Institutional Funding Manager

Institutional Funding Manager

Permanent

Start date: October 2017

Who we are: The Tony Blair Institute for Global Change

The Tony Blair Institute for Global Change is a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to making globalisation work for the many, not the few.

We offer new thinking and new approaches to addressing some of the most intractable problems leaders today are wrestling with.

The Institute works to provide policy and strategy in support of a vision of globalisation designed to improve the well-being of the people, economically, politically, and socially. Our focus is on tackling the big challenges which hold such a vision of globalisation back:

• Poor governance which stops the benefits of globalisation being shared because countries cannot build the institutional strength and resilience to transform their situation and deliver for their people
• Extremism which stops the co-existence and cultural open-mindedness essential for social integration
• Conflict which entrenches sectarianism and paralyses progress, particularly in the Middle East
• Western politics which is in urgent need of a new agenda to provide radical but sensible answers to the new challenges presented by globalisation, technology, and the rise of a new false populism

Role Summary

With an exciting agenda in place, the Institute aims to strengthen its fundraising operation so that it can support its ongoing development, growth and expanding influence. We are looking to recruit an Institutional Funding Manager to join our growing team in London to help lead this effort, and diversify our donor base to include a broad range of bilateral and multilateral agencies and Foundations. As a member of the Institute, you will be joining an international staff community of c.200 people, based in 4 continents.

Working across the Institute, you will help position the organisation for contracts and grants directly with bilateral and multilateral aid donors and indirectly through consortia or frameworks suppliers. You will work with the leadership, project heads, finance and others to secure funds, running the process starting from opportunity capture, leading bid writing, to award.

This is a hands on role with plenty of opportunity to shape the Institute’s approach to Institutional funding and for personal growth. The role includes partnership outreach and management, leading on the development of narrative reports and broader grant compliance, managing donor relationships and providing support to special projects. Above all, we are looking for someone with strong writing skills, who is able to engagingly communicate the progress and impact the Institute aims to achieve.

The successful candidate will thrive in a start-up atmosphere and have a creative and entrepreneurial attitude, and proven experience of successfully securing and managing large grants.

Key Responsibilities

1. Business Development
   • Work with colleagues including Director of External Affairs to prepare Donor Engagement Plans;
   • Lead on research and tracking of potential grant and contract opportunities including with close coordination with Programme teams;
   • Produce and regularly update a comprehensive mapping of all relevant donor opportunities (by sector and geography), anticipate future trends and donor expectations, consult with donors on their planning and build an intelligence based approach for the Institute;
   • Help programmes develop relationships with local representatives of the donors in your portfolio, including briefings and field visits as necessary;
   • Acquiring an in-depth knowledge of the Institute’s programme portfolio including regular travel to project countries to develop a compelling case for support.
2. Proposal Development
   • Lead proposal development for donors/prospects and support cross-organisational teams to respond to funding opportunities
   • Collaborate with and travel to project countries when required to work with the Institute’s country teams to design effective proposals and to devise budgets;
   • Ensure all compliance issues are addressed including consulting and implementing go/no-go, consortium engagement, quality control on budgets, proposal logical models and M&E;
   • Support Fundraising team by preparing proposals for other donors (corporates, Foundations, etc.) as required;
   • Support contract development, negotiations, execution, corporate requirements on cost-recovery are met by liaising with relevant colleagues in Finance and Legal.
3. Donor and Partner Relations
   • Build successful, proactive relationships which align donors’ priorities with programme needs;
   • Ensure successful on-going donor relationships and ‘ownership’ of relations with donor representatives and oversight of other donor relationships;
   • Act as POC for bid partner organisations in your portfolio and work with relevant colleagues to maintain relationships as required;
   • Coordinating reporting with the relevant teams including finance and programme teams and ensuring compliance with grant/contract terms as well as maintain grant/contract management schedule.
4. Other
   • Work with other fundraising staff including Head of Philanthropy and Partnerships to strengthen the capacity of staff and their ability to generate income and report on grant-funded programmes and projects;
   • Work with Fundraising and Finance teams to ensure a strong grants and contracts monitoring system in terms of projections and forecasting.
   • Ensure all program funding documentation is kept up to date and appropriately on the Institute’s CRM.

Domestic UK and international travel is required.

Person Specification

Qualifications, Education and Training

• Bachelor’s Degree in international relations/development/business, or a related field (Desirable/ Master’s Degree in related field)

Experience

• A minimum of two years’ experience working on international donor proposals/program funding initiatives;
• A proven track record of successfully securing, managing and monitoring large and complex grants from multilateral and bilateral development agencies is essential. Experience of successfully fundraising from USAID, EU, SIDA and NORAD, desirable;
• Knowledge of approaches to monitoring and evaluation and logical frameworks is desirable;
• Demonstrated experience writing donor-funded technical proposals, ideally in the governance, economic growth, state-building and stability sectors;
• Prior experience working or studying in developing countries, desirable.

Competencies & Skills

• Fluency in written and spoken English is essential (with French/Mandarin/Arabic desirable) and excellent editing skills;
• Strong numeracy and analytical ability, with ability to understand and design complex budgets;
• Excellent organizational skills, with the ability to meet deadlines under pressure and manage multiple tasks and competing priorities;
• Strong computer skills and ability to learn new systems easily; proficiency in Microsoft Office;
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills, problem-solving attitude, and ability to work both independently and as a collaborative team player
• Experience in knowledge management systems (experience with Salesforce and SharePoint desirable)

How to apply

In order to apply you are required to complete an online application form which includes uploading your CV and cover letter (collated into one document and no longer than 2 pages each). You will also be required to complete a 300 word statement explaining your suitability to the role and organization.

To apply please visit our website and apply through the careers portal via the link.

The deadline for applications is 12th October 2017 (9am GMT). Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis and we may start to interview successful candidates before the deadline, so please do not hesitate to apply early!