Heifer International is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, status as a protected veteran, among other things, or status as a qualified individual with disability.
FUNCTION
The Managing Director for Institutional Partnerships is responsible to lead Heifer’s global strategic partnerships as a collaborating partner with the Area Senior VPs of Programs, to achieve Heifer’s Mission in Asia, Africa, and the Americas with institutional donors. This position will help guide a mission-driven organizational approach to strategic partnership development that contributes to Area SVPs revenue strategies and approaches that is responsive to Heifer’s strategic approach to end hunger and poverty while caring for the earth. This position will develop and conceptualize the scope of potential new work and cultivate opportunities to position the organization for greater impact with revenue generation. This position will represent Heifer in Washington, DC, and will have direct oversight of the administrative functions at Heifer’s DC-based office that support staff from varied departments.
ESSENTIAL CHARACTER TRAITS
The Managing Director, Institutional Partnerships shall be able to understand the business agenda, interest, concerns, and priorities of potential partners; be able to tactfully and diplomatically navigate at the different organizational levels to identify, cultivate, and develop partnership relationships that may result in new opportunities for the organization.
- Impeccable interpersonal communication skills, both verbal and written.
- Ability to support, cultivate, and anticipate future business opportunities.
- Exceptional project management and leadership skills
- Ability to absorb, retain, and accurately represent Heifer’s methods and theory of change.
- Ability to thrive in a fast-paced organization; enthusiastic, entrepreneurial, “can do” attitude.
- A strong track record of project development, nonprofit leadership, and strategic outreach and engagement.
- High energy, collaborative, a leader with outstanding interpersonal skills, enthusiastic relationship-builder, and a strong negotiator.
- Player-coach capable of nurturing individuals, at the same time as being an energetic team builder across departments and a global organization.
- Courageous, self-aware change leader with resilience in developing strategy, processes, and people.
- Perceptive acuity in reading and interpreting the changing funding and financing landscape – both globally, and in regional and local contexts.
RESPONSIBILITIES & DELIVERABLES
A. Shape institutional revenue strategy, staffing, processes, and align with Area SVP’s revenue strategies that support Heifer to achieve scale in line with the Sustainable Development Goals and Agenda 2030 (40%)
- Execute strategy to develop and implement cohesive short, medium, and long-term strategy for resource mobilization from institutional donor base in Washington DC that compliments SVP revenue and donor engagement strategies.
- Meet revenue projected annually for institutional sources to support Heifer’s long-term growth and scale, leveraging additional sources of Heifer funding and partnerships.
- Integrate with regional area teams for responsiveness to local national opportunities.
- Integrate with Tier 1 Foundations and where appropriate private sector lead to leverage resources needed to win instructional funding which will contribute to heifer reaching scale in signature programming
B. Collaborate with the Proposal Design Hub as it relates to technical programmatic expertise and program management to influence and shape an emerging, globally integrated function that is creative, flexible, innovative and collaborative across structure lines, in service of impact and scale (20%)
- Design and implement a strategic, results-oriented, and coordinated approach to the mobilization of significant resources for each area.
- Capture trending methodologies and approaches from key DC-based donors that Proposal Design Hub can integrate with Area SVP field staff.
- Identify key partnership opportunities for regional program areas to ensure the sustainability of Heifer’s approach.
C. Represent Heifer in the DC donor environment, marketing to institutional donors while managing relationships with key donors and stakeholders (25%)
- Position Heifer in the key markets of Washington DC-based on past performance and a growing evidence base of impact with smallholder farmers.
- Identify trends in the funding environment and proactively adapt strategies for positioning Heifer competitively. Build on Heifer’s existing networks and open new large and influential partnerships with bilateral and multilateral donors (e.g. USAID, USDA, EU, DFID, IFAD, World Bank.), research and technical partners, and partner INGOs.
- Actively liaise with internal and external partners.
- Develop external materials, resources and messages tailored to specific constituencies and target to existing and potential donors.
D. Manage administrative tasks for Heifer’s DC office (10%)
- Manage appropriately to support varied teams within the DC office
E. May perform other job-related duties as assigned (5%)
Minimum Requirements
Bachelor’s degree in business development, international development, or a related field, plus seven (7) years of related experience. A minimum of four (4) years in a supervisory capacity. Must have work experience as a New Business development professional with existing strong business development networks among bilateral and multilateral donors (e.g. USAID, USDA, EU, DFID, IFAD, World Bank), technical, and research partners and other INGOs. Successful experience in leveraging private sector funds to win institutional funding and a proven track record of leading proposal development processes and successfully securing large scale funding and awards to support impactful growth in mission programs.
Preferred Requirements
- Master’s degree in international development or a related field with at least three (3) years of experience in international development with a focus on business development.
- At least 5 years in a similar role. Experience in policy, programmatic and administrative functions, experience in business development and partnership building, and exposure to developing countries is essential.
- Speak Spanish and/ French.
- Have lived abroad and managed institutional donor projects in the past.
- Have supervised staff at a satellite office.
Most Critical Proficiencies
- Experienced in business development with pre-existing strong networks among bilateral and multilateral donors (e.g. USAID, USDA, EU, DFID, IFAD, World Bank.)
- Experience in brokering public and private partnerships
- Ability and strong proven experience in spotting an opportunity and closing deals in business and proposal bids.
- Knowledge and experience in complex partnerships that include multiple partners and donors – with multiple and sometimes competing interests.
- High energy, collaborative, a leader with outstanding interpersonal skills, enthusiastic relationship-builder, and a strong negotiator.
- Change leader with demonstrated persistence and resilience when things go wrong and the ability to get things back on track.
- Leadership and supervisory skills, with the ability to provide others with a clear direction and motivation; and provide staff with development opportunities and coaching.
- Strong analytical skills including the ability to synthesize complex or diverse quantitative and qualitative information from a wide range of sources.
- Superlative problem-solving skills: identifying and resolving problems in a timely manner; gathering and analyzing information skillfully; using strong rationale even when dealing with difficult topics.
- Knowledge of global sustainable development; including the understanding of components of Heifers’ program model to address hunger and poverty - community-led development, livestock, agriculture value chains, inclusive market systems, environmental conservation, and a commitment to the resource poor.
- Experience in forming new partnerships, alliances and relationships that integrate private sector partnerships, local community funds, innovative financing, and impact investment.
- Passion for justice and change, coupled with strong business acumen and a pragmatic grasp of Heifer’s context – community-led development, livestock, agriculture value chains, inclusive market systems, environmental conservation, and a commitment to the resource poor.
Essential Job Functions and Physical Demands
- Ability to negotiate effectively by exploring a range of possibilities.
- Ability to serve as Thought Leader in technical areas of Heifer competence in industry conferences to promote the findings of Heifer’s work
- Ability to prepare and present speeches/presentations, reports, business correspondence, and articles for publication that conform to prescribed style and format with superior attention to detail.
- Constant face-to-face, telephone, and electronic communication with colleagues and the public.
- Proven interpersonal and communication skills with the ability to relate to individuals and groups diplomatically and tactfully.
- Proven team leadership and management skills with the ability to train and work cooperatively with a diverse staff, both centralized and decentralized.
- Willingness and ability to work outside of normal business hours, including within business hours that are regular in other time zones worldwide.
- Ability to perform multiple tasks and work with constant interruptions yet deliver results on time.
- Adequate physical condition necessary to walk to project sites in rural areas if needed.
- Ability to support Heifer’s mission, Cornerstones Model, and values.
- Willingness and ability to travel extensively, both domestically and abroad.