Foundry Associate

Acumen

Acumen

Lagos, Nigeria

Posted on May 19, 2026

Acumen Academy is looking for a Foundry Associate with at least 3 years of experience to support the development and delivery of offerings to our community of builders who are ~1800 strong and growing.

About Acumen

Acumen is a global force of entrepreneurs, investors, philanthropists, and social innovators working together to build a world based on dignity. We were founded by Jacqueline Novogratz on the radical idea that business, when cultivated with moral imagination, can break the cycle of poverty. We invest in transformational companies, build sustainable markets, and prepare leaders with the tools they need to create a more just and inclusive future. Since 2001, we have scaled companies and shaped markets in some of the hardest-to-reach communities on the planet, impacting over half-a-billion lives. To learn more visit acumen.org.

About Acumen Academy

Acumen Academy is the community for builders grounded in moral imagination, solving problems of poverty. We offer off and online courses in how to make social change happen. We aim to unleash a new generation of social innovators and leaders with the determination and grit to build a more just, inclusive, and sustainable world. We offer anyone with an internet connection, anywhere in the world, access to the practical tools, practices, resources, and supportive community they need to achieve positive social change. With more than 2000 Fellows and 500,000 course takers in 193 countries, the Acumen Academy community represents a new generation of social innovators and leaders committed to doing what’s right in a world that loves easy. Explore Acumen Academy

About the Fellowship Program and Foundry

Acumen’s Fellows Program is a transformative, experiential, and cohort-based program that develops moral leadership mindset and skills to propel those who are doing the hard and essential work of creating a more just, inclusive, and sustainable world. As of 2025, Acumen’s Fellows Program is being offered in 7 regions: Colombia, East Africa, India, Malaysia, Spain, the United Kingdom, and West Africa. Graduates from the Fellows program join our alumni network, the Foundry, and are referred to as Foundry Members. In the Foundry, we provide access to tools and reosurces, community, and catalytic capital to grow their ventures. More information on the Foundry

About the role

You will work alongside the central Academy team, supporting the delivery of our program offerings to the Foundry. You will be responsible for providing end-to-end operational support to deliver major global Programs like Acumen Angels - an early-stage capital funding program designed to advance high-potential, early-stage entrepreneurs from the Foundry.

This involves collaborating with a cross-functional team across marketing and communications, data and insights, foundry engagement, and Acumen Academy regional teams to sustain the Foundry as a high-impact, highly-engaged community of builders with the tools and relationships they need to scale their solutions to the problems of poverty.

This role will report to the Associate Director, Foundry.

The responsibilities include:

  • Oversee the end-to-end operational and administrative delivery of major global programs from outreach and selection to due diligence and announcement.
  • Lead the data collection and review process of program reports, enabling evaluation of program effectiveness.
  • Manage all global referral and nomination processes for existing partnership programs and emerging opportunities.
  • Coordinate logistics for foundry programming: Info sessions, office hours, coaching calls, and masterclasses.
  • In partnership with the audience and engagement team, maintain and oversee a program calendar for all Foundry initiatives.

Skills and Qualifications

The role requires a structured doer with an appreciation for detail, organization, and the user perspective. Experience in program operations and supporting social entrepreneurs through structured programming is highly valuable.

As program operations typically involve multiple moving parts, you are very comfortable with operational details and process work; you implement, coordinate, and optimize to enable efficient delivery.

  • 3 years of relevant professional working experience
  • Ability to manage multiple work streams with a multiplicity of stakeholders, and to prioritize effectively
  • Process-minded and systems-oriented
  • Strong analytical and reporting skills, with experience translating data into insights.
  • A commitment to Acumen’s mission of solving the toughest problems of poverty, and a passion for leadership development
  • Good organizational and planning skills (Foresight, organizes information in an actionable way)
  • Follows through on commitments without needing reminders
  • Proactive; Ability to take initiative and roll up the sleeves; anticipate needs before they arise, and take action without being asked
  • Communication skills to work with global, cross-cultural colleagues, partners and community members
  • Demonstrated success in building collaborative relationships with both external and internal stakeholders
  • Effectively collaborates with and across teams, seeks, and provides constructive feedback
  • Self-reflective and aligned with Acumen values.

Application Deadline

The deadline to receive applications is 3rd June 2026. Interested candidates are encouraged to apply early as applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.