Chief of Staff - Business Development at One Acre Fund

Job Description

The Team

One Acre Fund is looking for an exceptional professional to join our Business Development team, as the organization continues an exciting period of fast growth. One Acre Fund aspires to be the worlds largest and most impactful non-profit organization. To a large extent, the future growth of One Acre Fund in the next ten years will hinge on our ability to mobilize resources and put them in service to rural farmers.

One Acre Fund will raise over $80 million USD in 2019, becoming one of just a few hundred nonprofits founded in the past few decades to achieve this milestone, and in doing so, will fuel our field program to end chronic hunger for at least 900,000 farm families with over 3 million children. One Acre Funds unique model matches $1 of raised revenue with $3-4 of farmer revenue in our core program; fundraising also supports innovation and corporate expenses.

The Position

This role will report directly to the Business Development Lead, and represents a senior leadership role on the team. This position will provide oversight of the day-to-day running of the department and strategic input on team structure, systems, and portfolio. Strong candidates must have excellent communication and management skills, be highly organized, and be capable of expertly handling a large, complex scope of people and funding projects.

This role will work with the Team Lead and senior fundraisers to pursue an $80M+ annual fundraising portfolio, made up of donors from across the public, institutional, and individual donor segments. One Acre Fund is fortunate to work with some of the worlds most innovative global funding partners, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Global Innovation Fund, IKEA Foundation, Skoll Foundation, Virgin Unite, USAID-DIV, and DGIS, to name a few. Our diverse funding partners represent high stewardship responsibility, and this role must be able to collaborate across our writing, finance, and compliance teams to support responsible management of our dynamic portfolio.

Specific responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

40% of your time:

• Support day-to-day team oversight: The Business Development Lead oversees the global fundraising team (~28 FTE across three continents), managing the departments work across all fundraising activities, including: prospecting, proposal-writing (project design), deal-closing, and grant management. The Chief of Staff will be deployed to provide day-to-day oversight in all these areas, including:
  • Prospecting: Work with team members to design and evaluate research projects - to analyze new geographies and markets, identify new donors, and unlock new network-building opportunities - to build our pipeline of future funding prospects.
  • Proposal and report writing: Work with Creative (writing team) to design compelling grant proposals and reports. While this role will not directly write grants, we are looking for a candidate with strong writing skills, and the proven ability to communicate complicated ideas in a clear, simple, and inspiring way.
  • Donor meetings and presentations: Work with senior fundraisers to ensure thoughtful and strategic donor interactions, via strategy consult, meeting prep advice, talking point review, and presentation review.
  • Portfolio analysis and strategy: Work with Team Lead to evaluate and prioritize growing pipeline of new funding opportunities, and design strategies for pursuing.

40% of your time:

• Team-Wide Initiatives: Directly support the Team Lead in designing and executing high-value team-wide initiatives, including annual budgeting, team hiring, managing and reviewing team-wide systems/structures, and pushing forward key process innovations and improvements.

20% of your time:

• Strategic Input: Directly design and manage the Business Development annual OKRs (Objectives and Key Results), working through and with other leaders on the team. Additionally, contribute to the long-term fundraising strategy in collaboration with the Team Lead, the CEO, and senior fundraisers on the team.

Career Growth and Development

We have a strong culture of constant learning and we invest in developing our people. Youll have weekly check-ins with your manager, access to mentorship and training programs, and regular feedback on your performance. We hold career reviews every six months, and set aside time to discuss your aspirations and career goals. Youll have the opportunity to shape a growing organization and build a rewarding long-term career.

Qualifications

The ideal candidate will have robust senior leadership experience, with 10+ years of relevant background in fundraising and people management. They should be able to demonstrate a track record of fundraising success and the ability to deliver through others.

Candidates who fit the following criteria are strongly encouraged to apply:

• Likely holds an undergraduate or graduate degree in economics, communications, business, and/or international development/policy subjects;
• Speaks the language of business and non-profits/social enterprises. Our donors are looking for someone with business fluency (can communicate financial sustainability, return on investment, impact per donor dollar, etc.).
• 10+ years of relevant background in fundraising and people or team management.
• Passion for and demonstrated experience in international development or the social sector more broadly.
• Familiarity with Salesforce or other CRMs/donor databases a plus.
• Values fit. We put a high premium on values. We want someone who has a true service orientation and humility someone that puts our farmers before themselves.
• Strong interpersonal skills and people-orientation. We are seeking someone who wants to spend their day collaborating across a large team.