Executive Director, Philanthropy Data Commons

MacArthur Foundation • Chicago, IL

4d • Hybrid

About The Position

The Executive Director will lead the Philanthropy Data Commons (PDC) through its next phase of growth, adoption, and long-term sustainability. The PDC is shared infrastructure that connects the systems, organizations, and data used across philanthropy. Its interoperable data model, consent-based sharing framework, and shared feedback mechanisms are intended to reduce nonprofits’ administrative burden, improve their visibility to aligned funders, and give organizations control over how their data is shared. Exchange, the PDC’s first live application, helps funders explore standardized grant proposal data, identify potential cofunding opportunities, and coordinate responses to emerging needs.

The initiative has moved from concept through a structured pilot, with a live Exchange application, an evolving governance framework, relationships with grants-management systems and other ecosystem organizations, and more than 20 organizations committed to sharing data. Its next phase centers on expanding participation, demonstrating value at scale, deepening collaboration, and establishing a durable organizational and financial foundation. In 2026, PDC began a formal process to determine its long-term legal home, potentially as an independent nonprofit or as a subsidiary within a values-aligned organization.

The Executive Director will lead strategy and execution, serve as PDC’s primary external representative, build coalitions and participation, guide the organizational transition, develop the team and operating model, and strengthen financial sustainability. The role reports functionally to the PDC Co-Directors and leads consultants across technology, governance, external relations, communications, and fundraising. The position is employed by the MacArthur Foundation on a term-limited basis and seconded to Mac Services. It is hybrid and based in Chicago, Illinois, with an annual salary starting at $282,200 and benefits commensurate with the term-limited staff position at MacArthur.

Requirements

• Track record of building trust and mobilizing leaders across diverse organizations, sectors, and interests, particularly where participation is voluntary and collaboration is essential.
• Demonstrated ability to build coalitions, consortia, platforms, or shared infrastructure initiatives and influence organizations to adopt new ways of working.
• Collaborative, big-tent leadership style and a record of achieving results through influence, shared ownership, and collective action rather than formal authority.
• Experience developing and executing strategy for an emerging, technology-enabled, or mission-driven organization in a complex and evolving environment.
• Ability to clarify an organization’s value, identify high-leverage opportunities and network effects, and translate an ambitious vision into a focused path to impact.
• Comfort navigating ambiguity and adapting strategy as an organization’s model and path to scale evolve.
• Demonstrated experience taking an idea, platform, network, or initiative from theory to tangible implementation, adoption, and measurable results.
• Ability to set priorities, make decisions amid ambiguity, establish operating discipline, allocate resources, and move work forward without waiting for complete consensus.
• Entrepreneurial orientation and energy for building amid ambiguity.
• Ability to communicate complex technical, organizational, and sector issues clearly to diverse audiences, and to articulate a tangible value proposition through concrete use cases.
• Experience as a credible public representative, thought leader, spokesperson, or advocate, including with technical and nontechnical audiences.
• Capacity to understand complex ecosystems and lead change across organizations with different incentives, influence, and readiness to act.
• Experience advancing public good or shared infrastructure, persuading institutions to adopt new approaches, and navigating environments where partners may also be collaborators or competitors.
• Sufficient fluency in data governance, privacy, security, and related technology issues to understand their strategic importance, ask informed questions, and engage appropriate expertise.
• Record of leading a small, high-performing, flexible organization or initiative in a complex or evolving environment.
• Ability to clarify roles, recruit complementary talent, empower experienced colleagues, and determine which capabilities should be internal versus provided by consultants, partners, or outside experts.
• Ability to recognize where additional expertise is needed and build an operating model suited to changing organizational needs and scale.
• Ability to raise philanthropic support, develop strategic partnerships, and build a sustainable financial model for an emerging or evolving initiative.
• Public-good orientation and sound judgment in balancing near-term sustainability with the goal of creating durable, trusted infrastructure.

Nice To Haves

• Experience assessing organizational structure, revenue options, legal arrangements, and partnership models.

Responsibilities

• Lead PDC’s strategy and execution by translating its vision into a focused roadmap, priorities, measurable goals, and disciplined execution.
• Expand participation among funders, changemakers, grants-management systems, data platforms, and other ecosystem partners; identify relationships and use cases that can accelerate network effects.
• Serve as PDC’s chief external ambassador and coalition builder, articulating the value of shared philanthropic data infrastructure and positioning PDC as trusted, neutral infrastructure.
• Ensure PDC delivers tangible value to changemakers and funders, including reduced nonprofit administrative burden, greater visibility, and meaningful control over data.
• Guide PDC’s organizational transition with the Co-Directors and Mac Services, helping determine its long-term legal and governance structure and establish decision rights, systems, and an operating model.
• Build and lead the organization for the future by assessing its consultant-heavy structure, recruiting and empowering complementary talent, and creating a high-performing team.
• Strengthen financial sustainability by broadening philanthropic support beyond MacArthur, cultivating funders and strategic partners, and shaping longer-term revenue approaches consistent with PDC’s mission and neutrality.
• Provide strategic leadership on technology and data, ensuring product and technical priorities reflect PDC’s mission, user needs, governance principles, and path to scale.
• Maintain meaningful stakeholder engagement while enabling clear and timely decision-making.
• Lead a team of consultants across technology, governance, external relations, communications, and fundraising.

Benefits

• Generous total compensation package emphasizing base salary and a comprehensive benefits package to support life, health, and well-being.
• Benefits commensurate with the term-limited position of staff at MacArthur.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Executive
• Education Level: No Education Listed