Application Guide
How to Apply for Senior Manager, Innovation Lab
at The Impact
🏢 About The Impact
The Impact's Ownership Capital Lab is uniquely positioned at the intersection of finance and social equity, specifically focused on building the Ownership Economy. Unlike traditional financial firms, they develop innovative financing vehicles to expand access to employee ownership capital, making them a mission-driven organization where finance serves social impact. Someone might want to work here to combine deep financial expertise with the tangible goal of democratizing ownership and creating more equitable workplaces.
About This Role
As Senior Manager of the Innovation Lab, you'll lead the entire lifecycle of developing employee ownership (EO) investment products, from initial concept to market-ready solutions. This role is impactful because you'll directly shape financial instruments that enable more workers to become business owners, requiring you to bridge market validation, financial modeling, and product execution. You'll serve as the external face of the Lab to investors and partners, ensuring products meet real demand while managing a portfolio of innovation projects.
💡 A Day in the Life
A typical day might involve morning meetings with external partners or investors to validate concepts for a new EO financing vehicle, followed by deep work refining financial models to assess different capital stack scenarios. In the afternoon, you could be reviewing project timelines with contractors, synthesizing market research into product requirements, and collaborating with team members to advance multiple innovation lab projects toward key deliverables.
🚀 Application Tools
🎯 Who The Impact Is Looking For
- Has 5+ years in private equity, private credit, structured finance, or financial product development, with demonstrated experience taking financial products from ideation to market launch.
- Can translate complex market dynamics and investor needs into 'investable' EO products, showing a track record of building financial models for structured finance or alternative investment vehicles.
- Possesses strong external-facing skills to lead market validation and partnership discussions, combined with project management ability to oversee lab timelines, contractors, and cross-project execution.
- Demonstrates a genuine interest in or experience with employee ownership, cooperative models, or impact investing, aligning with the mission to expand access to ownership capital.
📝 Tips for Applying to The Impact
Tailor your resume to highlight specific experience with financial product development cycles, not just investment analysis—emphasize projects where you advanced an idea from concept to implementation.
In your application materials, use the term 'EO investment products' or 'employee ownership capital' to show you understand their specific niche, avoiding generic 'impact investing' language.
Prepare a concise portfolio example (1-2 paragraphs) of a financial product you helped develop, focusing on how you validated market demand and built the supporting financial model.
Research and reference specific EO models like ESOPs, worker cooperatives, or employee ownership trusts to demonstrate domain knowledge of the ownership economy.
Highlight any experience managing external resources or contractors in a project-based innovation environment, as this is explicitly mentioned in the responsibilities.
✉️ What to Emphasize in Your Cover Letter
["Your direct experience in structured finance, private credit, or product development and how it prepares you to design 'innovative financing vehicles' for employee ownership.", "A specific example of how you've translated market or user insights into a well-scoped financial product, linking to the requirement to ground products in 'real investor demand'.", "Your motivation for working at the intersection of finance and employee ownership, showing alignment with The Impact's mission to build the Ownership Economy.", 'Your ability to manage an innovation portfolio, citing experience overseeing timelines, deliverables, and external resources in a project-based setting.']
Generate Cover Letter →🔍 Research Before Applying
To stand out, make sure you've researched:
- → Explore The Impact's website and any published materials on the 'Ownership Economy' and 'Ownership Investing' to understand their specific framework and terminology.
- → Investigate existing employee ownership models (ESOPs, cooperatives, etc.) and current financing challenges to speak knowledgeably about the market gap they're addressing.
- → Look for any case studies, whitepapers, or news articles about the Ownership Capital Lab's past projects or innovations to understand their approach and track record.
- → Research key players in the employee ownership and impact investing space to understand potential partners, competitors, and the broader ecosystem.
💬 Prepare for These Interview Topics
Based on this role, you may be asked about:
⚠️ Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Submitting a generic finance resume without tailoring it to highlight product development, innovation processes, or experience with structured/alternative finance.
- Focusing solely on investment analysis or deal experience without demonstrating ability to manage the end-to-end product lifecycle from idea to market-ready solution.
- Failing to express a clear understanding of or passion for employee ownership and the mission-driven aspect of the role, treating it as just another financial services job.
📅 Application Timeline
This position is open until filled. However, we recommend applying as soon as possible as roles at mission-driven organizations tend to fill quickly.
Typical hiring timeline:
Application Review
1-2 weeks
Initial Screening
Phone call or written assessment
Interviews
1-2 rounds, usually virtual
Offer
Congratulations!