Director, Foundations MENA

Location:Amman, Jordan; London, UK; or other European cities where IRC is registered

Reports to:  Vice President, International Development

Department: International Development, Global Partnerships and Philanthropy

Salary: Competitive salary

Background/IRC Summary:  

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises and helps people to survive and rebuild their lives. Founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein, the IRC offers lifesaving care and life-changing assistance to refugees forced to flee from war or disaster. At work today in over 40 countries and 28 U.S. cities, we restore safety, dignity and hope to millions who are uprooted and struggling to endure. The IRC leads the way from harm to home.

IRC's Global Partnerships and Philanthropy (GPP) department is responsible for the global delivery of the International Rescue Committee’s private sector resources (financially contributing circa USD200m per annum, as well as key partnerships and influence that support our mission), and plays an important strategic role in the creation of IRC’s brand, awareness and support for its advocacy goals.

The IRC's strategy centers on its ambition to continue to improve the scale and effectiveness of IRC programs worldwide with evidence of what works best to impact people’s lives in conflict and fragile settings. GPP comprises colleagues and teams delivering marketing, account management, leadership gifts, board liaison, corporate partnerships, brand stewardship and communications to support this work.  These colleagues are primarily located in the USA at present – but IRC plans to significantly expand its global fundraising footprint.  Other colleagues within IRC are also deeply engaged with private funding & partners – in particular within Europe, US Resettlement and field programmes – and we need to work in close integrated collaboration to ensure best use of resources and highest impact for IRC.

GPP has begun delivering a new radical and ambitious 2020 Private Sector Engagement strategy that will enhance IRC’s ability to ‘punch above its weight’ in income, partnership and awareness. At the same time – believing that the root of our success lies in a high performance team and culture - we need to build our internal infrastructure, ensure we build a strong global team, a dynamic culture, a forward thinking ethos, and establish 21st century analytics, reporting, operational and business management practices that will help us achieve our ambitious goals.

Job Overview/Summary:

IRC maintains a growing portfolio of Gulf-based partners, primarily in UAE, KSA, Qatar and Kuwait in support of its global programmatic work. To explore a wider range of opportunities, as well as to improve its current partnerships management, the Organization seeks to employee a top-tier professional to lead its engagement with the private-sector in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries.

The selected candidate will be tasked with both upholding IRC’s existing portfolio as well as crafting, devising and executing in-country as well as regional strategies to cultivate, solicit, and steward donors and prospects with the capacity to give 5 and 6+ figure leadership gifts (corporates, foundations, High-Net-Worth Individuals). The Director will work closely with colleagues in the region as well as globally as well as IRC senior staff and its leadership.

Reporting to the Vice President, International Development, the Director, Foundation MENA, serves a critical role in helping to develop and implement IRC’s Gulf Strategy. S/he will be expected to understand the needs and performance of donors and prospects, communicate and collaborate superbly with colleagues, business partners and supporters, think strategically, make recommendations, offer creative solutions and manage systems to continually grow and improve the IRC’s donor relationships and driving the organization’s strategy in the GCC region for engagement with the private sector.

Major Responsibilities:

• Cultivate, solicit, and steward a high-risk portfolio of leadership donors and prospects;
• Craft, implement, and execute strategies to engage current and expand GCC-based portfolios of leadership donors;
• Build a strong fundraising structure including a prospect pipeline and donor giving tracks within the GCC countries to support IRC’s global programming;
• Work with IRC’s senior leadership, program staff, and relevant colleagues across IRC to build compelling cases for philanthropic investment and engagement opportunities for donors and prospects;
• Establish and maintain a quick and steady pace of communications and face-to-face visits and track progress utilizing Salesforce and other software applications;
• Lead one Officer (and indirectly oversee an Account Manager, led directly by the Officer) focused on the MENA portfolio.
• Undertake special projects as requested.

Key Working Relationships:

Position Reports to:  Vice President, International Development; 
Position directly supervises:  Officer, MENA

Indirect Reporting: N/A
Other Internal and/or external contacts:

Internal: Collaborate with International Development Team in NY on solicitation and cultivation materials, invitations, and tracking; to develop strategy for leadership donors and on portfolio management.  Receive materials from International Program and Regional/Country-office

External:  IRC donors and prospects. Collaborate with IRC senior leadership to develop an overarching vision for global HNWI support at the IRC, articulating that vision to key constituencies in order to encourage and develop a cross-functional, multi-location culture of effective and innovative engagement;

Job Requirements:

Education: Bachelor’s degree required; master’s degree a plus.

Work Experience:

8 years of progressive non-profit fundraising experience and demonstrated expertise in leadership gifts fundraising. 

Demonstrated Skills and Competencies:

• Excellent oral and written communication skills; Arabic would be an asset; previous experience in Gulf-based fundraising would be a strong advantage.
• Ability to interpret a broad vision and translate it into actionable steps to drive projects forward;
• Strong Microsoft Office skills, including Word and Excel;
• Demonstrated database management skills;
• Excellent organizational and time management skills;
• A high level of energy, self-confidence, initiative, and follow-through;
• Ability to work effectively in a team environment as well as take initiative independently;
• Ability to multi-task in response to shifting priorities;
• Commitment to respect and maintain confidentiality of donor information;
• Interest in global humanitarian work is preferred; and MUST include explanation of your interest in your cover letter.

Language Skills:  English-mandatory; Arabic an asset.

Certificates or Licenses: Driver’s License

Working Environment: 

Regional travel would be required, with occasional international travel to NY and/or other field locations as needed.