Head, Innovation, Impact Measurement and Strategy

This job is with Standard Chartered Bank, an inclusive employer and a member of myGwork – the largest global platform for the LGBTQ+ business community.

Job Summary

Support the development and execution of the Foundation's strategy, innovation agenda and impact approach so that its capital, partnerships and programmes deliver stronger, more sustainable employability and entrepreneurship outcomes for under-served young people.

• Lead the Foundation's thinking on how to deploy and integrate fit-for-purpose financial instruments across the impact spectrum - from grants and catalytic grants to outcomes-based funding, guarantees, repayable finance, blended finance and impact investments.
• Provide intellectual and practical leadership on systems-level impact measurement, developing approaches that show how the Foundation contributes to changes in markets, institutions, behaviours, capital flows and ecosystem coordination, while maintaining rigorous accountability for direct outcomes.
• Work closely with the Programmes team to translate this thinking into portfolio strategy and programme design, embedding innovation and systems measurement within existing and new initiatives rather than operating them as separate workstreams.
• Develop coherent portfolio, investment and measurement frameworks that direct the right form of capital to the right constraint, strengthen evidence and learning, and maintain the Foundation's charitable purpose and focus on impact.
• Work across Foundation, Group and market teams, and with external partners, to establish the foundation as a recognised thought leader in corporate philanthropy and systems-level impact measurement.

Key Responsibilities

Strategy Development and Execution

• Support the translation of the Foundation's strategy into clear priorities, roadmaps, operating choices, resource requirements and measures of success.
• Work in close partnership with the Programmes team to shape portfolio allocation across the impact spectrum, using evidence to determine where grants remain essential and where outcomes-based, repayable, blended or investment capital could improve employability and entrepreneurship outcomes.
• Coordinate strategy reviews, portfolio analysis and planning cycles, ensuring decisions are informed by programme experience, evidence, market context, stakeholder insight and the Foundation's risk appetite.
• Track strategic delivery, identify dependencies and emerging risks, and work with accountable owners to resolve barriers and maintain momentum.

Innovation, Financial Instruments and Portfolio Development

• Lead the Foundation's thinking and practice on a continuum-of-capital approach, defining how grants, catalytic grants, technical assistance, outcomes-based funding, guarantees, repayable finance, blended finance and impact investments can be combined to address different barriers to employability and entrepreneurship.
• Jointly develop with the Programmes team a pipeline of financing innovations within the portfolio, moving from market assessment and structuring through piloting, implementation, evaluation and decisions to scale, adapt or stop.
• Work with relevant Foundation and Group specialists and external experts on financial structuring, risk, legal, tax, due diligence and impact considerations, while safeguarding the Foundation's independence and ensuring that financing remains mission-led and appropriate to context.
• Build the financial literacy and investment-readiness of the Programmes team, market colleagues and delivery partners so that they can assess, design and manage different instruments responsibly and effectively.

Systems-Level Impact, Evidence and Learning

• Lead the Foundation's intellectual and practical development of systems-level impact measurement and management, establishing a clear point of view on how a corporate foundation should understand, assess and communicate its contribution to systems change.
• Design and embed a multi-level measurement framework that connects participant and programme outcomes with portfolio, organisational, ecosystem and market-level change, while maintaining clear accountability for resources and direct results.
• Work with the Programmes team and partners to define shared outcomes, hypotheses, indicators, learning questions and evidence plans for ecosystem initiatives and innovative financing models, allowing appropriate adaptation to market context.
• Build systems measurement into programme and portfolio design from the outset, ensuring evidence is used to test assumptions, assess interaction between interventions, identify emerging system shifts and support decisions to scale, adapt or stop.
• Commission and oversee strategic research, evaluations and learning partnerships that advance the Foundation's approach and contribute credible evidence to the wider philanthropy and development sectors.
• Build the capability of Foundation colleagues, market teams and partners to apply systems thinking and systems-level measurement in a practical, proportionate and decision-useful way.
• Translate complex systems evidence into clear insights and narratives for Trustees, leadership, partners and external audiences, communicating both progress and uncertainty with integrity.

Strategic Partnerships, Influence and Thought Leadership

• Work with other colleagues in the Foundation to build senior relationships with foundations, funders, development finance institutions, impact investors, outcome funders, research organisations, evaluation specialists, intermediaries and other relevant partners.
• Shape collaborations that combine complementary expertise, influence and financial instruments, mobilising co-funding and follow-on capital for the Foundation's employability and entrepreneurship priorities.
• Develop and lead an external thought-leadership agenda on systems-level impact measurement, sharing practical frameworks, evidence, case studies and learning from the Foundation's portfolio.
• Position the Foundation as a credible convenor of funders, practitioners, evaluators, investors and other leaders seeking to improve how systems change is measured and managed.
• Build partnerships with leading research, evaluation and practice organisations to test new approaches, contribute to sector standards and ensure the Foundation remains connected to emerging practice.

Leadership, Governance and Risk

• Operate as a senior individual contributor, leading cross-functional work through influence, facilitation and subject-matter expertise; manage colleagues or project resources where assigned.
• Build capability across Foundation and market teams through coaching, practical guidance, tools and communities of practice.
• Ensure work complies with Foundation governance, financial controls, safeguarding, data protection, brand, regulatory and risk-management requirements.
• Manage relevant budgets, suppliers and advisers to agreed standards of quality, value and delivery.

People and Talent

• Set direction and drive high performance by translating strategy into clear direction, aligning individual goals to team outcomes and providing regular, constructive feedback.
• Develop talent and capability through coaching and career conversations that build critical skills, stretch potential and prepare individuals for future opportunities.
• Lead by example by role-modelling the Bank's valued behaviours, upholding strong risk and conduct standards, exercising sound judgment, and creating an inclusive team culture that supports wellbeing, values diverse perspectives, and drives accountability.

Qualifications

Key Experiences

• Significant senior experience in strategy, innovative finance, impact investing, philanthropy, development finance, social investment or a related field, ideally across multiple countries or regions.
• Recognised expertise in systems-level impact measurement and management, with experience developing frameworks that connect direct programme outcomes to portfolio, ecosystem, market or institutional change.
• Demonstrated ability to lead organisational thinking on complex impact questions and translate emerging practice into credible, practical approaches that teams and partners can use.
• Strong knowledge of contribution-based and learning-oriented methods, such as contribution analysis, outcome harvesting, systems mapping, network analysis, developmental evaluation or other approaches suited to complex and non-linear change.
• Experience building an organisation's external profile through publications, convenings, partnerships, sector initiatives or public speaking on impact measurement, evaluation or systems change.
• Practical experience designing, structuring, assessing or managing more than one form of catalytic or investment capital, with a sound understanding of financial models, risk allocation, additionality, partner incentives and impact-return trade-offs.
• Experience applying financial instruments to employment, livelihoods, enterprise development, access to finance or inclusive economic growth, with a clear focus on improving outcomes for under-served groups.
• Experience developing investment and impact criteria, governance processes, risk frameworks, due diligence approaches and decision papers for senior committees, boards or trustees.
• Experience building impact, financial and investment capability among teams, NGOs, social enterprises or other partners.
• Strong analytical judgement and the ability to translate complex financial, systems and impact concepts into clear recommendations, executive papers, publications and compelling presentations.
• Desirable experience in youth employability, entrepreneurship, financial inclusion, disability inclusion, future skills, green or digital economies, or ecosystem programming.

Certifications / Qualifications

• Advanced degree or equivalent professional experience in international development, economics, public policy, business, strategy, social innovation, impact measurement or a related discipline. No specific professional certification is mandatory.

Languages

• Fluency in verbal and written communication in English is required. Additional languages relevant to Standard Chartered's markets are advantageous.

About Standard Chartered

We're an international bank, nimble enough to act, big enough for impact. For more than 170 years, we've worked to make a positive difference for our clients, communities, and each other. We question the status quo, love a challenge and enjoy finding new opportunities to grow and do better than before. If you're looking for a career with purpose and you want to work for a bank making a difference, we want to hear from you. You can count on us to celebrate your unique talents and we can't wait to see the talents you can bring us.

Our purpose, to drive commerce and prosperity through our unique diversity, together with our brand promise, to be here for good are achieved by how we each live our valued behaviours. When you work with us, you'll see how we value difference and advocate inclusion.

Together we:

• Do the right thing and are assertive, challenge one another, and live with integrity, while putting the client at the heart of what we do.
• Never settle, continuously striving to improve and innovate, keeping things simple and learning from doing well, and not so well.
• Are better together, we can be ourselves, be inclusive, see more good in others, and work collectively to build for the long term.

What we offer

In line with our Fair Pay Charter, we offer a competitive salary and benefits to support your mental, physical, financial and social wellbeing.

• Core bank funding for retirement savings, medical and life insurance, with flexible and voluntary benefits available in some locations.
• Time-off including annual leave, parental/maternity (20 weeks), sabbatical (12 months maximum) and volunteering leave (3 days), along with minimum global standards for annual and public holiday, which is combined to 30 days minimum.
• Flexible working options based around home and office locations, with flexible working patterns.
• Proactive wellbeing support through Unmind, a market-leading digital wellbeing platform, development courses for resilience and other human skills, global Employee Assistance Programme, sick leave, mental health first-aiders and all sorts of self-help toolkits.
• A continuous learning culture to support your growth, with opportunities to reskill and upskill and access to physical, virtual and digital learning.
• Being part of an inclusive and values driven organisation, one that embraces and celebrates our unique diversity, across our teams, business functions and geographies - everyone feels respected and can realise their full potential.