The Align Foundation is seeking a dynamic, strategic, and mission-driven leader to serve as its inaugural Executive Director. This is an exceptional opportunity for an experienced leader to contribute to groundbreaking work in science advancing innovations that improve lives.
As a key member of the Executive Leadership Team, the Executive Director will serve as a trusted advisor to the Board, collaborating with the Head of Data, Head of Science, and the Chief of Staff to shape strategy, align resources with organizational priorities, drive science forward, and lead with a shared responsibility for mission delivery, talent, culture, and long-term sustainability. The Executive Director will be the primary advocate for the Foundation to external audiences. As the leader of a growing non-profit, the Executive Director will play a central role in ensuring financial sustainability and long-term growth. This includes developing creative funding models, building goodwill and interest among donors and collaborators, and sustaining the Foundation’s momentum through both traditional philanthropy and innovative, mission-aligned funding sources. The Executive Director must be able to imagine and lead growth that is both considerable and sustainable, balancing bold vision with disciplined execution. The Executive Director will be responsible for cultivating goodwill, strengthening philanthropic interest, and fostering collaborations that sustain and grow the Foundation’s mission, including developing a clear vision for growth that can sustain significant expansion over time. With a collaborative spirit and a strong partnership orientation, the Executive Director will help build organizational capacity, optimize operations, and support the Foundation’s continued growth and impact.
The ideal candidate combines strong expertise with strategic insight, fostering trust, promoting transparency, and supporting mission-driven decision-making. The Align Foundation currently operates with a distributed international team of 15 people and an annual budget of approximately $5M. The Executive Director will lead across this team and ensure strong communication and coordination within a remote-first structure while overseeing the spectrum of Foundation operations. The organization is entering a scaling phase focused on building sustainable systems for growth.
The Align Foundation values leaders who embrace productive friction and can champion early-stage science that learns from failure and drives discovery forward. Confidential expressions of interest, nominations and applications are welcomed and can be made via the WittKieffer candidate portal, accessed using the buttons below. Inquiries and questions concerning this search may be directed to the WittKieffer search consultants; Andrew Bean, PhD, Ayesha Price, and Roxana Woudstra via email at [email protected].