Impact Investment Director

Overview

AARP Foundation is the nation's leading organization serving the 39 million older adults living in poverty or one life event away from slipping into it. Our mission is to strengthen financial resilience for and with older adults by empowering individuals and improving systems. We do this by creating pathways to quality employment, removing barriers to benefits, and promoting equitable access to essential goods and services. To learn more, visit aarpfoundation.org or follow @AARPFoundation on social media.

The Impact Investment Director leads the organization’s impact-investment activities, with primary responsibility for developing, executing, and monitoring a portfolio of private-market and mission-aligned investments intended to generate competitive financial returns and measurable social impact. The role serves as the internal subject-matter expert on impact investing, works closely with external investment advisors, senior leadership, and the Impact Investment Committee, and ensures investment decisions are supported by rigorous due diligence, sound governance, clear impact objectives, and consistent performance measurement.

Responsibilities:

• Leads development and implementation of the impact-investment strategy in partnership with senior leadership, the Impact Investment Committee, AARP Treasury, and external investment advisors, aligning portfolio objectives with mission priorities, risk parameters, return expectations, and fiduciary requirements.
• Identifies, evaluates, and recommends private equity, private credit, venture capital, real assets, alternative investments, program-related investments, mission-related investments, and other impact opportunities that complement the organization’s mission and strategic outcome goals, including opportunities for AARP Foundation to create value beyond capital through strategic grantmaking, networks, partnerships, and related mission-aligned resources.
• Conducts and oversees investment due diligence, including assessment of investment strategy, manager track record, financial performance, portfolio construction, valuation practices, fee structures, governance, legal, regulatory, operational, reputational, and impact-related risks.
• Monitors financial and impact performance of individual investments and the overall portfolio, including commitments, invested capital, unfunded commitments, cash flows, valuations, realized and unrealized returns, liquidity, portfolio exposures, capital calls, distributions, and manager reporting.
• Serves as the primary day-to-day relationship manager for external investment advisors, establishing expectations, evaluating sourcing, due diligence, portfolio monitoring, reporting, impact-measurement support, service quality, fees, and potential conflicts of interest.
• Develops and maintains practical impact-measurement and management frameworks, including impact objectives, indicators, baselines, expected outcomes, portfolio-level reporting, and processes to assess meaningful outcomes and risks of impact dilution or impact washing.
• Prepares clear, balanced, and decision-useful investment recommendations, dashboards, portfolio reviews, committee materials, and reports for senior leadership, the Impact Investment Committee, the Finance Committee, and the Board.
• Maintains and recommends enhancements to investment policies, due-diligence standards, delegation-of-authority requirements, documentation, controls, and procedures to strengthen portfolio oversight, compliance, risk management, and continuous improvement.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in finance, economics, accounting, business, public policy, or related field; advanced degree or CFA, CAIA, CPA, or similar credential preferred.
• 8+ years of experience in investment management, private equity, private markets, institutional investing, consulting, foundation investing, or related areas.
• Expertise in evaluating private-market funds, investment managers, portfolio construction, valuation, performance, and risk.
• Proven ability to conduct comprehensive financial, operational, legal, governance, and impact due diligence.
• Experience partnering with external investment advisors, consultants, fund managers, and outsourced investment providers.
• Strong quantitative, financial modeling, analytical, writing, presentation, and project management capabilities.
• Ability to maintain confidentiality and adhere to ethics, conflict-of-interest, and personal investment policies.
• Familiarity with impact investing, mission-related investing, and impact measurement practices, with willingness to tra