Overview

BirdLife International is seeking to recruit an enthusiastic and experienced individual for the position of Fundraising and Development Officer. The main responsibility will be to lead fundraising efforts towards the realisation of the BirdLife conservation strategy and business plan for West Africa.

Responsibilities:

1.      Development, Implementation and monitoring of fundraising plans

·         Update fundraising plans in the Business Plan for West Africa (2019-2028) in consultation with relevant Secretariat staff and Partners.

·         Support integration of these fundraising plans into the regional Fundraising Plan for Africa (2019-2022).

·         Basing on the fundraising strategy for West Africa and in accordance with appropriate approvals, develop and lead implementation of annual fundraising plans.

·         Assess progress and populate relevant monitoring tables.

·         Provide regular updates on the fundraising effort, ensuring documentation and sharing of lessons learned to improve fundraising success.

2.      Undertake research and analysis to match fundraising objectives with donors

·         Establish and populate a donor database, , with new opportunities for West Africa to support fundraising efforts.

·         Review annual funding needs and using the donor database and other information sources, match them with potential donors.

·         For each targeted donor, develop approaches and plans to ensure that BirdLife submits proposals that meets the donor conditions. (This includes establishing contacts and avoiding cold submissions).

3.      Write project proposals to bring in resources for the BirdLife Partnership in West Africa

·         Based on the financing needs and working with Programme staff, prepare concepts into a fundraising catalogue.

·         When a suitable donor is identified, lead in developing proposals (including proposal writing) for projects ensuring efficiency and coordination among programme, administration, communications and finance management staff.

·         Ensure project proposals are well-written, aligned to BirdLife’s priorities, meet donor criteria/guidelines and cater adequately for their management costs.

·         Make timely contact with relevant staff to ensure that all procedures are adhered to before, during and after the submission of proposals to donors.

·         For an assigned set of donors, identify contacts and forge relationships with them, in order to assess their needs and guide the secretariat in meeting these needs.

4.      Identify and forge long-term relationships with existing and potential new donors, with a focus on institutional donors but not excluding corporate sector and HNWI:

·         Maintain fundraising support mechanisms, including donor account management, in consultation with existing donor account managers, and deliver regular communications with donors, to enhance the chances of long-term funding.

·         Develop and implement new ideas for short- and longer-term sustainable financing of the Secretariat and the Partnership.

5.      Support the development of capacity of the BirdLife Africa Partnership in fundraising

·         Support the Africa Fundraising Task Force to plan and monitor fundraising effort and ensure systematic coverage of the BirdLife Programmes and benefit to BirdLife Africa Partners.

·         Participate in training and information sharing to Partners and Secretariat staff to enhance their success in fundraising.

·         Provide regular ‘debriefs’ to the Secretariat staff about fundraising opportunities and how everybody can contribute to raising funds for the Partnership and Secretariat.

·         Participate in Organising fundraising workshops at Council for the Africa Partnership meetings.

·         Support Partners’ request for assistance with proposal development and reviews.

Any other duties assigned by the Fundraising Coordinator.

Required skills, experience and qualifications:

·         Relevant first degree BSc or equivalent experience.

·         Post graduate qualification in natural or social science; with a proven track record in project development, fundraising and management.

·         Good understanding of conservation and development issues in Africa.

·         Excellent knowledge of project planning; proposal writing; fundraising/marketing; donor relations management.

·         Demonstrable knowledge and experience in grant writing and donor management for environmental non-profit organisations.

·         Experience of researching funding opportunities from Bilateral agencies, Trusts, Foundations and Corporates.

·         High motivation, desire to achieve; attention to detail, excellent organisational skills, and ability to work to high standards with tight deadlines.

·         Team worker who can motivate others as well themselves.

·         Excellent written and oral communication skills (both French and English).

·         Flexibility and ability to work independently.

·         Ability to work with people with various levels of competence.

·         Computer literacy in all standard Microsoft office applications and social media.

·         Willingness to travel at short notice when required.

Application deadline: 03 March 2020

Location:

The position will be based in Dakar, Senegal.

Salary & benefits:

Commensurate with experience and qualifications and in accordance with BirdLife International, Africa Division terms and conditions.

·         Length/duration of this position: 2 years fixed term

·         Working hours: Full time 40 hours per week

Application:

Applications, including a covering letter summarizing the applicant’s suitability for the position, a detailed CV and names and contact addresses of three referees known to the applicant in a professional capacity, should be sent via email before the to: recruitment-west-africa@birdlife.org

Interviews:  Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.