Senior Manager, Partner Funding

Maliasili Initiatives

About The Position

Maliasili is a dynamic organization focused on driving locally-led conservation impact in Africa by strengthening local African conservation organizations. They provide support in organizational performance, leadership, and resourcing to enhance partner impact. Maliasili's partners are involved in wildlife conservation, land restoration, and coastal fisheries, emphasizing community and indigenous land rights, nature-based economic opportunities, and ecosystem restoration. Founded over a decade ago, Maliasili supports approximately 55 partners across 64 million hectares in seventeen countries, having helped them secure over $27.3 million in funding and develop tools for organizational improvement. The organization aims to build a portfolio of Africa's best local conservation organizations, foster collaboration, and scale up community-based conservation efforts and leadership capacity.

Requirements

High levels of autonomy and independent judgment in methodology design, training delivery, direct partner engagement, and select donor relationships.
Ability to progressively take on elements of strategic representation and support for the Director as capability and tenure grow.
Equipped with high-quality, well-used fundraising methodologies and training.
Clustered workshops and case clinics result in new funding secured and stronger peer relationships.
Partners report increased fundraising capacity and confidence as a result of direct support.
Demonstrated growth in independent donor engagement and representation, with an emerging capability to deputize for the Director on defined matters.
Strong, trusted working relationship with the Director and the two Senior Manager peers.
Growing contribution to collective action activities (community building, peer learning, or aggregated impact messaging) alongside core fundraising duties, where relevant and of interest.

Nice To Haves

Optional Growth Area: Collective Action - Depending on interests and demonstrated capability, there is room to informally and opportunistically take on selected elements of that scope over time, particularly community building and partner engagement, peer learning and convenings/workshops, and aggregated impact and collective voice/messaging.

Responsibilities

Lead the development and codification of fundraising methodologies, tools, and practical guides for the Portfolio team and partners.
Own the fundraising resource library and its integration into the Wezesha Hub and other knowledge-sharing platforms.
Set the improvement agenda for methodology and tools based on Portfolio and partner feedback.
Design and deliver materials and support that strengthen Portfolio Managers' ability to diagnose and support partner fundraising needs.
Establish and manage a regular cadence of fundraising clinics, office hours, and strategy sessions with the Portfolio team.
Serve as a bridge between the CAF team and Portfolio, ensuring clear understanding of the CAF team's work, progress, and strategy among Portfolio team members.
Provide direct fundraising support to partners on complex or higher-stakes opportunities, serving as a trusted advisor.
Identify and help broker new funding opportunities for partners, connecting them with aligned donors.
Design and lead clustered fundraising workshops that build skills and generate new opportunities.
Support the Director on select donor relationships and represent CAF in select donor conversations as delegated.
Support the Director in positioning and advancing the Vuma Fund, with the Director retaining overall leadership.
Contribute to fundraising strategy discussions and materials in support of the $65M goal.
Coordinate with Finance and Admin, Strategic Initiatives, Communications, and Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning to ensure fundraising systems integrate with organization-wide data and learning platforms.