Chief Impact Officer (CIO)

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Position description

EIT Water is Europe’s innovation community for water, marine and maritime systems. It connects industry, innovators, researchers, educators and policymakers to tackle the most urgent water challenges from scarcity, drought and flooding to pollution and ecosystem decline. EIT Water is part of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), a body of the European Union.

Founded in 2026, EIT Water has eight regional hubs across Europe and a mandate to deliver systemic innovation from source to sea. EIT Water is now establishing the governance structures that will guide its first Strategic Agenda and long-term impact.

The Role

EIT Water is recruiting its inaugural Chief Impact Officer (CIO) in its start-up phase to shape and deliver the overarching impact vision, and ensure that the organisation generates measurable, large-scale societal, environmental, and economic outcomes aligned with its Strategic Agenda and the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) mission.

The CIO holds enterprise-wide accountability for impact strategy, performance, financial sustainability and value creation across the full EIT Water portfolio, integrating impact into all core pillars: education, innovation, business creation, and regional engagement. The CIO is also responsible for ensuring delivery of a high impact Regional Innovation Scheme (RIS) Strategy.

As a key strategic support to the CEO, the CIO drives system-level transformation, ensuring the EIT Water delivers both policy-aligned outcomes and long-term sustainable impact at scale. They will work in partnership with the CFOO who will ensure the organisation has the underlying infrastructure in place to deliver on the strategic objectives and impact and performance targets.

Application instructions

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