission‑driven organizations.
• Demonstrated experience managing high‑risk, international, or regulated operations.
• Track record of crisis leadership, risk mitigation, and external stakeholder management.
• Experience integrating volunteers, pro bono professionals, or external expertise into strategy and operations.

Work Environment & Conditions

• International travel, including to high‑risk or crisis‑affected environments.
• Availability for emergency decision‑making outside standard business hours.
• High cognitive and emotional demands associated with executive accountability and duty of care.

Why This Role Matters

The Associate Managing Director – Knowledge Philanthropist is a guardian of people, knowledge, and mission. This role exists to ensure that innovation is responsibly stewarded, risk is ethically managed, and organizational learning translates into durable social, environmental, and institutional impact.