This role is for someone driven to secure funding for new ideas that deliver social impact. As the Innovation and Fundraising Manager, you will work with a team that discovers opportunities at the intersection of beneficiary needs, Seefar’s capabilities and donor interest. Your role will include an emphasis on external relationships: on the one hand, you take internal ideas and seek funding for them; on the other hand, you explore donor interests as an input to internal ideas. 

You will report to Seefar’s Executive Team through the Director responsible for fundraising. Other members of your team have a focus on: research; marketing; data management; information technology; graphic design; and project management.

You can be based anywhere in the world and occasional travel will be required. Seefar has been a remote-working organisation since 2014.

You will start on a full-time, 12-month consulting contract with a fee range of USD 7,000 – 8,000 per month. Success will enable the possibility of a long-term role and the possibility of an ownership stake in the Enterprise.

Job Description

We are a social enterprise with a mission to work with vulnerable people to build a better future. We work in East Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, East Africa, North Africa, the Sahel and Europe. For more information about us, please visit our website. You can also see examples of our research on the website but note that most of our research is unpublished – we are not an advocacy group and the priority for our research is to improve operations.

To succeed in this role, you must be motivated to work hard to generate funding from donors who may not immediately recognise the opportunities that you see. It is likely that you have:

• Experience in donor engagement, fundraising or marketing.
• Knowledge of how donors in the international development sector make decisions.
• Excellent listening skills as part of your broader influencing skills.
• Proficiency in written and spoken English.
• A track record of supervising diverse teams.

Responsibilities

The following are the primary responsibilities of the role, with estimated allocations of time and attention.

DELIVER: Experiments and Evidence

Approximately 30% of your time and attention will be spent on projects that generate insights and evidence for new services. These will likely include you and/or the people you supervise:

• Designing and producing mixed methods research projects.
• Liaising with donors and internal project teams to scope research.
• Analysing mixed methods research results.
• Managing external resources to support experiments, for example app developers to produce a mobile app for testing.
• Preparing results for external engagements, such as presentations, reports and meetings.

DEVELOP: Capabilities and Program Portfolio

Approximately 70% of your time and attention will be spent on externally-oriented activities in support of fundraising. This will likely include you and/or the people you supervise: 

• Tracking and prioritising external contacts.
• Holding one-on-one meetings with people that influence donor funding decisions.
• Organising or attending seminars, workshops and conferences that have relevance to Seefar’s reputation and fundraising.
• Monitoring and influencing the internal pipeline of research and project results to support external fundraising.
• Tracking funding opportunities and sharing with relevant colleagues weekly.
• Leading and supporting the preparation of concept notes and proposals.
• Maintaining tools that support the branding you define, such as our website and social media channels.

Working with Seefar

Current and former personnel have noted the points below as positive features of Seefar’s work environment and culture:

• The Enterprise combines entrepreneurialism with a focus on social impact.
• You work with highly diverse people and across a diversity of contexts.
• There is a high level of trust that supports you to work autonomously.
• The people in the Enterprise encourage innovation and experimentation.
• Achieving results is prioritised over rigid structures and workflows.
• You are never bored and always challenged.

Current and former personnel have noted the points below as negative features of Seefar’s work environment and culture:

• Collaborating with geographically dispersed teams requires flexibility and patience.
• Working remotely can make you feel isolated and so requires you to invest time in communication.
• Travel schedules can sometimes be heavy.
• It can be fast paced so you need to be productive and able to prioritise effectively.

To Apply for this Role

On or before February 10th, complete our online application form. Before you start, you should do the following:

1. Prepare a CV in Word or PDF format. You will upload this in our online application form.
2. In Word or PDF format, prepare an introductory letter that includes only the points below. You will upload this in our online application form:
   1. 1-2 paragraphs with an example of fundraising. What was the context? What was your role? How did you decide on your methods? What was the result? We will value more an example that involves novelty, such as fundraising for a new idea, or fundraising in an area where your organisation lacked brand recognition.
   2. 1 paragraph explaining a lesson you have learned about fundraising.