The Rainforest Alliance is creating a more sustainable world by using social and market forces to protect nature and improve the lives of farmers and forest communities. To achieve our mission, we partner with diverse allies around the world to drive positive change across global supply chains and in many of our most critically important natural landscapes.

Our alliance spans 70 countries and includes farmers and forest communities, companies, governments, civil society, and millions of individuals. Together we work to protect forests and biodiversity, take action on climate, and promote the rights and improve the livelihoods of rural people.

As an international nonprofit organization with more than 30 years of experience in sustainability transformation, we understand that the social and economic well-being of rural communities is tightly connected to ecosystem health. This knowledge has shaped our rigorous programs to advance sustainable land-use and commodity production.

At the Rainforest Alliance we combat climate change, protect forests and biodiversity, promote human rights, and improve livelihoods. The enormity of the social and environmental challenges we are facing requires working together in a broad alliance. This is why we bring farmers, forest communities, companies, and consumers together to change the way the world produces, sources, and consumes.

Why

To protect nature and improve lives it’s becoming increasingly urgent that we approach the way we use our land and produce food and other products in more sustainable ways. For this to succeed we need to fundamentally change the way that businesses operate and source, and the choices we all make as consumers.

How

Our growing global alliance aims to transform our relationship with our natural resources and each other, to create a better future for people and nature together.

The Rainforest Alliance encourages diversity and inclusion across the global organization. With this commitment to diversity, we are proud to be an equal opportunity employer and do not discriminate on the basis of gender, race, color, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, ages, disability and any other protected group.

Position summary:

Working as part of an international team of fundraising professionals, the Manager, Institutional Relations, West and Central Africa is responsible for fundraising with institutional donors (multilateral and bilateral agencies, corporate and private foundations) for Rainforest Alliance Programme priorities in the region. The Manager will coordinate with regional teams to manage the fundraising portfolio, leading and/or facilitating donor prospecting, cultivation, stewardship, and reporting. Locally based in one of three priority countries (Cote d’ Ivoire, Cameroon, or Ghana), this role is part of both the West and Central Africa regional team and the global Institutional Relations team, and will report to the Senior Director, West and Central Africa with a matrixed reporting line to the Senior Manager, Institutional Relations. This role will coordinate closely with a Manager, Institutional Relations, East and Southern Africa region to align funding strategies for Africa, and work in partnership with the Global Institutional Relations (IR) team.

 

The IR Manager will proactively lead institutional fundraising in West and Central Africa, coordinating with the Global IR team and program colleagues to ensure that regional fundraising targets are met. This includes linking global and regional priorities and funding strategies, building and monitoring a funding pipeline, facilitating or leading engagement with donors and partners, creating persuasive messages and materials for communications, and assisting/leading with the development and submission of proposals and reports. Maintaining a strategic portfolio of institutional donors and donor prospects, the IR Manager will develop and regularly update a region-wide engagement plan, ensuring timely follow-up actions, and helping to further strengthen relationships with key institutional donor and partner contacts in the region. The incumbent will work closely with senior program staff to develop compelling proposals, build creative funding partnerships, and support reporting and donor stewardship. The IR Manager will engage staff from across the organization, such as programs, global compliance, markets, themes and sectors, and finance staff in the development of detailed funding proposals at the six- and seven-figure level. The IR Manager will be expected to directly cultivate potential new funder relationships and pursue creative solutions to maximize new partnerships with donors and companies, cultivating an understanding of Rainforest Alliance’s strategic priorities and programmatic capabilities with relevant donors.

Responsibilities:

• The Rainforest Alliance’s Core Values are Impact, Change, Collaboration, Openness and Trust and as such they form the basis of the behaviours we demonstrate.
• Proactively identify new funding resources consistent with the organization’s revenue goals for restricted funding and strategic priorities, in close collaboration with the Senior Manager, Institutional Relations and Regional Managers;
• Work in close collaboration with colleagues globally to coordinate, write, adapt and edit high impact proposals and concept notes to institutional funders for field projects in Rainforest Alliance’s focal geographies in West and Central Africa;
• Lead selected proposal development processes, including development of workplans, budgets, and coordination and participation in technical design as needed;
• Serve as an internal key point of contact in the region, collaborating closely with the Institutional Relations team, and the Program staff in the region, on a day-to-day basis;
• Serve as a point of contact between Rainforest Alliance and key institutional donors, representing the organization through in-person meetings, phone calls, and written communications to advance funding opportunities;
• Coordinate closely with Institutional Relations team, as well as program staff throughout the region, to ensure effective alignment of fundraising strategies with country strategies and successful execution of donor cultivation strategies and engagement plans;
• Work in close collaboration with regional managers to identify private sector opportunities and follow through on the elaboration of proposals;
• Manage fundraising data for the West and Central Africa Program by ensuring it is up to date and accurate within database, and produce monthly reports;
• Support development of high-quality reports for selected institutional donors, ensuring consistency with donor requirements and coordination with global grants management team;
• Develop deep collaborative bonds with colleagues across functional areas, particularly field teams with whom proposals and reports will be produced jointly and under tight time constraints;
• Support grants management for projects executed in West and Central Africa;
• Build awareness by representing Rainforest Alliance at relevant conferences and events; and
• Other responsibilities as assigned.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree required, Master’s degree preferred, from Business Administration, Social Study or other relevant disciplines;
• Minimum of seven years’ institutional development experience with at least 3 in a large global organisation;
• Knowledge of natural resource management and/or agriculture commodity production or trade and/or development themes in the region is strongly preferred;
• Fluency in French and English is required; must have excellent English and French written and verbal skills and be able to create content for different audiences.
• Must be detail oriented, resourceful, and able to work independently in a fast-paced environment and under tight time constraints;
• Significant experience working with bilateral/multilateral donors, the private sector, and foundations, including building relationships with new donors;
• A track record successfully leading six- and seven-figure institutional funding proposals;
• Clear ability to understand and articulate complex programmatic material in a detailed manner both internally and externally, and to audiences with different levels of background in these areas;
• Excellent interpersonal and relationship building skills;
• Experience working as part of a cross-functional, global team;
• Ability to collaborate, advise, persuade, engage, and support resolution of complex and sensitive issues with internal and external stakeholders at different levels and of different cultural backgrounds;
• Familiarity with proposal budgets and grant financial reports, as related to proposal development and donor reporting;
• Strong research and computer skills required (Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, project management systems);
• Experience with Salesforce or similar databases preferred; and
• Ability to travel within the region as needed.

Salary: Commensurate with experience.

 

Job LEVEL: Level 3

 

Deadline: July 21, 2023

 

Notes: Only candidates authorized to work in Cote d’ Ivoire, Cameroon, or Ghana will be considered.