Director, Global Partnerships in London

For more than 25 years, Right To Play has been protecting, educating, and empowering millions of children each year to rise above adversity through the power of play. We offer programs in 14 countries across Africa, Asia, the Middle East and North America, reaching millions of children each year in some of the most difficult places on earth, helping them to stay in school and learn, overcome prejudice, heal from trauma, and develop the skills they need to thrive. We do this by harnessing play, one of the most fundamental forces in a child's life, to teach children the critical skills they need to dismantle barriers and embrace opportunities, in learning and in life.

This work is supported by our two global offices in Toronto, Canada and London, UK; and seven National Offices in North America and Europe. Connect and collaborate with a global team who are passionate about protecting, educating and empowering children and youth using the power of play!

Purpose: The Director, Global Partnerships is a strategic leadership role responsible for driving business development, partnership growth, and revenue diversification for Right To Play across North America, with a strong focus on both development and humanitarian funding. The Director will lead efforts to position Right To Play competitively in the institutional and philanthropic funding landscape, expanding and deepening high-value partnerships with key funders such as Global Affairs Canada (GAC) and major U.S. foundations.

Accountability & Responsibilities:

• Strategic Partnership Development (35%): Lead the development and activation of engagement, business development and stewardship plans across Global Affairs Canada, including both development and humanitarian desks and mechanisms. Develop and implement a U.S. institutional funding strategy while cultivating and managing relationships with philanthropic foundations and humanitarian donors across North America. Support the executive leadership in donor engagement and strategic negotiations within North America. Represent Right To Play at key donor and sector forums to enhance visibility and influence within the North American development and humanitarian funding community.
• Proposal Development and Revenue Generation (30%): Lead or oversee the design, writing, and budgeting of high-quality development and humanitarian proposals, ensuring alignment with donor priorities and Right To Play's strategic goals. Coordinate cross-functional bid teams and ensure proposals follow strong project management principles and internal governance processes. Build and maintain a multi-year opportunity pipeline and track progress against revenue targets. Support the smooth handover from proposal to implementation, ensuring clear donor expectations and compliance are understood by country teams.
• Partnership Management and Donor Stewardship (15%): Manage a portfolio of complex, high-value grants (> $50M) from Global Affairs Canada and US foundations, ensuring compliance, performance, and strong donor relationships. Lead donor compliance, ensuring timely, high-quality narrative and financial reporting in coordination with Country Offices, Finance, and technical teams. Coordinate and participate in visits to relevant regions and countries. Communicate with field teams and conduct intermittent travel to country offices. Promote best practices by documenting and sharing project successes and improvements internally and with external partners.
• Team Leadership and Development (20%): Directly manage a team of 3 partnership professionals based in Canada and the USA, providing leadership, supervision and mentorship. Foster a collaborative, high-performing culture and lead work planning to ensure deliverables are aligned and clearly communicated across the organization. Indirect support to other members of the global partnerships team, providing guidance on positioning, proposal design, and relationship management across teams.

Scope: Leads North American institutional and philanthropic funding strategy with global influence through donor engagement. Drives revenue diversification, manages high-value grants, and ensures compliance and performance. Operates with significant autonomy to shape priorities, negotiate partnerships, and oversee a team of three, with authority over staff, budgets, and strategic decisions impacting organizational growth.

Leadership and Staff Management: This individual will lead a high-performing team, manage relationships with key partners, and drive the design, negotiation, and implementation of complex, multi-year partnerships. The role reports to the Vice President, Partnerships and is responsible for working in close cooperation with the broader Global Partnerships team, Global Program Unit and Country Offices to lead Right To Play's North American institutional funding portfolio.

Expertise: Master's degree in a related field and Undergraduate degree in International Development, Political Science, International Relations or related field. Minimum 10 years' experience in the humanitarian aid and development sector. Brings in-depth knowledge of Global Affairs Canada and US foundation funding processes, and experience managing grants from government, humanitarian, institutional, and foundation donors. Strong knowledge of humanitarian funding mechanisms and donor priorities, combined with expertise in program design, theory of change, budgeting, logical frameworks and performance monitoring plans. Excellent writing, editing, and research skills, Advanced Microsoft 365 skills set required and experience with staff development and talent management. Fluency in oral and written English. French is highly desirable.

Core Competences:

• Collaboration: Builds strong partnerships and fosters teamwork across dispersed teams.
• Growth Mindset: Embraces learning and adapts quickly to changing priorities.
• Resilience: Maintains focus and effectiveness under pressure and in complex environments.
• Professionalism: Demonstrates integrity, accountability, and high ethical standards.
• Management and Interpersonal Skills: Leads with empathy, diplomacy, clear communication, and strong decision-making. Strong leadership and team management abilities.

Additional Information: The Director, Global Partnerships will be based in Canada with up to 25% of time travelling internationally to the USA and Right To Play program countries. Right To Play provides equal employment opportunities to employees regardless of their gender, race, religion, age, disability, sexual orientation or marital status. We strongly encourage groups who have been historically disadvantaged with respect to employment to apply for positions at Right To Play. We value and promote a culture of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. We are committed to providing accommodations to candidates with disabilities during the recruitment and selection process, and thereafter.