Partnerships Manager (Africa Program Fundraising) at Namati

About the Position

• Namati is entering a critical new phase. As we deepen our impact across the globe, we seek a strategic and relationship-driven Partnerships Manager to secure funding for Namati’s work in Africa.
• As Namati’s fundraising strategy evolves, we’re shifting much of our global Resource Mobilization (RM) team to prioritize multi-program and thematic awards spanning several countries or global initiatives. To complement this global team, we’re looking for a Manager to focus squarely on single-program awards for our programs in Kenya and Sierra Leone. That means cultivating funders whose interests are rooted in a specific country or a program, such as embassies, local offices of development agencies, and foundations funding in-country civil society initiatives.
• The Manager will drive the full lifecycle of program-specific fundraising, from prospect identification and cultivation to securing awards to stewarding relationships for longevity and growth. This role will report to the Senior Advisor for the time being.
• This is a unique opportunity for a skilled fundraiser to embed in the work of locally-rooted country teams, working side-by-side to resource their essential work during a time of global instability, while benefiting from close collaboration with a professional, global fundraising team.

Key Responsibilities include: 

Pipeline development & strategy

• Build and maintain a robust pipeline of funding opportunities for Namati’s programs in Africa, with particular attention to embassies, local foundations, global foundations with country-specific grantmaking strategy, and in-country offices of bilateral and multilateral agencies.
• Track donor trends and identify opportunities that align closely with near-term program priorities as well as supporting longer-term country strategies.
• Collaborate with U.S.-based colleagues to ensure program-specific fundraising complements and aligns with broader thematic and multi-country strategies.

Proposal development & reporting

• Lead the drafting, coordination, and submission of concept notes, proposals and reports for program-specific opportunities in tight collaboration with program and finance teams.
• Ensure compliance with donor requirements and internal processes, meeting all commitments to funders on time and at the highest quality.

Donor cultivation & stewardship

• Develop strong relationships across diverse stakeholders ranging from embassy staff to local donor representatives to foundation program officers, positioning Namati as a trusted partner.
• Represent Namati at external meetings, events, and donor convenings in Nairobi and (occasionally) Freetown or elsewhere, including regional or continental convenings such as the Africa Philanthropy Forum.
• Cultivate opportunities to build multi-country relationships with donor agencies whose embassies fund across more than one Namati country.

Internal collaboration 

• Work hand in hand with our Sierra Leone and Kenya program leads to understand their strategies, priorities, and funding needs, and to provide funding outlook insights to inform country strategy. 
• Support program teams to deeply understand donor goals and perspectives while ensuring that our fundraising efforts focus on aligning funders to our mission and values, rather than bending our programs to match funder priorities.
• Provide the RM team and global leadership with regular analysis of local trends, opportunities, and risks in African philanthropy and bilateral giving, highlighting emerging themes that could affect both program-specific and thematic fundraising.

Fundraising systems & learning

• Collaborate with fundraising operations team members to ensure timely entry of all proposals, opportunities, and donor interactions into Namati’s fundraising management systems (HubSpot, Asana, Google Drive).
• Monitor key pipeline and renewal metrics, ensuring that day-to-day fundraising efforts lead to measurable progress toward strategic fundraising goals. 
• Contribute to team-wide learning about effective program fundraising approaches, sharing insights about country programs and in-country donor landscapes with the global RM team. 

Here’s what you might have tackled last week:

• Drafted a proposal to the European Union delegation in Nairobi, in partnership with Namati Kenya’s Citizenship team, to strengthen inclusion of marginalized groups in civic processes related to elections.
• Traveled to Freetown to join the Sierra Leone team for a meeting with the Dutch Embassy, and helped craft a follow-up memo to secure an invitation to apply for a grant focused on strengthening community land tenure.
• Conducted prospect research in collaboration with fundraising operations team members to add new embassy opportunities to the fundraising pipeline, revising likelihood-of-success ratings and sharing new insights with colleagues in Asia who are pursuing similar embassy relationships.
• Partnered with the land, environment, and climate justice (LECJ) team in Kenya, as well as the finance team, to draft and refine a budget narrative for a $100,000 proposal for a U.S. funder.
• Attended a donor roundtable at the Canadian High Commission in Nairobi, and initiated follow-up conversations with three program officers about potential collaboration.
• Coordinated with U.S.-based RM team to ensure your chosen messaging for a Sierra Leone-specific proposal aligns with broader organizational communications and global funding strategies.

About You

Must-Haves

• Fundraising experience: At least 7 years of professional fundraising or business development experience in the nonprofit or development sector, with a strong track record of securing institutional awards in Africa.
• Deep familiarity with the African donor landscape, especially in East or West Africa.
• Relationship-builder: Demonstrated success cultivating relationships with embassies, foundations, or donor agencies with professionalism, warmth, and credibility.
• Program fluency: Capacity to quickly learn and speak compellingly about Namati’s varying strategies across our African country programs.
• Communication skills: Excellent writer and communicator, able to produce persuasive proposals and reports, and to adapt messaging to different audiences.
• Collaborative spirit: A team player who thrives on close collaboration with program and fundraising colleagues across countries and time zones.
• Organized and systems-oriented: Skilled at managing multiple projects simultaneously, meeting deadlines, and maintaining accurate records in shared systems.

Nice-to-Haves

• Prior experience in legal empowerment, human rights, or international development.
• Public speaking skills, including experience representing organizations at philanthropic or global policy events.

Location and Travel 

• This role will be based in Nairobi, Kenya, with occasional travel to Sierra Leone, other parts of Africa, and other global locations as required (approximately 10–15% of the time). When not traveling, the successful candidate will follow Namati’s hybrid work policy, which requires staff to work from the office two days per week.
• Candidates must already be legally eligible to work in Kenya; Namati is unable to sponsor a work permit for this role.
• The successful candidate will also be expected to occasionally work outside standard working hours to accommodate colleagues across different time zones, particularly as most of the members of the RM team are based in the United States.