Director, Foundation Partnerships at Mercy Corps

The Position Description.

• Mercy Corps is recruiting for a Director, Foundation Partnerships, who can generate revenue and impact for Mercy Corps by developing and growing high-value relationships with both existing and new strategic donors with a presence in Africa. The successful candidate will have experience with and knowledge of philanthropy in East Africa. Their entrepreneurial mindset and belief in our mission will allow them to focus their time, energy, and insights on building best-in-class partnerships with leading foundations.
• The Director will 1) Raise funds for priority areas; 2) Grow existing global partnerships and develop new global and local ones that raise Mercy Corps’ profile on key priorities; and 3) Increase Mercy Corps’ profile and credibility as a 21st-century partner that can deliver breakthrough solutions which lead to social impact at scale.

Essential Responsibilities

• Develop and steward relationships with a portfolio of top foundation donors and prospects to significantly increase giving levels. Create development strategies for each partner, ensuring stakeholder buy-in and alignment with Mercy Corps’ priorities.
  • Actively steward and cultivate an existing portfolio of strategic foundation partners to develop and expand their giving.
  • Grow the foundation portfolio; identify, cultivate, solicit new donors, and deliver bold and significant partnerships with new foundation donors.
  • Identify and lead new business development to support the overall pipeline development of the foundation portfolio - including discovery conversations, qualification, solicitation, and follow up.
• Identify innovative ways to raise Mercy Corps’ profile and influence in East Africa across our key areas with top foundations, influencers, and affinity groups.
• Work collaboratively across regional and global teams to develop top-tier proposals and pitches and oversee reporting, mobilizing necessary internal and external resources to ensure all partnerships are effectively executed and partners’ needs are fully met.
• Effectively represent Mercy Corps to external audiences in the East Africa region and beyond for both fundraising and profile elevation. Prepare briefs and talking points for executive stewardship.
• As senior individual contributor, make a significant contribution to the development and implementation of Mercy Corps’ evolving multi-year foundation strategy as part of the broader resource development vision.
• Act as an internal expert on the philanthropic landscape, and channel the perspective of foundations in developing proposals and ideas with programmatic staff.
• Additional responsibilities as assigned.

Supervisory Responsibility
None.
Accountability
Reports Directly To: Sara Posada, Senior Director
Works Directly With: Africa Regional and Country Teams, Deputy Directors of Foundation Partnerships, Directors/Senior Managers of Foundation Partnerships, extendedCorporate and Foundations Partnerships team, key stakeholders in Development, Technical Support Unit, and program teams in over 40 countries.
Accountability to Participants and Stakeholders

• Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our program participants, community partners, other stakeholders, and to international standards guiding international relief and development work. We are committed to actively engaging communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring and evaluation of our field projects.

Minimum Qualifications & Transferable Skills

• At least 10 years' experience in global development, philanthropy, public policy advocacy, partnership/coalition development, or management consulting.
• At least 5 years' experience with donors and local and global stakeholders in East Africa.
• Demonstrated track record of fundraising success with major foundations or building strategic partnerships in a way that maximizes value for donor and recipient and builds profile with external audiences. Deep knowledge of the international relief, development, and philanthropic sectors.
• Experience mobilizing executives, senior stakeholders, and agency technical experts for strategic donor engagement.
• Strong written and oral communication skills for effective collaboration internally and successful proposals to donors.
• Strong organizational skills and the ability to create and follow timelines for complex relationship management, research, writing, and editing.
• Bachelors or Master's Degree in relevant field.