Council Board Member

The OpportunityOver the next decade, the world will either build serious risk science and intelligence infrastructure or keep steering through compounding crises with incomplete data, fragmented models, and ad-hoc pilots.The Global Centre for Risk & Innovation (GCRI) is being established as the Frontier International Risk Science & Innovation Centre – the neutral, mission-driven hub where:Leading universities and public labs,National meteorological, space and statistical agencies,Multilateral and development research units,Critical-infrastructure operators, tech and data platforms,Philanthropic and corporate R&D programscome together to design, test, and maintain the global evidence rail for risk.We are assembling a small cohort of Founding Council Board Members to design and anchor this centre from the outset.This is an opportunity to:Found the global home for modern risk science and innovation – not a project or consortium, but a standing institution and reference point.Mobilise your platform – institutional, technical, scientific, and financial – to build frontier evidence and intelligence infrastructure that can serve countries and markets for decades.Play a visible, high-trust governance role in shaping how the world measures, understands, and anticipates risk, without leaving your current full-time position.If you already lead at scale in science, data, technology, risk analysis or innovation – and are looking for a public-interest role that matches the stakes of this decade – GCRI is designed to be that role.About GCRIGCRI is the R&D and systems-innovation pillar of the Nexus Ecosystem. Its purpose is to design, validate and steward the evidence rail underpinning modern risk management across:Climate and disaster riskInfrastructure and systemic resilienceFinancial and socio-economic shocksAs the Frontier International Risk Science & Innovation Centre, GCRI will:Design and maintain open risk methods and pipelines – fusing EO/satellite, sensors, administrative and market data into verifiable evidence streams.Develop and validate risk and resilience indices, models, early-warning and anticipatory action toolkits – with transparent documentation, uncertainty, and limits-of-use.Steward open digital public goods for risk – schemas, ontologies, reference datasets, playbooks, and open-source components that sovereigns and markets can build on.GCRI works alongside other independent Nexus institutions:GRF – multilateral governance and public assurance,GRA – capital architecture and risk-finance,NSF – protocol, standards and conformance,and with independent enterprise implementers that productise and operate the technology at scale. GCRI itself is mission-locked, non-profit, open-science and public-benefit-first (no fee-based membership, but a structured network of partners, fellows, and hosts).Role PurposeAs a Founding GCRI Council Board Member, you will:Govern, not manage. Build the centre, not just projects. Mobilise science, data and engineering, not just commentary.The Council Board’s mandate is to:Set GCRI’s mission, guardrails and strategy as the frontier international risk science and innovation centre;Ensure GCRI remains independent, technically excellent and globally relevant – never a captive tool of any single funder, country or vendor;Use its collective reach to bring in the institutions, talent, data, compute and funding partnerships required to make GCRI the default home for serious risk science.This is a governance and institution-building role, not an honorary seat. It is for senior leaders prepared to put time, reputation and networks behind a long-term public-interest project in risk science and innovation.Who We Are Looking ForWe are seeking senior leaders who already operate at scale and can bring real leverage – labs, networks, datasets, compute, funding and talent – into the room.ExperienceTypically 15+ years in one or more of:Research leadership in universities, public labs, national academies, space/meteorological/statistical agencies, or major research institutes;Data/AI, modelling, or analytics leadership in the context of climate, disaster, systemic, infrastructure or financial risk;R&D leadership roles in multilateral organisations, development banks, philanthropic foundations or large enterprises focused on risk, resilience or future systems;Design and governance of large-scale research programs, observatories, digital public goods or open-source platforms in fields relevant to global risk.Plus:Proven experience on boards, scientific councils, steering committees or high-level advisory bodies (scientific, technical, policy or multi-stakeholder).A clear track record of building or transforming institutions, coalitions or platforms, not only publishing within existing structures.Capabilities and MindsetStrategic and systems-oriented – comfortable connecting measurement, modelling, policy, capital, technology and operations.Builder mentality – willing to engage in the detailed work of designing research agendas, governance frameworks, data and ethics policies, and collaboration models that can scale and endure.Open-science and public-benefit orientation – committed to transparency, reproducibility, and equitable access to methods and tools, with a realistic understanding of constraints.Strong convening and communication skills – able to bring together scientists, engineers, policymakers, financiers, communities and industry, and move them from analysis to actionable designs.Long-term lens – understands that turning GCRI into the reference centre for frontier risk science and innovation is a decade-scale project.Eligibility and IndependenceHolds a full-time primary role (public, private, academic or multilateral) and can dedicate sustained time and attention to GCRI governance.Able to meet the eligibility criteria set out in the GCRI Charter for Council service (e.g., independence, integrity, professional good standing) ahead of nomination in Q1 2026.Willing to disclose all relevant interests and comply with strict conflict-of-interest, data-ethics and recusal policies, including clear firewalls where their home institution participates in GCRI-aligned programs.Not in a position where Council service would create unmanageable conflicts; any potential conflicts must be openly manageable through transparency, documented mitigations and recusal.If you recognise that the world’s current risk science and data infrastructure is not fit for the shocks ahead – and you have the mandate and appetite to help build the centre that will replace it – we invite you to step forward as a Founding Council Board Member of the Global Centre for Risk & Innovation (GCRI).