Main purpose of the role

The role of the Manager – Tech Innovation for Impact, EME, is to build CIFF’s AI capabilities and implement them to ensure that CIFF has the opportunity to use technology innovations in its investments, making them more effective, equitable and efficient.

The Manager will be a member of the EME team and will work closely with the Girl Capital, Africa, India and Climate sector teams.

Role’s responsibilities

Strategy & planning

·       Manage technology innovation analysis and research on specific projects and sector trends, as required, to support the team and related EME trends determining future strategic priorities and setting operational plans.

·       Support the Chief Impact Officer (CIO), EME Directors and the EME team in the exploration of high- and low- tech innovations across sectors, providing input to Tech for Impact strategies.

·       Establish, maintain and socialise within CIFF a compendium of domain technological innovations tailored to our sectors and geographies.

·       Preparing Senior Leaders for AI and tech innovation engagements.

·       Work with members of the Finance team to coordinate and contribute to the EME team’s budget forecasting and disbursement for programming, aligned with organisational strategic and accountability priorities.

Artificial intelligence

·       Under direction from EME Director, Technology & Data Analytics, explore AI opportunities for social good in alignment with CIFF’s sector priorities.

·       Support the EME Director on horizon scanning (including learning from tech partners) to identify AI solutions that could potentially support our grantees.

·       Establish an AI innovation pipeline in support of CIFF’s investment priorities.

·       Develop and maintain a framework for the assessment of AI initiatives for social good, to measure impact, learn from outcomes, and make adjustments.

·       Act as an internal focal point for sectors on AI matters related to investments.

·       Assist the EME Director in defining a nuanced approach for adopting AI in CIFF’s investments, balancing technology’s potential benefits with ethical considerations and societal impact.

Sustainable AI for social good

·       Support the EME Director in identifying on an ongoing basis the social issues within CIFF’s mandate that can be most effectively addressed with AI.

·       Explore opportunities for partnership with other philanthropies and with the industry for developing AI solutions that are specifically tailored to address these challenges.

·       Identify opportunities for partnerships with other philanthropies and with the industry for designing AI systems to minimize biases, particularly those that could adversely affect marginalized groups.

·       Engage with governments, NGOs, academia, and local communities to explore and promote the localisation of AI solutions.

·       Explore the environmental footprint of AI systems, creating awareness and promoting climate neutral solutions.

Capacity Building and Education

·       Based on industry insight, establish and regularly update a map of skills and training paths that should be considered by CIFF staff and grantees in order to be effective in an AI context.

Policy and advocacy

·       Advocate for and contribute to the development of policies and regulations that encourage the ethical use of AI for social good, while preventing misuse or harmful impact.

·       Identify opportunities for partnerships with other philanthropies and industry to support such policies.

·       Represent CIFF EME and manage relationships with implementation and evaluation partners (organisations and consultants), especially in Asia, in a supportive and pragmatic way;

·       Proactively maintain external networks with subject matter experts in the AI for good communities.

Requirements

·       Masters level degree required (e.g. Computer Science /Engineering /Social / Political Science, Statistics, International Development, etc)

·       Experience with applied tech innovation, from ideation to proposal, prototype to pilot, and from production to best practices

·       Up-to-date knowledge of AI/ML technologies, their trends and applications

·       Deep knowledge of key AI policy issues and the surrounding debate

·       Diverse technology experience including AI model development, software engineering, data modelling and data exploration tools

·       Knowledge and understanding (technical and policy) of responsible AI development processes

·       Ability to explain technical designs, issues, and recommendations to non-technical stakeholders

·       Understanding of working within government systems and/or experience influencing the policies of government agencies, private sector organizations or donor organisations

·       Effectively champions and promotes causes – credible and professional, they always present the Foundation’s programmes in a compelling way to engage the audience

·       Skilled in relationship building and strengthening; able to influence others and work collaboratively, uniting groups with a shared purpose

·       English is CIFF’s business language – we expect all of our people to display outstanding verbal and written communication skills across all aspects of their role

·       Capacity to work in a range of cultural and socio-economic contexts, adapting style and approach appropriately and in a culturally sensitive manner to maximise effectiveness

·       IT proficiency (most specifically in Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint)

·       A proven self-starter, who works with pace and resilience

Benefits

The starting salary for this role is GBP 63,790

CIFF operates a hybrid work policy across all locations, which means employees works some of the time from home. We are happy to provide more information on this as part of the recruitment process.

Alongside a competitive salary, we offer a generous benefits package here at CIFF that includes, but is not limited to the following. All these will be prorated to the fixed term.

• Annual leave – 25 days per annum. Increasing by 1 day after each year of service, to a maximum of 30 days.
• Bonus – CIFF currently operates a discretionary bonus scheme.
• Training allowance
• Wellbeing allowance
• Life insurance
• Medical insurance

Please submit your application on or before 5 April 2024 .

If your application is shortlisted and advances to a screening call, we will provide the comprehensive job description directly to you. Thank you for your time and effort in applying to CIFF