We are looking for the right person to lead sourcing for our Fellows program and to play a key role advising and teaching the Fellows we recruit.
Mulago finds, teaches, and funds social entrepreneurs—mostly founders— with ideas that can create exponential impact in the places that need it the most. We search for the best we can find, recruit them into a year-long intensive program that is focused on design for impact and strategy for scale, and select those who are a good fit for what is potentially long-term funding. Mulago is unique in having both the teaching capacity of a Fellows program and the ability to fund Fellows on the journey to scale.
We live or die by the quality of the Fellows we can find and by the value of what we are able to impart. Mulago’s Fellows have been enormously successful in the sector, but we want to step up our sourcing that much more. We need somebody to obsessively find founders with the ideas and talent to drive exponential impact. The right person also has a track record of big success and the chops to provide great advice to the Fellows that we recruit.
Here is a description of the ideal—ok, fantasy—person for the job:
You have a knack for spotting talented people. You’re savvy at pattern recognition, and eager/able to master frameworks like the ones we use to teach leaders and manage the portfolio at Mulago. You can get your head around the potential of an idea and the moxie and skills of a leader in a brief conversation. You’re kind of fanatical about leaving no stone unturned in the search for the best—you’re hungry. You have that quality of seeing what needs to be done and doing it.
You are thoroughly steeped in the context of where Mulago works—poor countries—and are well-suited as a generalist working across a broad range of sectors. Your enthusiasm and energy help drive momentum. You’re comfortable working with both for-profits and non-profits. You bring a substantial network relevant to the work. You're fun to travel with. You laugh a lot.
The job itself consists of two interlocking parts. The first—and the most salient—is sourcing lead. This means hitting the pavement globally - building networks with accelerators, funders, universities, and impact investors that work in Africa and Asia. You'll lead our team to conduct outreach, qualify leads, move forward the best candidates, and expand the pipeline. The best social entrepreneurs often aren't in the usual startup circles, so you'll need to dig deeper and think creatively about where to find them.
The other half of the role is about helping the Fellows you find achieve their potential through the program. That includes doing stuff like this:
● Coach and mentor our current fellows through their one-year design fellowship
● Help design the annual fellows retreat and coaching activities
● Teach and facilitate at Mulago-related convenings, including fellowship retreats
● Connect organizations to each other, other funders, and high-quality resources
● Help refine Mulago’s frameworks and design thinking
● Make recommendations to the Portfolio team for longer-term funding
● Travel to work on-site with Fellows and portfolio organizations—typically with teammates—8-12 weeks a year.
We’re looking for the person who feels right for this job. The level of seniority of this position—Principle or Senior Principal—will depend on things like experience and network.
WORKING AT MULAGO
We are a small shop. We work continually with new ideas and new founders, so we’ve kept the spirit and energy of a mission-driven start-up. We do our work in teams, and we don’t waste time. Each of us has a core role, and everybody does a bit of everything. That's worked really well for us for a long time. Our team has grown a lot in the past few years. We now find ourselves in the privileged position of imagining an ideal candidate to complement the rest of us. We’re also always looking to add diversity of background, thought, personal journey, and professional experience.
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS
● Minimum 15+ years of very relevant experience (you make the case)
● Substantive time/experience working in low-income settings.
● Comfort and competence with the data systems needed to manage the selection process.
● Excellent written and verbal communication skills—central to the job.
● We care more about what you can do than we do about degrees
QUALIFICATIONS THAT WOULD REALLY HELP
● Track record finding and engaging founders.
● Substantial experience in a leadership role, preferably at a doer organization
● Specific design skills/training, especially human-centered design kind of stuff.
● Proven coaching and mentoring skills
THE DETAILS
The right candidate will be ready to commit to at least 3 years in this position.
This is a full-time job based in San Francisco. We all (including this role) work 3+ days/week at Mulago’s office in San Francisco. We’re not doing a remote hire.
The starting salary for the Senior Principal role is $182K—for the Principal is $156K.
Travel is an essential part of this role. We can’t give good advice from a desk in San Francisco. If you’re not stoked about traveling 8-12+ weeks a year, this isn’t the job for you.
Benefits are very competitive, including medical, dental, vision, life, and short term + long term disability insurance, 401K + employer match, unlimited PTO, and more.
We can sponsor working visas for those who are eligible for OPT or have existing US work authorization.
If you’re interested, and feel you’re qualified, please fill out this form. We will be reviewing on a rolling basis and will close applications by August 1, 2025. Thanks!
