Founding Director, OD Platform & Ecosystem Build, Asia

Founding Director, OD Platform and Ecosystem Build, Asia | Climate and Social Impact

Location: India, Thailand or Indonesia, hybrid work policy · Experience: 15+ years · Type: Full-time · Reports to: the CEO

The pitch

Build the platform that makes 1,000 climate organisations in Asia stronger. Be the founding leader.

There is no playbook, no inherited team and no ceiling. You design the product, the pricing, the partnerships and the team. You answer to the CEO, and the mandate is yours.

The problem worth your next decade

Climate action in the global south runs on civil society organisations: the groups that reach communities, hold power to account and turn funding into change. Most are extraordinary at their mission and starved of support on leadership, structure, governance, pay and funding. The support they get today is advisory, one organisation at a time. It cannot reach thousands.

You will replace that with something that can: a platform, products and technology that carry organisational strength to CSOs across South and Southeast Asia, at a price and speed they can use.

What you will own

• The platform. Take it from first validation to launch to scale, working side by side with product and technology teams. Own the value proposition, offering, pricing and growth plan.

• The revenue engine. Run the advisory practice that funds and informs the platform: large diagnostics and evaluations, and the repeatable products, retainers and subscriptions that grow from them. You own the P&L.

• The founders. Win the philanthropic foundations, CSR programmes and international organisations that back the vision, and secure institutional commitments.

• The ecosystem. Build the networks of CSOs, practitioners, funders and technology partners across South and Southeast Asia that help the platform reach organisations at scale.

• An AI-first team. Build and lead a small, exceptional team where AI does the heavy lifting and human judgement does the rest.

Your first year

• The platform scoped and validated with real climate CSOs, and a first release in their hands.

• Funder commitments secured or well advanced.

• At least one recurring-revenue product lives with a paying client.

• A pipeline of large diagnostic and evaluation mandates.

• A credible, evidence-backed plan to reach 1,000 organisations in five years.

• A small team in place, with AI built into how it works.

You are our person if

• You have 15 or more years of experience, with at least 8 leading a consulting practice, business unit or P&L.

• You have spent at least 5 years in organisational development, consulting or advisory work with mission-driven organisations, funders or the development sector.

• You have built or scaled a business or a product, and you can show the numbers.

• You have raised institutional funding, won large mandates or built strategic partnerships.

• You understand what climate CSOs in South and Southeast Asia face, and what would actually help them grow.

• You have turned custom advisory work into a product, tool or platform.

• You use AI in your own work and know where it ends.

• You are as comfortable in a funder's boardroom as in a product sprint.

• A postgraduate degree in management, public policy, social sciences or a related field is preferred.

How you work: you own outcomes, hold a bold ambition with a disciplined plan, act with integrity, attract people stronger than yourself, and learn fast.

This isn't for you if

• You want to run an existing function.

• You need a blueprint before you start.

• You measure success by the size of your team.

Bonus points

• Experience in climate, sustainability or social impact organisations.

• Experience building organisational development platforms, products or subscription services.

• Relationships with philanthropic foundations and international development organisations.

• A startup or scale-up background.

What you get

• A founding seat: the chance to build a platform that outlasts any one engagement and strengthens the organisations carrying climate action across the global south.

• Real ownership of strategy, partnerships and growth, with a direct line to the CEO.

• The freedom to build technology-enabled solutions that reach organisations no advisory firm can serve one by one.

• An entrepreneurial, collaborative environment with a hybrid work policy.

About the client

Arthan is managing this search in confidence on behalf of its client: a leading organisation working across Asia on the philanthropic ecosystem, climate resilience and systems change. It works with funders, civil society organisations and institutions to translate climate commitments into action and impact. The client's name is shared only with shortlisted candidates.

Apply

If this reads like the job you have been waiting to build, write to swechcha@arthancareers.com with:

• An updated CV.

• A short note on why this role.

• Two or three examples of organisational development, practice, product or platform initiatives you have led.

Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis. Arthan and its clients are equal opportunity employers. We welcome applicants of every gender, caste, religion, ability, sexuality and background.