ZIPHouse Executive Director Wanted
Technical University of Moldova is seeking to hire an Executive Director to lead the Design and Technology Excellence Center “ZIPhouse” as a platform for creativity, co-working and enriched knowledge in the creative industries cluster, with focus on fashion industry.
ZIPhouse is an innovation platform that provides unrivaled opportunities for knowledge exchange, access to production facilities, inspirational resources and industry collaboration. It offers a unique chance to young designers, startups, professionals and academic staff to sharpen their technological skills and design abilities.
The Executive Director will co-develop ZIPhouse as a community “make-space” that cultivate design talent, stimulate entrepreneurship and increase productivity and quality, through better workforce and adopted innovation, in the creative cluster enterprises, with focus on fashion. A successful candidate is expected to share and encourage optimism about the Moldova’s creative potential, its communities and its people.
The Executive Director, with oversight from the organization’s Board, will design, plan and manage the Center’s activities to unlock community potential and to respond to the fashion industry needs as part of the creative industries cluster. In that role, he/she will interact with all industry players, i.e. Government counterparts, business associations, firms, educational institutions.
MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS:
- Master’s degree or higher in the subject area or another relevant field;
- At least 3 years of experience in business development, administration, consulting in the fashion industry, or alternatively other creative industry areas;
- Strong leadership skills;
- Knowledge of the stakeholders of the Fashion Industry and creative cluster is an advantage;
- Knowledge of international best practices in developing creative industries, creative hubs and co-working spaces is a distinct advantage;
- Prior experience in working with donor programs is an advantage;
- Strong administrative skills;
- Excellent writing, presentation, communication skills;
- Fluency in Romanian and English, good knowledge of Russian – written and spoken.
Successful candidate is expected to demonstrate the following COMPETENCIES:
- Strategic thinking, business orientation, analytical capacity and ability to drive change;
- Ability and willingness to work in non-traditional ways;
- A visionary leader with passion and optimism, who inspires respect and trust, and mobilizes others to fulfill the vision;
- A commitment to sharing leadership with other Center’s staff and to a team approach toward the Center’s work;
- A deep understanding of, and practice in, cultural sensitivity and community diversity;
- A commitment to helping the many organizations in the community development network collaborate effectively;
- A creative problem solver who identifies challenges early and resolves them in a direct, collaborative, reasonable, and understanding manner;
- Maintains a high level of professionalism while having the ability to connect with a wide variety of creative cluster stakeholders, donors, Government, media etc.
When the minimum requirements are not fully met, the candidate may substitute part of the unmet requirements with a combination of relevant academic qualifications, additional professional training and progressive relevant work experience.
ZIPhouse is an excellence center within the Technical University of Moldova, created through a public-private partnership between the Technical University of Moldova and Light Industry Employers’ Association of Moldova.
This is a call for CVs and expressions of interest from qualified candidates.
Interested candidates must submit a CV, a cover letter outlining in detail their qualifications, previous experience and their availability no later than November 23, 2018, via e-mail to daniela.pojar@adm.utm.md with the subject line ZIPhouse Executive Director. All submissions must be in English. Positions are open to Moldovan citizens only. Only qualified applicants will be contacted.
