Manager, Special Projects

Raising The Village Career Page•Toronto, ON

38d

About The Position

Raising The Village’s mission is to build and strengthen pathways out of ultra-poverty through an approach guided by data, designed with communities, and scaled by partnerships. We work with last-mile communities to implement solutions that raise incomes, sustain impact, and chart sustainable pathways to possibility within 24 months. To date, we have supported more than two million people in Uganda, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, with support from our partners and our team in North America. Find out more about our programs and impact at www.raisingthevillage.org. Raising The Village is creating a Special Projects team to drive catalytic growth opportunities that match our ambitions for scale. This team will be responsible for identifying large-scale funding opportunities and co-creating enterprise bets with funders in growth areas highly aligned to RTV’s expansion plans. Ideal candidates will have excellent go-to-market instincts and track record, demonstrating sustained follow through and engagement with catalytic philanthropy. Directors have ideally managed multiple multi-million dollar opportunities and engaged regularly with donors with 8+ figure capacity. Senior Managers will have either directly led complex sales with 7+ figure donors OR played critical roles in supporting larger efforts, with guidance from more senior team members. We are looking for 1-2 team members to seed this team. We are open to hiring at multiple levels, depending on candidate experience and track record. Special projects candidates must: Have excellent data fluency and analytical skills, paired with clear and concise verbal and written communications. Be experienced in leading highly cross-functional and complex projects with significant iteration (with donors and internal teams). Work with extremely high velocity while maintaining detail orientation and quality.

Requirements

3+ years of experience in complex sales and/or fundraising roles and/ or 5+ years in high-paced, high performance environments.
Track record of managing complex and cross-functional projects, end-to-end, including those led by or engaging senior (C-suite) stakeholders.
Experience engaging directly with donors as relationship managers, project managers, or subject-matter experts.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with strong attention to detail.
Commitment to excellence in execution and follow through.
Highly organized, with the ability to manage multiple deadlines and relationships effectively.
Collaborative, thoughtful, and aligned with RTV’s mission and values.
Limited international travel may be required.

Responsibilities

End-to-end stewardship of big bet opportunities
Work directly with the CEO and other senior leadership to steward large-scale enterprise opportunities end-to-end, supporting strategy, material preparation, analysis, and planning.
Drive cross-functional opportunity development across program operations, Venn, finance, and other teams.
Distill complex information into clear internal alignment and persuasive external messaging.
Partner and funder engagement
Support – and when appropriate – lead high-stakes engagement with major philanthropies, foundations, and strategic partners.
Cultivate new relationships with prospective funders and key influencers, starting from initial outreach through to active partnership.
Create tailored engagement strategies, pitch materials, and meeting plans designed for specific funders and partnership contexts.
Partner closely with senior leadership to prepare for critical conversations, negotiations, and decision points.
Opportunity identification, evaluation, and execution
Proactively recommend, evaluate, and shape a pipeline of high-upside “big bet” opportunities, informed by organizational priorities, leadership direction, and donor priorities.
Use pragmatic analysis (simple models, sizing exercises, decision frameworks) to support prioritization and clarify tradeoffs.
Turn early, ambiguous ideas into actionable plans - articulating a clear theory of change, measurable success metrics, required resources, and explicit stage gates for go/no-go decisions.