Senior Director, Global Impact Partnerships

USA for UNHCR•Washington, NY

10h

About The Position

The Senior Director, Global Impact Partnerships is an enterprise leadership role at USA for UNHCR, responsible for accelerating growth and translating humanitarian priorities into transformational private-sector engagement. Reporting to the Chief Development Officer, the role shapes and executes an integrated strategy for partnerships with U.S.-headquartered private-sector organizations, including corporations, institutional foundations, civil society and faith-based organizations, community partners, and gift-in-kind partners, while collaborating globally to maximize humanitarian impact. The Senior Director leads a multifaceted team of 12 or more fundraising, relationship-management, and partnership professionals; strengthens team leadership, collaboration, and performance; and supports colleagues’ success. As an enterprise partner, the role influences strategy and execution across USA for UNHCR, works closely with senior leaders and Board members, and builds productive relationships with UNHCR colleagues worldwide. The position deepens and expands complex, multi-year, multimillion-dollar partnerships and develops opportunities for financial support, gifts-in-kind, employee engagement, cause marketing, thought leadership, and cross-sector innovation to advance UNHCR’s work to save lives, protect rights, and build better futures for people forced to flee. The Senior Director sets enterprise partnership strategy; drives sustainable revenue growth; develops transformational partnerships; leads and develops the team; strengthens global collaboration; shapes partner propositions; oversees portfolio planning and operations; ensures partnership governance and risk stewardship; advises executive and Board leadership; and represents USA for UNHCR externally. The role operates in a complex, matrixed global environment and requires commitment to refugee protection, human rights, and the dignity and perspectives of people affected by forced displacement.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree required.
At least 12 years of progressively responsible leadership in partnerships, business development, institutional advancement, or resource mobilization.
Demonstrated success developing strategy, engaging Boards, and leading integrated, multimillion-dollar fundraising programs.
Demonstrated experience navigating complex, matrixed global organizations.
Demonstrated commitment to refugee protection, human rights, and centering the dignity, agency, and perspectives of people with lived experience of forced displacement.
Ability to lead a large, multidisciplinary team with clarity, trust, empathy, accountability, and sustainable performance expectations.
Ability to influence decisions and align stakeholders across USA for UNHCR and UNHCR without relying solely on formal authority.
Ability to establish shared accountability, clarify roles and decision rights, and constructively resolve competing priorities.
Ability to build trusted relationships with executive leaders, Board members, global colleagues, partners, and technical experts.
Ability to balance ambitious revenue growth with mission integrity, partner value, operational feasibility, and reputational stewardship.
Ability to delegate effectively, develop leaders, share information and credit, and create conditions for others to succeed.
Ability to invite challenge and diverse perspectives while making timely, well-reasoned decisions in ambiguous circumstances.
Ability to lead through organizational change, humanitarian emergencies, and evolving external conditions with resilience and adaptability.
Ability to represent USA for UNHCR credibly in high-level external settings and communicate sensitively about displacement and human rights.
Ability to foster collaboration, innovation, inclusion, learning, and accountability.
Knowledge of private-sector partnership strategy across corporations, foundations, civil society, faith-based organizations, community partners, and in-kind channels.
Knowledge of integrated and shared-value partnership models that combine philanthropy, business capabilities, employee engagement, marketing, thought leadership, advocacy, and in-kind support.
Knowledge of global humanitarian architecture, refugee and forced-displacement issues, and the roles of UN agencies, NGOs, governments, civil society, and private-sector actors.
Knowledge of revenue growth, pipeline development, portfolio management, partner retention, account planning, and performance measurement.
Knowledge of governance, compliance, due diligence, safeguarding, reputational risk, and ethical partnership practices in complex global organizations.
Knowledge of organizational strategy, change leadership, and decision-making within highly matrixed, multicultural environments.
Knowledge of emerging trends in corporate social impact, institutional philanthropy, innovative finance, impact investing, and cross-sector collaboration.
Skill in setting and communicating a compelling multiyear partnerships strategy linked to organizational and humanitarian priorities.
Skill in cultivating, negotiating, securing, and expanding complex, transformational, multimillion-dollar, multi-year partnerships.
Skill in leading executive-level engagement with corporate, foundation, nonprofit, UN, and Board stakeholders.
Skill in translating technical humanitarian priorities into persuasive investment opportunities, value propositions, proposals, and executive communications.
Skill in building alignment across teams with differing priorities, incentives, cultures, and decision-making authority.
Skill in exercising sound judgment in partnership governance, due diligence, reputational risk, and complex multi-party agreements.
Skill in using portfolio, pipeline, financial, and performance data to allocate resources, assess risk, and drive decisions.
Skill in coaching senior leaders and developing high-performing, inclusive, and accountable teams.

Nice To Haves

Relevant master’s degree preferred.
Leadership experience in a humanitarian, international development, UN-affiliated, or other complex mission-driven organization strongly preferred.
Experience leading partnerships or resource mobilization during humanitarian emergencies and/or rapidly evolving external conditions.
Experience partnering with UN agencies, global NGOs, country or regional teams, and technical experts across cultures and time zones.

Responsibilities

Establish and lead a multiyear strategy across corporate, foundation, civil society, faith-based, community, and gift-in-kind partnerships, aligned with USA for UNHCR growth priorities and UNHCR humanitarian objectives.
Maintain executive accountability for acquisition, retention, expansion, pipeline health, forecasting, and delivery against revenue and partnership goals.
Guide the cultivation, negotiation, and stewardship of complex, integrated, multimillion-dollar, multi-year partnerships that mobilize funding, expertise, employee engagement, marketing, thought leadership, advocacy, and in-kind resources.
Build, coach, and retain a high-performing multidisciplinary team; strengthen leadership capacity, clarify accountability, delegate decision-making, and foster inclusion, collaboration, learning, and sustainable performance.
Connect USA for UNHCR and UNHCR colleagues, establish trusted ways of working, clarify roles and decision rights, resolve competing priorities, and align colleagues around shared outcomes.
Collaborate with program, stewardship, communications, brand, finance, and global colleagues to translate humanitarian priorities into differentiated opportunities and persuasive partner narratives.
Oversee strategic planning, budgets, forecasts, resource allocation, performance measurement, account planning, and data-informed decision-making across the partnerships portfolio.
Ensure rigorous due diligence, safeguarding, compliance, ethical partnership practices, reputational-risk management, and appropriate governance of complex and multi-party agreements.
Advise the Chief Development Officer, CEO, Executive Leadership Group, and Board on partnership strategy, opportunities, risks, performance, and decisions requiring senior sponsorship.
Represent USA for UNHCR as a senior spokesperson and relationship leader with corporate and foundation executives, humanitarian leaders, peer organizations, and other influential stakeholders.
Perform other duties as assigned.