POSITION SUMMARY
Reporting to the Chief Programs Officer, the Director, Ecosystem Strategy & Initiatives will lead the design and project management process supporting a cohort of leaders across the Fund for Science and Technology (FFST), Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence (Ai2), Allen Institute, and other organizations within the Paul G. Allen scientific ecosystem. The role combines executive facilitation and communication, scientific program strategy, stakeholder engagement, and disciplined follow-through.
The successful candidate will serve as a trusted partner to senior leaders and a steward of the leadership cohort across participating organizations. They will anticipate what leaders need, frame and support complex cross-disciplinary discussions, prepare decision-quality materials, document agreements, and maintain momentum between meetings. They will influence through credibility, judgment, relationships, relevant subject-matter expertise, and exceptional execution rather than formal authority.
ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Facilitate the leadership cohort
- Manage the group's operating rhythm, annual calendar, meeting cycle, and related working sessions.
- Partner with CEOs, executive directors, and chiefs of staff as needed to identify priorities, shape cross-cutting agendas, define desired outcomes, and ensure the right participants, advisors, and expertise are engaged.
- Prepare concise briefing materials, decision memos, pre-reads, and discussion frameworks that make complex issues accessible and actionable for the group and relevant boards of directors.
- Facilitate meetings and working sessions as appropriate, creating space for candid discussion while moving the group toward clear decisions, trade-offs, and commitments.
- Capture decisions, action items, owners, dependencies, and target dates, then maintain a reliable follow-through cadence and reporting framework.
Strengthen executive communication, collaboration, and coordination
- Serve as a central point of coordination for communication, requests, and decisions across participating organizations and their leaders while respecting each entity's distinct strategies, governance, and decision rights.
- Develop practical mechanisms for between-meeting updates, shared visibility, escalation, cross-organizational learning, and knowledge sharing.
- Anticipate and surface gaps, overlaps, emerging opportunities, and issues requiring leadership attention.
- Build trusted relationships with executives, scientists, program leaders, communications teams, and operational partners across the ecosystem.
- Coordinate workshops, charrettes, expert consultations, and other forums that bring the right perspectives into the work.
Advance strategic and scientific initiatives
- Frame strategic questions, synthesize diverse viewpoints, and develop recommendations that clarify choices and trade-offs.
- Conduct or coordinate targeted research on scientific, technological, philanthropic, and partnership landscapes.
- Form and support cross-functional initiative teams, clarifying scope, responsibilities, roles, milestones, governance, and measures of progress.
- Identify and engage internal and external experts whose perspectives can strengthen program design and decision-making.
Create accountability and institutional memory
- Establish clear, lightweight systems for tracking and documenting decisions, commitments, milestones, risks, unresolved questions, and organization-specific formal artifacts when relevant.
- Produce timely meeting summaries, dashboards, executive updates, and periodic reviews that focus attention on what matters most.
- Maintain the Council's core records, operating principles, decision history, and portfolio of active initiatives.
- Continuously improve how the Council works, using feedback and experience to increase clarity, speed, inclusion, and impact.
WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE
- Leaders are well prepared to participate in cohort meetings, focused on the right questions, and clear about the decisions or guidance needed.
- Leaders have timely visibility into relevant work across the ecosystem and understand where collaboration can add value.
- Decisions and commitments translate into action, with clear ownership and dependable follow-through.
- Cross-organizational initiatives move forward with appropriate leadership and scientific input, well-defined roles, and fewer avoidable coordination gaps.
- The Council becomes known as a practical, trusted forum that improves outcomes without creating unnecessary processes.
QUALIFICATIONS
To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
Knowledge, Experience, Skill, and/or Ability Required
- Advanced training or substantial professional experience in a scientific or technical field, with the ability to engage credibly across disciplines.
- Significant experience in scientific program leadership, strategy, philanthropy, research administration, consulting, executive operations, and/or a related environment.
- Demonstrated success leading complex, multi-stakeholder initiatives across organizational boundaries.
- Exceptional writing, synthesis, facilitation, and executive communication skills.
- Ability to convert ambiguity into clear questions, practical plans, and disciplined execution.
- Sound judgment, discretion, and comfort handling sensitive information and high-stakes relationships.
- Demonstrated ability to navigate complexity and ambiguity across dynamic, multi-stakeholder environments, adapting approaches as new information emerges and bringing clarity, alignment, and momentum where objectives, roles, or pathways may not be fully defined.
- Excellent project and portfolio management skills, including the ability to manage multiple priorities and follow through reliably.
Preferred Experience
- PhD, MD, or other advanced degree in science, engineering, technology, public health, environmental science, or a related discipline. 10+ years of relevant experience, with demonstrated progression into senior leadership roles.
- Experience in a research institute, scientific foundation, philanthropic organization, university, mission-driven technology organization, or interdisciplinary consortium.
- Experience supporting an executive leadership team, cross-institutional council, board, scientific advisory committee, or comparable senior forum.
- Familiarity with one or more relevant domains, such as bioscience, artificial intelligence, environmental science, scientific infrastructure, or responsible innovation.
- Experience designing frameworks for new operating models, collaboration mechanisms, or programs in an evolving organization.
Required Computer Skills
- Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications, including Word, Excel, Outlook, and PowerPoint.
SPECIAL REMARKS REGARDING THE WORK ENVIRONMENT
- FFST employees generally work in the office Monday through Thursday, with Friday designated as a remote workday. The hybrid work environment is an organizational decision that benefits employees, may differ by role, and is subject to change as needed.
COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS
The salary range for this position is expected to be $272,000 to $369,000 per year. The upper portion of the salary range is typically reserved for existing employees who demonstrate strong performance over time or candidates who exceed our experience and skill set expectations.
We personalize offers for each chosen future employee, carefully considering various factors when reviewing each candidate. These factors include experience, professional achievements, education, individual backgrounds, and internal equity, any of which could affect the compensation offer.
The total compensation package for this position will also include reasonable and customary benefits. This includes Foundation-sponsored medical, dental, vision, and basic life insurance plans for the employee and their eligible dependents. To help secure your financial future, you may also participate in a retirement savings plan, which includes a generous 15% employer contribution each year, up to IRS limits, and subject to a vesting schedule. For more information, please review the FFST Benefits summary.
