ABOUT LUMINATE

Luminate is a global foundation working to ensure that technology serves our needs and wellbeing. The foundation is focused on supporting a broad movement - advocates, creatives, innovators, survivors of digital harm and many others, with a deep focus on the global majority - to reimagine technology in service of social justice and human rights. 

ROLE PURPOSE

The Principal is a senior, region-specific role responsible for shaping and delivering Luminate’s funding strategy in practice and articulating the region’s ecosystem value proposition in ways that are credible to partners and funders.

The role exists to direct significant resources towards the highest-impact opportunities, steward critical relationships, exercise power-aware stewardship of money and influence, and ensure that learning from the field informs organisational strategy and partnership development.

Over time, the role is expected to shift effort away from operational workflow administration and towards strategy, discernment, ecosystem stewardship and senior relationships, enabled by strong coordination and automation.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES & RESPONSIBILITIES

(Percentages indicate approximate allocation of effort)

Strategic portfolio design and prioritisation (30%):

-      Shapes regional funding strategy, sets priorities, and ensures coherence between individual grants and broader strategic objectives.

Complex proposal leadership and decision-making (25%):

-      Leads the development and assessment of high-value, high-risk, or strategically significant proposals, exercising senior judgement.

Senior relationship and ecosystem stewardship (20%):

-      Manages senior-level grantee and funder relationships, represents Luminate externally, and explores opportunities for collaboration and co-funding.

-      Acts as an ecosystem steward: convenes or match-makes where useful; builds shared learning; and supports coordinated responses to external events/opportunities in the region.

Organisational learning and strategy input (15%):

-      Synthesises insights from the regional portfolio to inform global strategy, learning agendas, and organisational decision-making.

-      Ensures field insights are fed back to inform strategy development and continuous improvement.

Process oversight and quality assurance (10%):

-      Provides oversight of grant-making quality, consistency, and integrity across the region.

-      Sets and enforces minimum regional standards for due diligence, documentation and decision logs; role-models disciplined adherence to governance while proposing process improvements through the correct channels.

-      Champions automation and clear hand-offs (e.g. grant-management system workflows) so that strategic staff time is protected for discernment and relationships.

COMPETENCIES

-      Demonstrated strategic judgement: in balancing risk, opportunity and reputational considerations in complex contexts.

-      Demonstrated maturity and integrity: in handling power dynamics and sensitive partner situations, maintaining trust.

-      Strategy development and implementation: Translating strategy into investable priorities and coherent portfolios.

-      Sector knowledge: Deep understanding of the regional ecosystem and philanthropic dynamics.

-      Advanced learning and sharing learning: Converting field insights into organisational learning and strategic refinement.

-      Power dynamics and inclusive practice: Modelling equitable practice and reducing the grantee–funder power gap.

SKILLS, KNOWLEDGE & EXPERTISE

Essential:

- Mid-level or above English meaning that you are willing to navigate an environment in which English is spoken 90% of the time.

-     Fluency in Portuguese.

-      Significant experience in philanthropy, NGOs, or impact investing, including end-to-end grant-making.

-      Demonstrated ability to shape portfolios aligned to strategy and deliver through complex internal governance.

-      Excellent judgement on risk, reputation, partner capacity, and contextual complexity.

-      Strong influencing skills, including with senior internal stakeholders and external leaders.

Desirable:

-      Fluency in Spanish.

-      Established network in the region’s civil society and donor communities.

-      Expertise at the intersection of technology, rights, and justice, funding civil society organizations to shape policy and lead public discourse on how technology impacts society.

-      Experience of co-funding, consortia, or field-building initiatives.

MENTAL MODELS WE VALUE

The following mental models will enable high performance in this role:

-      Strategic and systems thinking: Understanding how funding contributes to systemic change.

-      Power-aware leadership: Actively recognising and managing power dynamics.

-      Stewardship: Long-term responsibility for resources, relationships, and impact.

HOW YOU CREATE CHANGE: LEVERAGE POINTS

-      Allocation of significant funding to the highest-impact opportunities.

-      Shaping regional ecosystems through partnerships and co-funding.

-      Translating field-level learning into organisational strategy.

REPORTING & RELATIONSHIPS

Employment type: Full-time

Team: LatAm

Location: Based in Brazil, either in a hub office or remotely (with reliable ability to travel).

Reports to: Regional Portfolio Director LatAm

Manages: Associates and Analysts

Works closely with: Regional Funding peers; Impact & Learning; Partner Support; Finance; Legal; Communications; and external grantees and funders.

Benefits: Visit out Careers page for more information.

TRAVEL & WORKING CONDITIONS

-      Regional travel approx. 20–30% for grantee visits, events, and relationship-building .

-      Occasional international travel for global team meetings.

-      Flexible working arrangements supported, with occasional cross-time zone meetings.