President and Chief Executive Officer, JA Asia Pacific
JA Asia Pacific seeks a visionary, strategic, and adaptive leader to serve as President and Chief Operating Officer (CEO). The successful candidate will be a poised, energetic, and approachable executive with a proven record of raising funds and leading complex, decentralized organizations across multiple geographies. This individual will demonstrate exceptional fundraising, governance, operational acumen, as well as service orientation, while fostering expansion and sustainable growth in the region.
The President and CEO of JA Asia Pacific will provide visionary leadership and operational excellence to advance JA’s mission across the Asia Pacific region. This position is responsible for all strategic and operational activities of the regional operating center, including regional strategy development, fundraising, financial management, stakeholder relations, partnerships, program quality, and public communications. In alignment with JA Worldwide’s global priorities, the CEO will ensure the sustainability, growth, and impact of JA Asia Pacific and its members.
The CEO will be skilled in raising funds from multiple sources, including corporations, foundations and individuals, and building bridges across cultures and constituencies, with outstanding interpersonal skills, emotional intelligence, and cross-cultural leadership experience. They will be able to expand JA’s impact in the Asia Pacific region by strengthening and adding new members, cultivating innovative partnerships, mobilizing resources, and advancing JA’s mission of preparing young people for employment and entrepreneurship.
Key Responsibilities
Leadership and Governance
Lead, serve, support, and represent JA members across Asia Pacific.
Support and serve the JA Asia Pacific Board of Directors in the effective governance of the regional operating center, ensuring timely and accurate information flow.
Contribute effectively and proactively to the JA Worldwide mission as a regional leader.
Ensure statutory and regulatory compliance for the regional operating center.
Work to ensure JA members in Asia Pacific meet JA Worldwide’s international standards for governance, accountability, transparency and safeguarding.
Regional Strategy and Impact
Partner with members to develop and execute the regional strategy, incorporating internal priorities, external trends, and global industry developments.
Align the region and members with JA Worldwide strategies and priorities – including expansion and growth management.
Lead the region’s operating plan, ensuring alignment with JA Worldwide accountabilities, performance metrics, and impact goals.
Monitor and consult with members on performance indicators, compliance with the JA Worldwide Operating Agreement, and continuous improvement.
Innovation and Program Excellence
Pursue innovative learning content, partnerships – including with ministries of education, and delivery models to meet the evolving needs of youth and the workforce.
Drive regional program development activities and ensure program quality, relevance, and scalability.
Enhance recognition schemes, special events, and competitions for students, teachers, schools, and JA members across Asia Pacific.
Oversee JA’s brand stewardship, ensuring adherence to global brand standards and consistent messaging across the region.
Operational Management and Team Leadership
Manage, coach, and support the JA Asia Pacific team in developing and executing strategy and operational plans.
Provide leadership and oversight of the regional operating center, including team capacity, financial management, legal compliance, and operational integrity.
Foster a collaborative, resilience-driven culture across the regional office and JA members.
Provide talent development, executive recruitment support, and board development guidance for JA members.
Fundraising and Resource Mobilization
Develop and execute a comprehensive regional fundraising strategy to identify priorities, sources, and opportunities, increasing passthrough from current $2 million USD to $4 million USD in the next three to five years.
Secure new funding streams from corporate, institutional, and philanthropic donors to advance strategic priorities and sustain regional operations, generating adequate operating revenues to cover costs and build strategic reserves (current operating budget is ~$1 million USD).
Support JA Members in identifying and securing funding prospects to enhance local sustainability.
Enhance JA Asia Pacific’s visibility and reputation as a partner of scale and impact for any or all of the following: entrepreneurship, work readiness, financial health.
Strategic Partnerships and External Engagement
Build and engage an influential Regional Board of Directors and ensure their effective involvement in advancing JA’s mission.
Establish and nurture strategic partnerships with corporate leaders, policy bodies, governments, donors, and key stakeholders across the region.
Actively align JA Worldwide and local members through deliberate engagement, communications, and regional convenings.
Serve as a spokesperson and thought leader for JA Asia Pacific, raising awareness through media, public relations, and digital platforms.
Experience and Competencies
Executive leadership: Demonstrated success in senior leadership with full accountability for overall operations of a diverse and mission-driven organization in the non-profit, business, or entrepreneurial sectors.
Regional expertise: Extensive international experience, with deep understanding of the political, economic, and business climate in Asia Pacific. Experience gained operating across multiple Asian countries strongly desired.
Adaptive changemaker: Above-the-line leadership mindset and a change leader able to build organizational resilience, expand into new markets, and enhance the impact of programs, ensuring relevance in a fast-changing, digital-first world.
Strategic leadership: Ability to set and lead strategic direction for a complex and diverse regional organization, aligning with global goals while tailoring solutions to local needs.
Fundraising and resource mobilization: Demonstrated ability to raise significant resources from corporates, governments, foundations, and philanthropists. Skilled at developing sustainable regional and local funding streams.
Partnerships and external engagement: Strong coalition-building skills; able to identify and influence leaders, mobilize volunteers, and maintain relationships with key stakeholders in government, NGOs, philanthropy, and the private sector across Asia Pacific and globally.
Communication and influence: Exceptional verbal and written communication skills; able to persuasively communicate complex concepts at the highest levels of business, government, and media. Significant executive presence and gravitas that garners respect internally and externally.
Team and capacity building: Experience in building, leading, and retaining high-performing teams; track record in talent development and fostering a collaborative, results-oriented culture. Able to optimally deploy resources with experience in successfully leading lean operations.
Innovation and program excellence: Entrepreneurial mindset with ability to drive innovation in program design, digital transformation, and scalable solutions that expand reach and deepen youth impact.
Governance and accountability: Commitment to strong governance, transparency, and compliance across the region in line with JA Worldwide standards.
Additional Requirements
Experience: Ten+ years of professional experience in non-profits, business, entrepreneurship, youth education, or related sectors, with at least five years in progressive leadership roles. Regional/multi-country leadership in Asia Pacific strongly preferred.
Education: Bachelor’s degree required. Advanced degree in business, non-profit management, or related field preferred.
Languages: Fluency in English required; proficiency in one or more major Asian languages would be an advantage.
Location: Candidate must be able to work or obtain approval for work prior to starting in the selected country of residence.
How to Apply
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About JA Asia Pacific
JA Asia Pacific, a regional operating center of JA Worldwide, is dedicated to a bold vision: young people across the region equipped with the skillset and mindset to build thriving communities. With a team of eight and an annual operating budget of about USD $1 million, the organization mobilizes more than USD $2.5 million in global and regional funding that flows directly to JA members across the region.
Spanning 16 countries and territories—and preparing to expand further—JA Asia Pacific delivers hands-on learning in entrepreneurship, work readiness, and financial health. In 2024, supported by more than 59,000 volunteers, the organization reached over 4 million students with transformative learning experiences. Few organizations in the region combine this scale, expertise, and passion to prepare the next generation of innovators, entrepreneurs, and leaders.
The stakes could not be higher. Asia Pacific is home to over half the world’s youth and is the engine of global economic growth. JA Asia Pacific is committed to ensuring young people are not only beneficiaries of this progress but also drivers of it. Looking ahead, the organization has set ambitious targets: doubling passthrough funding to JA members from USD $2.5 million to USD $4 million annually within five years, and increasing its share of JA’s global learning experiences from 20% today to 40%—40 million annually—by 2050.