Vacancy: Collaborations Consultant

Catalyst Now seeks a consultant to train and build support structures for our Collaborations Team.

Catalyst Now – A Global Movement of Social Change Innovators

Catalyst Now is a dynamic global movement of social innovators transforming systems and driving sustainable change to advance the UN Sustainable Development Goals worldwide.

Our mission is to co-create spaces where the world’s social innovators connect, collaborate and contribute to transformational change.

Our Vision for 2025- 2029

As we stand at the threshold of 2025, our world faces unprecedented challenges – a polycrisis that spans from climate change and conflicts to deep-rooted inequalities. Yet, in this landscape of complexity, we at Catalyst Now see immense opportunity to act differently and achieve the changes we stand for. Our journey, which began as a WhatsApp group of visionary social entrepreneurs, has evolved into a global movement of over 5,400 members representing more than 3,700 organizations across 144 countries.

About the role

Catalyst Now has transformed from its beginnings as a nimble startup enterprise to a fast-growing movement.

About the Collaborations team

The Collaborations Team uses collaborations to accelerate systems change. We’re interested in testing different ways that impactful collaborations happen to see what works best. To achieve scale, we realize that we cannot work alone. We work with people within and outside the sector. The team's role is to support members in creating successful collaborations, proving that ‘me’ has to shift to ‘we’ in order to achieve systemic change.

Scope of the work

The consultant will build our team’s capacity to support multi-sectoral collaborations and impact ecosystems. Drawing on systems change and collaborative model expertise, they will create practical, customized materials that translate complex concepts into actionable tools such as a learning journey for the team and members and a toolkit that highlights models, methodologies and pathways for collaborations to move into High Impact Ecosystems.

Deliverables:

• A learning journey featuring Interactive training sessions
  • Models of collaboration
  • Impact ecosystem knowledge (skills needed, implementation approaches)
  • How to move from collaboration to high-impact ecosystem
  • Understanding the learning journey and how to use different methodologies
  • Something that both the team can learn from and members can use
• A practical toolkit for facilitating ecosystem collaborations and a roadmap to foster collaborations into high-impact ecosystems, including models from our membership already in use.
• Mentorship and guidance to embed learning across our global network

Your responsibilities will include:

• Provide training sessions on learning journeys, collaboration methodologies, and orchestrating impact ecosystems
• Weekly one-hour support sessions with the collaborations team
• Guide teams on taking existing collaborations to the next level of impact ecosystems
• Focus on building team capacity rather than directly coordinating collaborations
• Help team members better support Catalyst members in their collaboration efforts

Qualifications and experience

• Specialist in system thinking, system change, and collaboration methodologies
• Ability to balance philosophical theory with practical examples and applications
• Experience in "weaving" and practical collaboration work
• Knowledge of impact ecosystems and how to weave them
• An active interest in global issues and challenges, their complexity and nuances
• Ability to work in a multicultural, global environment and demonstrate cultural sensitivity
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Proven organisational skills and the ability to work independently in a fast-paced environment and across time zones, and a willingness to learn from experience
• Ability to manage time effectively and to adapt to changing environments
• Desire to work collaboratively, with a positive attitude and ability to rise to challenges
• Fluency in English and another language.