Overview

BirdLife Europe and Central Asia is the European and Central Asian Division of BirdLife International, and is one of the six regional offices of BirdLife International, a global Partnership of autonomous, national non-governmental conservation organisations, with a large grassroots membership in 120 countries and territories

BirdLife’s mission is to conserve wild birds, their habitats and global biodiversity, by working with people towards sustainability in the use of natural resources.

BirdLife has an international team of permanent staff covering conservation and science, policy and advocacy, capacity building, fundraising, communication, finance and administration supporting the 48 European and Central Asia Birdlife Partners.

We are looking for a dynamic and digital savvy Fundraising Officer with commitment and capacity to grasp and respond to the variety of strategic fundraising goals and challenges of BirdLife in Europe and Central Asia.

1          OVERALL PURPOSE OF THE JOB

To implement fundraising plans and activities and submit funding applications to institutional donors in order to secure funding for BirdLife Partnership, including secretariat operating costs at European and global level.

2          MAIN DUTIES

1. Implement the BirdLife Europe Fundraising strategy with reference to existing and potential BirdLife Europe donors, as identified and prioritised in the annual fundraising plan.
2. Contribute to the definition of BirdLife Europe annual fundraising action plans, identifying areas for growth and development, outlining measurable objectives and reviewing the success and achievements against agreed targets
3. Develop and write funding proposals for BirdLife Europe and together with European and Central Asian BirdLife Partners.
4. Help develop BirdLife’s Partners fundraising capacity through innovative tools and new ideas, identifying suitable funding initiatives, calls for proposals etc., but also through training.
5. Oversee that funders’ requirements for reporting are met in a timely fashion and assist Partners and staff in this area if needed.
6. Facilitate the Europe and Central Asia Fundraising Working Group
7. Represent the work of BirdLife at events to members of the public and where necessary delivering presentations
8. Participate in the BirdLife Fundraising co-ordination team as Account Manager for a certain number of Europe based donors and existing/potential BirdLife Europe donors, assuming reporting and updating of information on BirdLife’s donor management tool.
9. Participate in the day to day work of the organisation – such as reporting, attending team meetings, contributing to publications and taking a flexible approach to general administrative and support tasks.

2.1           European Union budget lines

1. Research opportunities and submit applications to several European Union budget lines (especially environmental ones) for the BirdLife Europe Partnership and for other BirdLife global and regional programmes
2. Secure the BirdLife Europe core funding application (LIFE “NGO operating grants” budget line), submitting high quality applications and reports within the agreed deadlines.

2.2           Trusts, Foundations and Corporate

1. Build on relationships with existing donors, writing reports to meet deadlines and submitting further applications for funding.
2. Develop successful proposals in close liaison with relevant BirdLife Divisions, Programme Teams and Partners.
3. Identify new institutional donors whose priorities match those of BirdLife and develop new relationships that will lead to new proposals as well as strategic collaboration.

3          REQUIRED PROFILE

Essential Qualifications
1	Good general education – Relevant University Degree
Experience & Knowledge
2	At least 3 years of demonstrable knowledge and experience in writing grants to EU, Trusts, Foundations and Corporates for environmental non profit organisations
3	Proven record of successful applications for substantial funding from EU (in particular LIFE or other environmental budget lines), Trusts, Foundations and Corporations with a nature conservation, science and policy focus in particular
4	Demonstrable ability to develop relationships with Corporate partners and Trusts
5	Experience of researching Trust and Corporate funding opportunities.
6	Working with environmental and nature conservation NGOs
7	Solid knowledge of PCM, logframe and other project design frameworks
8	Good understanding of EU nature conservation policy issues
9	Knowledge about BirdLife work / programme
Skills & Abilities
10	Excellent written skills with the ability to produce technical and policy nature conservation grant applications
11	Good interpersonal and networking skills
12	Good team working skills, in particular in international/multicultural teams
13	Excellent communication and presentation skills required to build relationships with potential donors
14	High standard of computer literacy (Excel, Word, Power Point, Outlook and the Internet)
15	Ability to understand and generate budgets
16	Fast learning
17	Fluent in English
18	Additional languages (in particular one or more of these languages: French, German, Spanish and Italian)
Approach to work
19	Accuracy and precision
20	Independence: demonstrable ability to create, prioritise and follow work plans with minimum supervision.
21	Flexibility and adaptability: ability to deal with multiple assignments, working under pressure, responsiveness to requests, follow-up of decisions
22	Openness: capacity to integrate new ideas and approaches
23	Ability and willingness to travel for work
24	Willingness to work occasional evenings and weekends as required
Personal disposition
25	Commitment to nature conservation
26	Strong self motivation and curiosity
27	Problem solving attitude
28	Assertiveness and confidence
29	Creativity both in thinking and in executing tasks
30	An individual with the dedication and vision to continue meeting the ongoing challenges of developing and maintaining a successful partnership with institutional donors

4          WHAT WE OFFER

Duration: This is a core long-term position for BirdLife but, as per organizational policy, we start with 1 year contract according to the Belgian law.

Working hours: full-time

Salary range 3000 to 3200 EUR/month and benefits

5          HOW TO APPLY

Please submit a full CV and a comprehensive cover letter (all in English) setting out your reasons for applying for the post and outlining the qualifications experience, knowledge and skills that you feel you can bring to the role to: recruitment.europe@birdlife.org

Please include in the email subject: Fundraising Officer

Closing date: 2^nd December 2018 at midnight CET. Please consider that applications received after the closing date will be automatically discarded.

6          SHORTLISTING AND INTERVIEWS

Shortlisting is based on CV and cover letter. Successful candidates will be asked to attend face to face interviews and perform an additional test. Travel support or possibility of remote interview may be offered to candidates from abroad. 

Please note that due to the large number of expected applications only successful candidates will be contacted.

Interview days: 13-14 December 2018.

Start day: as soon as possible.