Executive Director - Philanthropy Data Commons

Job Description

Interested candidates are invited to visit the Russell Reynolds Engage platform at Engage.RussellReynolds.com. Candidates will be asked to register and create a profile. From the home page, navigate to “Job Post”, click “Apply for Position”, and enter the following career code: 2609-162NA to submit materials for consideration. NOTE: Applying to the MacArthur career site may cause delays in review of your application.

The Opportunity

Philanthropy has long operated with fragmented data, duplicative processes, and systems that do not easily speak to one another. The Philanthropy Data Commons (PDC) was created to change that.

By enabling information to move securely across the systems that organizations already use, the PDC can reduce the repetitive administrative burden on nonprofits, help changemakers gain greater visibility to aligned funders, and give them greater control over how their information is shared, while giving funders a clearer view of organizations, needs, and funding flows.

The PDC has moved well beyond an idea. With significant foundational work completed, including a live Exchange application, an evolving governance framework, a growing network of funders and ecosystem participants, and more than 20 organizations committed to sharing data, PDC is entering an important period of transition and growth.

The focus now is on expanding participation, demonstrating the value of shared data at greater scale, and building the coalition that can make PDC an enduring part of how philanthropy works.

The inaugural Executive Director will have a rare chance to help shape the next stage of the initiative and a broader shift in the field. They will build on significant investment and momentum while helping the PDC grow its reach, deepen its partnerships, strengthen its financial sustainability, and establish its long-term organizational home.

At a time when advances in AI are making access to trusted, well-governed data increasingly important, the PDC has the potential to become essential infrastructure for a more connected, informed, and effective philanthropic sector. For an entrepreneurial leader energized by building in ambiguity, this is a chance to take years of investment and a powerful sector-wide idea and turn it into something enduring, shaping not only the future of the PDC but how philanthropy shares and uses data.

About the Philanthropy Data Commons

Conceptualized in 2021, the Philanthropy Data Commons is a collaborative initiative temporarily hosted by Mac Services, Inc. that connects the systems, organizations, and data that philanthropy runs on. It provides a shared infrastructure that allows funders, changemakers, and the ecosystem partners they already use to share information on their own terms.

At its core, the PDC provides an interoperable data model so information about organizations, grants, and funding flows can be understood across different systems; a consent-based framework that allows organizations to share their data securely, only with the parties they choose and for the purposes they approve; and shared feedback mechanisms so the infrastructure serves the field rather than any single platform or vendor.

The PDC is not a new platform to adopt. It is the connective layer that makes the tools organizations already use work together.

Exchange is the PDC’s first live application, a web-based tool designed to support more informed and coordinated funding decisions. Through Exchange, funders can explore standardized grant proposal data, identify potential cofunding opportunities, and coordinate responses to emerging needs, while nonprofits gain greater visibility to aligned funders.

Over the past five years, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation has supported the PDC’s steady evolution from ideation to early implementation. The work is now hosted by Mac Services, a separate 501c3 organization created by MacArthur years ago to temporarily house and oversee charitable initiatives until a more permanent solution can be found. The board of Mac Services is fiduciarily responsible for PDC. The operations of PDC are under the leadership of Co-Directors Elizabeth Kane and John Mohr, whose time is contributed by MacArthur and who manage a small Operations Team of expert consultants continues to advance this work—developing the PDC as a trusted, field-serving data infrastructure and fostering collaboration across the sector to ensure its long-term sustainability.

Today, the PDC has moved from proof of concept through a structured pilot, with more than 20 organizations committed to sharing data. The initiative has also established relationships with grants-management systems and other ecosystem organizations, demonstrating growing engagement across funders, nonprofits, and technology partners. Its next phase is focused on growth and sustainability: scaling participation, deepening collaboration, and building the durable foundation required to serve philanthropy over the long term.

In 2026, the PDC has embarked on a formal transition process to determine its long-term legal home, whether as an independent nonprofit or as a subsidiary within a values-aligned organization, and to establish the governance, financial, and operational structures required to support that transition.

The Role

The Executive Director (ED) will lead the Philanthropy Data Commons into its next phase of growth, adoption, and long-term sustainability. Serving as both the initiative’s leader and primary external representative, the ED will build on the substantial foundation already in place and translate PDC’s mission into greater participation, demonstrated value, and durable sector impact. The role brings together strategy, coalition-building, institution-building, fundraising, and execution in service of a shared infrastructure that benefits funders, changemakers, and ecosystem partners across philanthropy.

The ED will report functionally to the PDC Co-Directors and leads a team of consultants across Technology, Governance, External Relations, Communications and Fundraising. Working closely with the PDC Co-Directors and Mac Services, the ED will help determine PDC’s future legal and organizational home, evolve the team and operating model, broaden the funding base

The Executive Director will:

• Lead PDC’s strategy and execution, translating an ambitious sector-wide vision into a focused roadmap, clear priorities, measurable goals, and disciplined execution.
• Drive adoption and build critical mass, expanding participation among funders, changemakers, grants management systems, data platforms, and other ecosystem partners and identifying the relationships and use cases that can most effectively accelerate network effects.
• Serve as PDC’s chief external ambassador and coalition builder, articulating a compelling vision for shared philanthropic data infrastructure, building trust across constituencies, and positioning PDC as trusted, neutral infrastructure that complements and connects the systems already serving the field.
• Ensure that PDC creates tangible value for changemakers and funders, keeping the reduction of nonprofit administrative burden, greater visibility, and meaningful control over data at the center of the work while building the participation required for the model to succeed at scale.
• Guide PDC through its organizational transition, working with the Co-Directors and Mac Services to help determine the appropriate long-term legal and governance structure and establish the decision rights, systems, and operating model required for the next phase.
• Build and lead the organization for the future, assessing the current consultant-heavy structure, recruiting and empowering complementary talent, and creating a high-performing team across partnerships and growth, operations, technology, governance, communications, and fundraising.
• Strengthen PDC’s financial sustainability, broadening philanthropic support beyond MacArthur, cultivating funders and strategic partners, and helping shape longer-term revenue approaches that support PDC’s mission and neutrality.
• Provide strategic leadership on technology and data, ensuring that product and technical priorities remain grounded in PDC’s mission, user needs, governance principles, and path to scale, while empowering technical experts to lead the underlying work.
• Maintain meaningful stakeholder engagement while enabling decisive leadership, creating appropriate mechanisms for input from funders, changemakers, technology partners, and other participants, balancing meaningful stakeholder engagement with clear and timely decision-making.

Candidate Profile

In terms of the professional and personal leadership qualities, skills and characteristics desired for the position, we would highlight the following:

Convening Power

A track record of building trust and mobilizing leaders across diverse organizations, sectors, and interests, particularly where participation is voluntary, incentives differ, and collaboration is essential to success. Demonstrated ability to build coalitions, consortia, platforms, or shared infrastructure initiatives and to influence organizations to change behavior or adopt new ways of working. Brings a collaborative, “big tent” leadership style and a record of achieving results through influence, shared ownership, and collective action rather than formal authority.

Strategic Acumen and Judgment

Experience developing and executing strategy for an emerging, technology-enabled, or mission-driven organization operating in a complex and evolving environment. The ability to clarify an organization’s distinctive value, identify highleverage opportunities and network effects, and translate an ambitious vision into a focused path to impact. Comfortable navigating ambiguity and adapting strategy as the PDC’s organizational model and path to scale continue to evolve.

Executing for Results

Demonstrated experience taking an idea, platform, network, or initiative from the theoretical to the tangible—building, launching, or scaling something that achieved meaningful adoption and measurable results. Able to establish clear priorities, make decisions amid ambiguity, create operating discipline, and move work forward without waiting for complete consensus. Translates strategy into accountable plans, allocates resources effectively, and demonstrates a builder’s orientation toward turning promising concepts into functioning, useful, and sustainable realities. Brings an entrepreneurial orientation and is energized by building amid ambiguity rather than inheriting a fully formed institution.

Communication and External Engagement

Demonstrated ability to translate complex technical, organizational, and sector issues into clear and compelling messages for diverse audiences. Able to articulate a tangible value proposition, bring abstract or long-term systemschange goals to life through concrete use cases, and build understanding and enthusiasm among prospective participants, partners, funders, and other stakeholders. Experience serving as a credible public representative, thought leader, spokesperson, or advocate, particularly in settings requiring trust with both technical and nontechnical audiences.

Sector Ecosystem and Systems Change

The capacity to understand complex ecosystems and lead change across organizations with different incentives, levels of influence, and readiness to act. Experience advancing public good or shared infrastructure, persuading institutions to adopt new approaches, and navigating environments in which partners may also be collaborators, competitors, or both. Able to operate as a trusted and neutral actor while identifying where influence can create the greatest network effects. Brings sufficient fluency in data governance, privacy, security, and related technology issues to understand their strategic importance, ask the right questions, and engage appropriate expertise.

Team Leadership and Organizational Development

A record of leading a small, high-performing, and flexible organization or initiative in a complex or evolving environment. Able to clarify roles, recruit complementary talent, empower experienced colleagues, and determine which capabilities should reside internally versus with consultants, partners, or outside experts. Demonstrates the self-awareness to recognize where additional expertise is required and builds an operating model suited to an organization whose needs, structure, and scale may change materially over time.

Resource Development and Sustainability

The ability to raise philanthropic support, develop strategic partnerships, and build a sustainable financial model for an emerging or evolving initiative. Experience assessing organizational structure, revenue options, legal arrangements, and partnership models would be valuable. Brings a public-good orientation and the judgment to balance near-term sustainability with the longer-term goal of creating durable, trusted infrastructure.

Compensation

The goal is to compensate for this position at a competitive level. The position will be a term limited position with the MacArthur Foundation as the employer and the role seconded to Mac Services. Benefits will be commensurate with the term limited position of Staff at MacArthur. Annual salary for this role will start at $282,200. We offer a generous total compensation package that emphasizes base salary and a comprehensive benefits package to support your life, health, and well-being.

The position is hybrid and based in Chicago, Illinois.

Work Environment and Reasonable Accommodations

The work environment is an office setting. Requests for reasonable accommodations will be considered to enable a person with disabilities to perform the job. Reasonable accommodations are also available during the interview process.

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, disability, pregnancy, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state or local laws.

How to Nominate Leaders or Express Interest

Nominations are welcomed and greatly appreciated. Ideas or inquiries can be sent to Russell Reynolds at [email protected].

Interested candidates are invited to visit the Russell Reynolds Engage platform at Engage.RussellReynolds.com. Candidates will be asked to register and create a profile. From the home page, navigate to “Job Post”, click “Apply for Position”, and enter the following career code: 2609-162NA to submit materials for consideration. NOTE: Applying to the MacArthur career site may cause delays in review of your application.