Senior Partnerships Officer, Foundations - London, UK

Location: London, UK - hybrid (limited office presence)

Position Status: Full-time, open terms

Salary: starting salary £37,040 - commensurate on professional experience

Closing date: please submit cover letter and CV by August 17th

Risk Level: Likely to have no contact with participants or sensitive data.

About Mercy Corps

In disaster, in hardship, in more than 30 countries around the world, we partner to put bold solutions into action — helping people triumph over adversity and build stronger communities from within. Now, and for the future.

Foundation Partnerships Team

A part of the wider Development Team, the Foundation Partnerships team manages Mercy Corps’ fundraising relationships with major European and US Foundations, working to develop strategic partnerships that support social impact at scale in our priority areas including economic and market development, food and water security, climate change, peacebuilding and emergency response, creating lasting impact with and for the local communities with whom we work. We build meaningful partnerships through outstanding relationship management and partner services, connecting our partners to the work we do.

The Position

The Senior Partnerships Officer will be responsible for the account management of the existing and growing portfolio of foundation partners within Europe. A key focus will be to provide a high standard of proactive relationship management and stewardship so that partners are motivated to continue and increase their support to Mercy Corps’ work through increased funding values and deepened partnerships. This includes responsibility across the portfolio for grants management – including proposal and agreement review, compliance and finance coordination, award kick-off, reporting and tracking budget vs actual spends. They will also support the Director of Strategic Partnerships (Europe) to raise funds from new trust and foundation partners that have been highlighted as a priority through new business acquisition.

Essential Responsibilities

• Relationship Management/Stewardship
• Lead on the account management of agreed partners within the Foundations portfolio in Europe, ensuring that each partnership is backed by a strategic plan for development.
• Find strategic ways to enhance and steward relationships within the Foundations portfolio to encourage increased giving levels and alignment with Mercy Corps’ priorities.
• Formulate and implement individual strategies for developing key partnerships and initiatives around programmatic priorities.
• Act as a point-person for partners and donors in response to outreach, questions and wider collaboration opportunities.
• Grant Management
• Lead on coordination with desk teams, finance, compliance, country and programmatic teams to conduct agreement reviews, address internal/external compliance concerns, ensure timely grant reporting, track budget vs actuals and file official grant paperwork.
• Ensure account-related records are accurate and accessible and that up-to-date information is recorded on Raisers’ Edge and appropriate internal and global drives.
• Maintain understanding of key foundation partnerships to be able to represent foundation strategies to internal stakeholders.
• Deputise key accounts when the Director of Strategic Partnerships (Europe) is unavailable.
• Business Development
• Lead portfolio expansion efforts through strategic evaluation of most aligned, most likely funding opportunities, that align with the organisation’s strategy.
• Proactively pursue leads and in-roads based on strong alignment with Mercy Corps - from cold to warmer prospects.
• Cultivate new or lapsed donors to keep them engaged with Mercy Corps’ work and solicit for funds.
• Support cross-team efforts relating to open call opportunities when they arise.
• Review, edit and/or project-manage the development of concepts, proposals, reports, pitch decks, updates and stewardship materials according to strong donor knowledge.
• Work closely with global, regional and desk programmes teams to remain up to date of MC priorities, programmes and global impact.
• Input into cross-team workstreams related to new-business mapping; global event and conference research and preparation.
• Representation
• Act as an internal expert on the philanthropic landscape, and channel the perspective of foundation partners in developing proposals and ideas with programmatic team members.
• Act as an advocate for the CFT team through regular collaboration and update meetings with programmatic and technical teams to collaborate on funding opportunities and gain knowledge on our programmes to share with the team.
• Effectively represent Mercy Corps to partners and external audiences for both fundraising and profile elevation.

Supervisory Responsibility: N/A

Accountability Reports Directly To: Director, Strategic Partnerships (Europe)

Works Directly With: Corporate and Foundations Officer; Director Strategic Partnerships; Global support teams (awards management, finance, technical, programmes).

Minimum Qualification & Transferable Skills

• Minimum 4 years demonstrated experience in private fundraising (ideally Foundations) or proven experience in partnership development working in the international development/humanitarian sector.
• Demonstrated experience in stewarding donors resulting in the growth of 6-7+-figure partnerships and persuading larger giving values.
• Demonstrated experience in cultivating prospects from cold to warm and banking new business opportunities.
• Demonstrated experience in building long-term strategic partnerships with deepened value.
• Strategic thinking related to engaging and soliciting existing and new donors to mobilise them to provide funding.
• Excellent writing skills and experience of proposal and report writing for a corporate audience.
• Excellent verbal communication skills, able to present the organisation and discuss opportunities for collaboration with a diverse range of actors.
• Experience working with a variety of teams to enhance internal collaboration towards a common goal.
• Excellent attention to detail.
• IT-literate with good knowledge of Microsoft Office and databases.
• Experience of using/managing relationship databases, ideally Raiser's Edge (desirable).

Success Factors

The ideal candidate will demonstrate strategic thinking, with a long-term outlook on what makes partnerships successful and lead them to growth. They must be a collaborative team worker - comfortable working across a number of different teams and geographies towards one goal. This entails strong communication and organisational skills to maintain effective internal and external relationships, and the ability to be forward-looking/anticipating.

Living Conditions / Environmental Conditions

The position is based in London and may involve occasional national and international travel, though not frequently. Team members represent the agency both during and outside work hours when deployed in a field posting or on a short-term assignment or trip to country offices.

Ongoing Learning

In support of our belief that learning organizations are more effective, efficient and relevant to the communities we serve, we empower all team members to dedicate 5% of their time to learning activities that further their personal and/or professional growth and development.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Mercy Corps is an equal opportunity employer committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all employees and qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, sex, sexual orientation, religion or belief, national origin, age, disability, marital status, veteran status, or any other characteristics protected under applicable law.

Safeguarding & Ethics

Mercy Corps is committed to ensuring that all individuals we come into contact with through our work, whether team members, community members, program participants or others, are treated with respect and dignity.