Ashoka - Associate Director - Tech Ecosystem

Position at Ashoka

Ashoka - Associate Director- Tech Ecosystem India (Bangalore)
Senior Change Manager and Employee Entrepreneur (Entrepreneurship Category)

About Ashoka and ASPIRe

Ashoka is the largest network of leading social entrepreneurs with systems changing solutions for the world’s most urgent social problems. Since 1981, Ashoka has elected and supported over 4,000 social entrepreneurs (Ashoka Fellows) in 90 countries. Through their work, these social entrepreneurs also enable millions of changemakers and contribute to Ashoka’s vision: building an everyone a changemaker world. Ashoka engages these Ashoka Fellows' insights and resources to create networks of changemaking institutions that form a powerful change ecosystem. Network members support each other, collaborate, and collectively achieve much more than the sum of their parts.

ASPIRe is a global initiative from Ashoka and Societal Platform supported by Rohini and Nandan Nilekani to support Social Entrepreneurs (SE) in exploring innovative ways to make systemic impact using platform thinking supported by technology. ASPIRe is a knowledge hub and an accelerator supporting leading social entrepreneurs in identifying pathways for impact at scale. We work with Ashoka Fellows and their teams and assemble a high powered eco system of support that includes tech experts, strategy, and financial experts. We also highlight their work to the global funding community to garner support for their pioneering work.

The citizen sector is significantly behind the private sector in leveraging the power of technology for impact. In ASPIRe we are galvanizing leading tech talent to work with Ashoka fellows and develop innovative approaches that can truly serve the good of all. ASPIRe is particularly focused on supporting social entrepreneurs in developing and leveraging free and open software, as well as driving in the social sector a culture of sharing and repurposing tech infrastructure.

About the Role:

As the Associate Director - Tech Ecosystem you will lead the creation of a thriving ecosystem of tech companies and leaders, willing to use their skills for social good, to work with our participating ASPIRe fellows, seeking technological assistance, to bolster their initiatives to reach higher level of impact. The role entails curating the space and process where tech talent and social entrepreneurs can effectively work together.  In order to learn, monitor and adjust the processes, you will be responsible for accompanying 10-15 participating organizations through their collaborations with their tech partners and contribute to the ASPIRe’s vision.

Key Responsibilities

Lead Tech Ecosystem Building Efforts (30%)

• Lead the creation of the ASPIRe Tech Partners network: generate a vibrant community, presenting opportunities to engage and inform about the progress of the initiatives and the program progress to maintain interest and momentum.

• Support the partnership building efforts (proposal writing, managing partners, etc)

• Connect ecosystem partnerships and resources for the design, development and deployment of the program.

• Create the system to enable the steady recruitment, tracking and engagement of tech volunteers and supporters to the program.

• Identify and pursue strategic opportunities in the intersection of technology and impact

Drive the fellow engagement with the tech partners (50%)

• Support fellows in developing a meaningful collaboration with their technology partner

• Ensure that effective level of understanding is reached between the tech team and the fellow

• Keep track of the progress, develop learnings and ensure cross pollination from the processes of different fellows

• Bridging the gap between fellow’s vision & technology partners to think thought & handhold the process in creating a roadmap of the product/ platform for the fellows.

• Driving partnerships and integrations with technology partners that can enhance fellow’s work

• Ensure deliverables, timeline, etc are met by the stakeholders

Facilitate learning and evolution (20%)

• Derive learnings from the program and share them with the participants and the team
• Work with the Accelerator Design Director to ensure the learnings and inform the design of the program
• Communicate the learnings form ASPIRe with the larger eco-system to support the development of the field

About the Candidate: Required Skills & Experience

Is excited about the potential of technology to create positive change in the world. An experienced leader with 10+ years of experience in Technology, Product and Project management and have successfully rolled out and led multiple initiatives. Has expertise in tech product development and is interested in playing an orchestrator role, vs being a direct implementor.

The candidate should have high degrees of professionalism, intelligence, diligence and strong collegiality   to be able to work with multiple diverse stakeholders, simultaneously. The candidate should thrive working with complexity and many unknowns in a constantly evolving initiative and be prepared to take charge and lead some parts of the work independently, while contributing to other aspects and areas of the program.

Diversity is a core value at Ashoka and in ASPIRe. We are passionate about building and sustaining an inclusive and equitable working and learning environment for all Ashoka staff. We believe every member of our team enriches our diversity by exposing us to a broad range of ways to understand and engage with the world, identify challenges, and to discover, design, and deliver solutions.

Hiring Process

Ashoka has a rigorous screening process for hiring staff at all career stages. All applicants for all positions must possess the following qualities along with the appropriate degree of experience:

Entrepreneurship/Intrapreneurship: Compelled to take creative initiative and ownership (e.g. founding an organization or company, starting a movement, or re-shaping the work of an existing organization). Demonstrates relentless and realistic how-to-thinking and passion for seeing their ideas come to life.

Understanding and Belief in Everyone a Changemaker: Understands and believes the Everyone a Changemaker vision at a gut level. To be able to innately ‘get’ this, candidates should have a broad and inquisitive intellectual and a thinking pattern that connects the dots between historical trends and current social context.

Emotional and Social Intelligence: Ability to work efficiently and respectfully in teams, putting organizational/team goal first (personal glory second).

Ethical Fiber: Exceptionally strong ethical behavior. Is self-reflective and has strong empathy skills. Trustworthy.

Self-Definition: The person expects that changing the world in big ways and on a continental scale is what he/she will do in life.

Design & Technology enthusiast: The person should have flair for using Design Thinking, Human Centered Design and turning ideas into digital products platform. Preferred with deep understanding of digital platforms, network effects, information architecture infrastructure and software architecture.

This is a full-time position based in Bangalore.