As an executive search firm specializing in the nonprofit and social impact sectors, our recruitment experts have the opportunity to work with a diverse roster of purpose and mission-driven clients to fill roles integral to delivering on their organization’s purpose and strategic goals.
One such client is the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI). We recently sat down with its Senior Vice President, Carmen MacDougall, to talk about what the organization does, her experience working with DRiWaterstone, advice to other leaders looking to fill a unique role, and more.
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DRiWaterstone Human Capital (DRiW): Talk a bit about the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) and your role there.
Carmen MacDougall (CM): NTI is a nonprofit, nonpartisan global security organization. We address nuclear and biological threats imperiling humanity. We have an impact model that makes sure our work is driving long-term, systemic change.
As a Senior Vice President at NTI, I’m part of the executive management team along with our CEO, Ernie Moniz, our President, Joan Rohlfing, and our CFO, Amy Hargrett. We manage the operations and strategic direction for NTI, which is about 50 to 60 people, all in Washington, DC.
DRiW: What’s one NTI program or project that you’re particularly proud of?
CM: I’ll start with a recent example of systemic change. The Cyber Nuclear Forum is a group that we created in 2019. We recognized that all countries are struggling to attract the technical talent needed to address the risk of cyber-attacks on nuclear facilities (and we can all imagine how awful a cyber-attack on a nuclear facility could be!). So, we gathered experts and officials from civilian nuclear power facilities in the U.S. and around the world to discuss cyber threats and share their experience and best practices.
The group includes countries that have newer nuclear programs and may not have the hands-on knowledge or the deep expertise to draw from. The Cyber Nuclear Forum is helping even the playing field and ensure safety and security, whether you have a nuclear plant in the U.S. or overseas.
This [June], we’re spinning the Forum off as a self-sustaining initiative. For us, it’s a success story and creates space for us to find other problems to solve. That’s the way we think about the systemic change: we achieve some policy wins, or we create new institutions and they can thrive without NTI being involved.
DRiW: Talk about the role that you were looking to fill when you first reached out to DRiWaterstone and what impact that role has on your ability to achieve your mission.
CM: We worked with DRiWaterstone to fill our Vice President of Development position. NTI doesn’t have an endowment; we have to raise money to do our work, so this position is critical for us.
DRiW: Why did you choose to work with an executive search firm (and with DRiWaterstone specifically)?
CM: We wanted help on the search because of bandwidth; we wanted someone else help drive and guide the process.
DRiWaterstone in particular brought an expertise in the development world. In the past, we’ve done our own high-level searches when it’s been in the field. Our field is fairly small, and we have a pretty good sense of the people and who’s out there. But when it came to development, we wanted the support of somebody knowledgeable who could find the right talent for us.
DRiW: What was your overall experience like working with DRiWaterstone?
CM: I feel like it made us more thoughtful and intentional about the search. The DRiWaterstone team spent time with executive leadership, with the program teams, and with the development team to document what we needed and what we were looking for. It became an important tool, as we looked at candidates. It’s easy to have an initial reaction, but then we would say, “OK, this is what we said was important, so do they meet these goals? How do they fit in into our framework?”
DRiW: Did you find that what you were looking for changed through that process?
CM: It didn’t change too much. Different candidates brought different qualities, and we definitely made decisions about what was more important to us. But, having DRiWaterstone drive the process and get us to articulate our priorities was super helpful through the process.
DRiW: What advice do you have for organizations looking to hire for a senior development role in today’s job market?
CM: Be ready to move quickly! We couldn’t necessarily always work to our more deliberative timeframe. We didn’t have that luxury because of the job market.
DRiW: And what advice would you have for candidates looking for a job right now?
CM: I would tell them that we really do read everything. All the materials you prepare will be reviewed by everybody. And we understand that you’re interviewing us as much as we’re interviewing you. It’s really about finding the right match versus just getting the offer.
DRiW: What’s next for NTI?
CM: For us, artificial intelligence is the next big horizon. We are launching a program that is exploring how AI intersects with nuclear and biological threats. We have a report already completed that our bio team launched it at a big UK AI Safety Summit last winter, and our nuclear side is now working on a parallel report.
A lot of people are talking about AI opportunities and challenges in general. We’re trying to drill down into our space to say, “OK, how can, how can AI help?” And what guard rails do we need around AI as it becomes ubiquitous –whether it’s on your Google searches or in the nuclear weapons complex. We all need to have our radar up, but there are things about AI that are really exciting and could help manage threats and help us make the world safer.
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At DRiWaterstone, we have the pleasure to work with some of the best purpose and mission-driven clients and candidates in the nonprofit and social impact space. To learn more about how we can help you build your high-performance teams and drive growth, email us – we’d love to talk!
