Chief executive officer - private philanthropic organization

Selection process developed by matteria

São Paulo, Brazil. Hydrid role

A private philanthropic organization in Brazil is seeking a Chief Executive Officer to lead its next stage of growth and institutional development.

The organization focuses on addressing complex public challenges through strategic capital allocation, institutional partnerships, and hands-on execution. It operates with a lean, high-performance model inspired by private-sector standards, combining philanthropic support with direct implementation when needed.

This is a founder-backed organization with long-term ambition, strong execution standards, and the goal of building scalable initiatives capable of generating systemic impact in Brazil.

• Brazil-based private philanthropic organization focused on systemic impact.

• Hybrid model combining strategic capital allocation and direct project execution.

• Works with institutional and public-sector stakeholders to strengthen implementation capacity.

• Lean, high-performance team designed around execution quality and disciplined decision-making.

• Focused on scalable interventions capable of generating national-level impact in Brazil.

Lead the organization through its next stage of institutional growth by translating its ambition into a focused, high-impact operating model.

The CEO will integrate strategy, capital allocation, execution, stakeholder engagement, and organizational building to maximize systemic impact in Brazil. This role requires a leader who can combine strategic judgment with hands-on execution, build a high-performing team, and partner closely with the founder and senior stakeholders.

• Define and refine the organization’s long-term strategic priorities, translating ambition into clear goals, execution plans, and measurable outcomes.

• Lead disciplined capital allocation across high-impact initiatives, balancing strategic relevance, feasibility, expected impact, and execution capacity.

• Build and strengthen the organization’s operating model, team structure, management systems, and internal rhythms.

• Engage senior stakeholders across philanthropy, public-sector institutions, partners, and ecosystem actors.

• Oversee the implementation of priority initiatives, ensuring execution quality, accountability, and problem-solving capacity.

• Partner closely with the founder and future governance bodies, providing strategic insight, analytical depth, and high-quality decision support.

Education

• Bachelor’s degree required.

• Preferred academic backgrounds may include: Business Administration, Economics, Engineering, Public Policy, Political Science, International Relations, Law, Finance.

• Master’s degree or postgraduate studies are valued but not mandatory.

Experience

• 12+ years of progressive leadership experience in high-performance environments.

• Proven experience operating in complex, multi-stakeholder environments.

• Strong track record in strategy, execution, organizational building, and leadership.

• Experience engaging with senior government officials, institutional actors, boards, or founders.

• Exposure to consulting, philanthropy, development finance, public-sector transformation, think tanks, education, policy, or founder-led organizations is highly valued.

• Experience managing lean teams with high accountability standards is strongly preferred.

• Experience balancing strategic thinking with hands-on execution.

Knowledge and Skills

• Strategic planning and prioritization

• Capital allocation and portfolio management

• Organizational scaling and institution building

• Stakeholder management and government navigation

• KPI definition and performance management

• Systems thinking and analytical problem-solving

• Strong digital fluency

• Familiarity with productivity and collaboration tools

• AI-enabled analytical and organizational tools considered a plus

• Portuguese: Native or fully fluent (mandatory)

• English: Professional fluency (mandatory)

Competencies

• Strategic and critical thinking

• Execution discipline

• Intellectual curiosity

• Institutional judgment

• Humility and self-awareness

• Resilience and adaptability

• Transparent communication

• High ethical standards

• Team orientation and collaboration

• Ability to receive and integrate feedback

The organization operates with a high-performance culture that combines analytical rigor, strategic ambition, hands-on execution, humility, transparency, and strong ethical standards. The CEO must be able to lead a lean and talented team, build trust, receive feedback well, and create a culture of accountability without arrogance or excessive self-promotion.

The organization’s work sits at the intersection of strategic philanthropy, public-sector implementation, institutional transformation, and systems-level impact in Brazil. The right candidate should be motivated by the opportunity to solve complex public challenges, build a high-performance organization, and contribute to long-term systemic change. The organization’s work sits at the intersection of:

• Strategic philanthropy

• Complex public challenges

• Public-sector implementation

• Institutional strengthening

• Systems change

• Scalable impact

• Long-term transformation in Brazil

• Opportunity to shape and scale a highly ambitious private philanthropic organization in Brazil.

• Close partnership with the founder and senior stakeholders.

• High level of autonomy, responsibility, and institutional influence.

• Competitive executive compensation aligned with the level of responsibility and performance expectations.

• Opportunity to build a lean, high-performance team and contribute to systemic impact at scale.

• This role requires significant maturity balancing strategic leadership with operational involvement.

• Frequent travel within Brazil and occasional international travel are expected.

• São Paulo is preferred, though exceptional Brazil-based candidates elsewhere may be considered.