Senior Associate, Strategy & Innovation

About the role

Builders Vision is hiring a strategic problem-solver with a passion for climate solutions to support our ongoing strategy development and management efforts. Our organizational strategy is to catalyze markets for innovative climate solutions, using market forces to drive further investment in and uptake of climate-positive technologies and solutions. We have further defined our primary sectors (energy, food & agriculture, and oceans) for which we seek to contribute to positive systems change.

The Strategy & Innovation Senior Associate will play a key role in strengthening the analytical and intellectual rigor of our strategies, our strategy management process, and our newly formed innovation capability. You will conduct research to help us more deeply understand the markets we seek to catalyze, facilitate cross-functional alignment on risks and areas of opportunity, document learnings on what works and what doesn't, and shape how our strategies sharpen and evolve over time.

The ideal candidate has 3-5 years of experience in management consulting or strategy. Sector expertise in oceans, food & agriculture, and/or energy is a plus, as is investing and/or philanthropy experience. Comfort with a fast-paced, entrepreneurial, collaborative in-person environment is important. How you engage is just as important as what you have done: we are looking for someone who is self-directed, authentic, empathic, humble and curious.

What you'll do

Facilitate effective strategy implementation

Support our annual strategy management process, including partnering with colleagues to evaluate our progress related to each strategy (i.e., grants and investments made, impact and financial outcomes achieved, etc.), facilitate dialogues with team members and external partners to identify key learnings, and incorporate these learnings into our strategy implementation plans.

Prepare materials for leadership and staff discussions in partnership with the Head of Strategy Acceleration and the Impact Measurement & Management team.

Draw from the strategy management process to identify areas of opportunity, understand agreements and divergence, and recommend future actions.

Partner with our sector experts to evaluate learnings, identify capabilities and resources needed to implement the recommendations from the strategy management process, and outline a roadmap to do so.

Manage periodic strategic exploration efforts

Manage special projects related to strategic exploration. This could include but is not limited to:
Refreshing/refining our BV strategies for Food & Agriculture, Oceans, and/or Energy
Conducting strategic exploration for new focus areas and/or approaches that BV might pursue
Conducting research and expert interviews to prepare market analytics and strategic opportunity assessments for potential new focus areas

Innovation research and insight development

Support our internal innovation engine, including helping to plan and conduct qualitative and quantitative research with users, stakeholders, or partners.

Project management for concepts moving through the innovation engine.

Synthesize findings into compelling insights that inform opportunity framing and design direction.

Contribute to project-level learning and sense-making by connecting human, cultural, and market signals.

Business modeling & systems thinking

Explore the market, financial and operational dimensions of new ideas through activities such as financial modelling and market size estimates.

Collaborate with teammates to explore different paths to scale or implementation.

Map systems and players that shape opportunity spaces.

Qualifications

Experience:

3-5 years of experience in management consulting and/or corporate strategy or equivalent experience
Experience facilitating and synthesizing complex discussions among diverse stakeholders
Experience deep diving into new sectors to understand value chains, market dynamics, regulatory & policy landscape, growth opportunities, and technological innovation
MBA or similar advanced degree is a plus

Expertise:

Strong interest in, and basic knowledge of, climate change challenges and solutions
Sector expertise in oceans, food & agriculture, and/or energy is a plus
Financial services / investment and/or philanthropy background/knowledge is a plus

Skills:
Ability to draw meaning from complex and sometimes contradictory information
Solutions-oriented, quick learner who thrives in ambiguity
Empathetic, humble listener
Excellent written and verbal communication skills (i.e., ability to synthesize information into key themes, insights and implications)
Comfort working across Box, Slack, and Microsoft & Google Suites
Familiarity with AI tools is a plus