Director, Inspiration

The Director, Inspiration is accountable for ensuring AskNature remains a distinctive, useful, and sustainable knowledge and audience engine for biomimicry, evolving its value in an AI-mediated world while growing engagement among priority audiences and creating pathways from discovery to deeper participation and application through TBI’s Community and Innovation programs.

Essential Functions

Percentage allocations represent annual average estimates and may shift based on funding levels, contractual commitments, and organizational priorities.

AskNature Strategy, AI Evolution & Durability (30%)

• Develop a sustainable model for AskNature, working with Development and external partners to secure the philanthropic and corporate funding, technology, expertise, and partnerships required for its continued relevance and growth.
• Establish and continually sharpen AskNature’s distinctive value to the practitioners and audiences TBI seeks to serve.
• Lead AskNature’s evolution as AI changes how people discover, interpret, and apply biological knowledge, including potential integration with other design and technology tools, determining where TBI can provide value that other tools cannot.
• Translate that value proposition into clear priorities for AskNature.org, AskNature Chat, AI-enabled experiences, content, partnerships, and investment.
• Measure AskNature by its usefulness, adoption, and contribution to biomimicry practice, not only by traffic, and use results to guide investment and improvement.
• Ensure the use of AI and biological knowledge maintains scientific credibility, attribution, intellectual property, and responsible knowledge stewardship.
• Coordinate with the Head of Impact, Operations, and other internal stakeholders to ensure AI-enabled experiences are strategically, ethically, and operationally sound.

Collections & Knowledge Products (30%)

• Direct the production of funded collections and knowledge products that address important gaps in biomimicry knowledge and equip priority audiences to act on current challenges in climate, biodiversity, and materials.
• Mobilize awarded projects by translating defined project objectives into delivery plans, milestones, assignments, resource requirements, and measures of success.
• Ensure biological insights are developed and presented for practical relevance and usefulness to the audiences and decisions they are intended to serve.
• Identify high-value knowledge gaps and opportunities that can inform future grants, sponsorships, and partnerships, working with the Head of Impact and Development to build a pipeline of funded work.
• Be accountable for delivering funded commitments on time and within budget, with scientific credibility, quality, and demonstrated audience value.

Audience Engagement & Media Ecosystem (25%)

• Grow engagement with biomimicry among the priority audiences TBI must reach to achieve its climate, biodiversity, and materials impact aims.
• Manage AskNature.org, social media, newsletters, podcasts, and related media as an integrated system for creating awareness, interest, and engagement, not as independent channels.
• Develop and test conversion pathways that provide increasing value to audiences while moving them from discovery toward learning, participation, practice, and application through TBI’s Community and Innovation programs.
• Establish measures that show whom TBI reaches, whether they are priority audiences, what value they receive, and whether engagement results in deeper participation or application.
• Use audience behavior evidence to determine which content and channels warrant greater investment, which require improvement, and which should be discontinued.

Team Management (15%)

• Translate Impact Team strategy and organizational priorities into clear annual and seasonal goals, projects, budgets, staffing, and resource priorities.
• Establish clear accountability for results through defined ownership, roles, workplans, timelines, and performance expectations; coach and develop staff to succeed against them.
• Allocate budgets, staff, contractors, and capacity according to priorities and expected results.
• Establish operating rhythms and performance measures that surface progress, risks, dependencies, and decisions early enough to act.
• Coordinate actively across Inspiration, Community, and Innovation so that knowledge leads to practitioner capability and engagement, and practitioner engagement leads to solutions advanced—delivering TBI’s theory of change as an integrated system.
• Contribute to Impact Team planning, budgeting, measurement, and continuous improvement.

Qualifications

Education and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent professional background required, advanced degree preferred.
• 7+ years of progressively responsible work in digital knowledge platforms, digital products, science communication, media, audience development, education technology, or related fields.
• Demonstrated success evolving and growing a digital knowledge platform, product, or media ecosystem serving defined audiences.
• Applied experience using AI and emerging technologies to improve knowledge discovery, content, search, personalization, or user experience.
• Track record growing engagement with priority audiences through digital content, media, audience development, and data-informed experimentation.
• Oversight of complex knowledge or content portfolios involving subject-matter experts, external partners, and funded or sponsored deliverables.

Skills & Abilities

• Knowledge of biomimicry, sustainability, climate, biodiversity, materials, regenerative design, or related fields.
• Strong leadership, judgment, and decision-making.
• Ability to translate direction into clear priorities, projects, and results.
• Effective people leadership, delegation, and accountability.
• Strong program, budget, and resource management.
• Analytical and systems thinking with a results orientation.
• Excellent communication and relationship-building skills.
• Strong cross-functional collaboration and coordination.
• Entrepreneurial and opportunity-oriented, with the ability to develop, test, and refine new program and partnership models.
• Commitment to biomimicry and TBI’s mission.
• Proficiency with Asana, Google Workspace, Zoom, Airtable, and related tools.

Physical Requirements

The physical demands described here are representative of that which an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodation can be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Activities that occur constantly are communicating effectively with others to exchange information; assessing the accuracy, neatness and thoroughness of the work; repeating motions efficiently that may include the wrists, hands and/or fingers; remaining in a stationary position, often standing or sitting for prolonged periods.
• Activities that occur occasionally are moving about to accomplish tasks or moving from one worksite to another; adjusting or moving objects less than 50 pounds in all directions.

Work Environment (Remote)

The work environment described here is representative of that which an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodation can be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Duties are performed in a home workspace. Employees are expected to maintain their home workspace in a safe manner, free from safety hazards.
• May require up to 10% travel.

This is not necessarily an exhaustive or all-inclusive list of responsibilities, skills, duties, requirements, efforts, functions, or working conditions associated with the job. This job description is not a contract of employment, or a promise or guarantee of any specific terms or conditions of employment. The Biomimicry Institute may add to, modify, or delete any aspect of this job (or the position itself) at any time as it deems advisable.

Comp & Benefits

• Applicants from California, Colorado, New York, New Jersey and Washington:
  Salary is determined based on internal equity; internal salary ranges; market
  data/ranges; applicant’s skills; prior relevant experience; certain degrees or
  certifications, etc. The salary for this position ranges: $90-125K
• Comprehensive Health Insurance: Enjoy 100% coverage for employees for medical/dental/vision provided by Biomimicry Institute. (Please note, employees are responsible for coverage for spouses and/or dependents.)
• Retirement Plan: Begin your retirement savings after just 6 months of employment.
• Paid Time Off (PTO): Benefit from our generous PTO policy, allowing you to recharge and maintain a healthy work-life balance.
• Paid Holidays: Take advantage of paid holidays as outlined in our Employee Handbook.
• Home Office Stipend: Receive a monthly stipend to help support your home office setup.