Strategic Partnerships Manager at Lwala Community Alliance (LCA)

State date: February 2022

Background

Founded by a group of committed Kenyans, Lwala builds the capacity of rural communities to advance their own comprehensive well-being. We support communities to design, implement, and evaluate solutions to their most pressing health challenges. Then, we build coalitions of communities, health workers, government, and universities to generate evidence of impact and infuse these insights into the formal health system in Kenya and beyond. This bottom-up change promises holistic solutions that are custom-built for the systems they are meant to reform.

The Role

Lwala is growing our strategic partnership and business development capacities to meet organizational needs and fundraising goals. In the last five years, we have grown from $1.3 million to over $8 million in annual revenue, with support from private foundations, technical health funders, and individual donors. In order to implement our ambitious 2025 Strategy, we expect to raise $50m over this 5-year period. To support the organization in reaching this goal, we are hiring a Strategic Partnerships Manager based in Kenya who will steward relationships with key donors and partners, scope new funding opportunities, and lead the development of successful proposals. This role will report to Lwala’s Co-CEO based in US and will work closely with the Co-CEO based in Nairobi and the Communications and Development Manager based in Washington DC.

Key Responsibilities

The responsibilities of the Strategic Partnerships Manager include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Work with Co-CEOs and Communications & Development Manager on donor prospecting and organization positioning.
• Develop a cultivation strategy and relationship mapping for large technical funders, including USAID, other bi-laterals as well as partners positioned to prime technical awards.
• Build and maintain relationships with key partner organizations; position Lwala as a partner/sub-grantee of choice on community-led health
• Scope funding opportunities lead the development of proposals, with special attention to program narratives, work plans, milestones, and budgets; liaise with program staff on the design of new or expanded initiatives.
• Develop concept notes aligned to institutional funder priorities and use these concepts and other tools to attract new partnerships.
• Lead the development of coalition/consortium proposals, including the negotiation of scope, roles, and budget; lead networking and positioning on behalf of coalitions where Lwala is a member.
• Navigate due diligence and compliance processes, including for USAID and other high compliance donors.
• Partner with communications and advocacy staff to develop and execute a communication strategy that targets key partner organizations and funders
• Author content for communications materials, as needed, in support of the Communications & Development team.
• Support knowledge management around donor engagement and cultivation.
• Support the grants management team in managing technical grants and be the lead on such grants.
• Work with the Communication & Development team to update grants management dashboard and track progress toward overall fundraising goals.

Qualifications and Experience Required

• Bachelor’s degree in a related field (e.g. public health, business development, health systems management). Master’s degree is preferred.
• Ten years of relevant, professional experience, including four years of experience related to strategic partnerships and business development.
• Knowledge of the funding landscape for health and development in Kenya, including existing relationships with key partners and donors. Knowledge of/experience with USAID bids is a plus.
• Demonstrated ability to develop winning proposals, including the ability to facilitate communication between program staff and leadership about program design, objectives, and milestones.
• Experienced relationship builder, with demonstrated ability to cultivate donors and build strong partnerships with implementing organizations.
• Demonstrated ability to communicate (orally and in writing) complex issues in a concise, compelling, and easily understandable manner.
• Ability to work in a highly collaborative environment and cross-disciplinary team and regularly take meetings outside of normal business hours to connect with colleagues in the United States.
• Strong desire and aptitude to manage people in the future.
• Ability to work independently with minimal direction and under tight deadlines.
• Maturity to tolerate nuance, handle competing priorities, multiple reporting relationships and communicate with executive-level leadership and a global audience.
• Process-oriented with capacity to develop and drive work plans and meet deadlines.
• Proficiency working with Microsoft Office including Excel and Google Suite.
• Must be a creative and strategic thinker, problem solver with good judgment, strong communicator, with excellent written, presentation, oral communications in English and interpersonal skills.
• Based in Kenya, with the ability to travel between Nairobi and Migori County.

What we offer

• Competitive salary with opportunity to grow
• Full benefits package including medical, vision, dental and group life plan
• Contributory pension scheme
• Annual leave of up to 22 days
• Exposure to global collaborators and opportunities to travel internationally
• Room to innovate and challenge systems
• A fun, collaborative and fast-paced working environment