Closing date November 30, 2023
The position

To develop, implement, and manage a robust resource mobilisation strategy, aligning with the AKF regional and global strategy and best practices, AKF East Africa is looking for a dynamic thought leader, with a flexible mindset, and agility in executing iterative, highly participative, and consultative processes involving multi-stakeholders. The Partnerships Director will be a key interface with all AKF regional partners, including donors, government, implementing partners, civil society organisations, private companies, and AKDN agencies.

Key responsibilities include:

Securing funding, brokering new relationships, and strengthening existing ones with bilateral, multilateral, foundations, and corporate donors

Pipeline development, management, and tracking: build and track a pipeline of funding opportunities, and manage them from early opportunities, through to signing of agreements and project initiation.
Concept and proposal development: coordinate, facilitate, and lead the development process, review, and quality assurance of concept notes and full proposals for funding opportunities.
Contracting and negotiations: coordinate and lead processes of contracting and negotiation, engaging relevant stakeholders, in a timely and efficient way.
Building strategic partnerships

Donor landscaping and analysis: research, scan, and source relevant information regarding new donors and funding opportunities to identify potential funding matches and gather donor intelligence.
Donor engagement and positioning: engage with new and existing donors and partners to identify new funding opportunities and consistently following up scanning for competitive funding opportunities. Develop positioning materials to enable effective donor engagement.
Building strategic partnerships: work with AKF Regional CEO, country teams, AKDN agencies, and GPT to identify, build, and support strategic partnerships.
Ensuring first-class grant management:

Donor relationship management: interface with donors and communicating on a regular basis about the implementation of on-going grants to ensure solid relationships.
Contractual amendments and adaptations: coordinate contractual amendments, changes, and project adaptations, engage with donors in a pro-active and diplomatic way, and flag potential changes in advance to ensure smooth project implementation.
Influencing development and communicating practical lessons and result:

Building awareness and strengthening stakeholder relationships: engage with the communications lead to identify opportunities for promoting AKF and AKDN’s work by supporting the development of content, convening and participating at events, positioning AKF as a ‘thought leader’ in development.
Disseminating Insights: Disseminate lessons learned and achievements, ensuring that practical results are communicated effectively, deepening relationships with key partners and donors, and reinforcing AKF's leadership in the development field.
Provide supervision and people management to the partnerships team

Day-to-day management of teams: Provide proper supervision and management for direct reports and lead the establishment and functioning of a strong, effective and coordinated partnerships team.
Collaboration with Regional Senior Leadership Team (SMT): play an integral role within the Regional SMT, and contribute to the development and execution of strategies to strengthen the organization.
Engagement with the Governance Team: interface closely with the governance team, with responsibilities encompassing reporting, preparation of governance materials, and enhancing awareness among the governance team regarding the partnership landscape.
The requirements

Qualifications & Skills

Master’s degree in a relevant field highly preferable
Ability to set and lead vision in alignment with AKDN/AKF values and strategic plan
Creativity, critical thinking, and project management
Must be an entrepreneurial, pro-active self-starter with maturity and emotional intelligence
Ability to problem-solve, work independently and multi-task in a fast-paced environment with numerous and competing deadlines