Partnerships and Philanthropy Officer

Our vision, our mission and our work are all defined by one goal – ending extreme poverty, whatever it takes. We believe that no-one should have to live in fear that they won’t have a home to sleep in or enough food to feed their children. For over 50 years we have been working with the world’s poorest people towards this goal.

Today we are a team of over 4,400 highly skilled and dedicated professionals from 50 countries who share an exceptional depth and diversity of experience. We want committed, values driven staff to join our HQ team and are currently looking for a Partnerships and Philanthropy Officer to be part of our Development and Fundraising department.

Concern offers in-house management and leadership courses and tailored organisation-wide learning opportunities both in-person and online. We are committed to providing our staff with the skills needed to excel in their jobs. All employees are required to undertake training in equality, diversity and inclusion; the Code of Conduct; and safeguarding, along with any other training required for the role.

Our culture is values driven and friendly. A global engagement survey conducted in 2022, responded to by 3,577 of our staff, showed that 89% of our staff would happily recommend Concern as a great place to work and 94% are proud to tell people that they work for Concern.

Our office is located in Dublin 2 and we are currently working a hybrid model (50% remote working) and offer flexi time.

Working as Partnerships and Philanthropy Officer

Concern’s strategic plan (2021 – 25) commits the organization to increased collaboration with the private sector as we believe that this is critical to achieving a world where no one lives in poverty, fear or oppression.

The Partnerships and Philanthropy Officer will play a key role in helping us achieve this commitment by identifying funding opportunities and building relationships with trusts, foundations and the private sector across a number of geographies. The role has an international focus, building partnerships with corporate and foundation donors outside of our established fundraising markets (Ireland, UK, USA, and South Korea), to fund key elements of Concern’s work overseas. The post holder will need to build strong internal relationships with Concern’s international programme teams in order to develop a deep understanding of our work and identify a range of funding opportunities.

The Partnerships and Philanthropy Officer will also work with internal and external stakeholders to explore new funding models that have the potential to support Concern’s work. This will involve the identification and testing of new models for collaboration and support to enable Concern to more effectively achieve its mission.

In carrying out the role, they will report to the Partnerships and Philanthropy Manager, and collaborate closely with colleagues across the broader organization. You will liaise with Funding partners, Fundraising Team (ROI, US & UK), Senior Management Team, Desk Officers, Regional Directors, Overseas field offices, Finance Directorate, Strategy, Advocacy and Learning Team (Dublin/ London).

If you join us, this is what you will be doing:

Business Development

• Identify, qualify, and engage with potential international Corporate, Trust, and Foundation partners, with the values, capacity, and skills to increase the impact of Concern’s programmes;
• Conduct strategic/collaborative level relationship building and engagement with selected private sector companies, Foundations, and Trusts, and create affinity aimed at securing grant funding and others forms of support;
• Conduct private sector ethical screening and due diligence assessments for new funding opportunities;
• Meet specific revenue targets through the recruitment of new key relationships;
• Work closely with relevant staff in Ireland, the UK, the US and South Korea to build strong working relationships in order to promote cross learning on the best ways to approach different donors.
• Keep abreast of current trends in the private funding of international non-governmental organisations; identifying how this might impact Concern private sector engagement plans

Grant Monitoring and Donor Reporting

• Assist and/or lead the development of detailed programme funding proposals;
• Act as Account Manager for specific funders to ensure relationships are maintained and managed to a high standard; this will include the co-ordination of internal stakeholders to ensure that partner contract terms and expectations are met and there is a clarity around roles of responsibilities, budgets, activity and reporting frameworks across all stakeholders.
• Monitor activities and expenditure related to key contracts with private sector and foundation

Representation, Partnership Engagement and Networking

• Seek out opportunities to generate quality leads in new markets for Concern, including meeting with potential new supporters and presenting both the organisation’s work and specific programme-focused work to them;
• Attend forums and meetings (both in person and online) that will advance Concern’s interests.

Strategy

• Support the implementation of the Concern Private Sector Engagement Strategy and lead on the operationalisation of specific elements within this;

Other

• Accept, advance and pursue any new objectives or responsibilities that may be assigned by the Partnerships and Philanthropy Manager;
• Ensure that the organisation’s values and policy commitments, including accountability and equality, are reflected in assigned responsibilities.
• Upholding and promoting Concern’s values, including our workplace equality, diversity and inclusion values.

Skills you will bring:

Essential

• Third level degree;
• At least three years’ work experience in a business development, corporate fundraising and/or grant management role;
• Experience of, or a strong interest in the private sector engagement journey, corporate relationship management, and account management
• A track-record of securing new funding from trusts, foundations, and companies and meeting/exceeding financial targets
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills – both verbal and written

Desirable

• Experience working for an international development organisation and knowledge of development challenges is a strong advantage
• Experience working with funders outside of Ireland
• Experience of communicating using web-based tools and platforms;
• Experience of innovative funding and programme models (e.g. as venture philanthropy, carbon finance or social impact investment)

To succeed on this position, you need to be a results orientated person; work collaboratively and supportively without the need of close supervision; have excellent communication and relationship building skills.

The salary is from €51,402 to €60,472 per year (band 5) and this is a permanent contract.

Candidates must hold a valid work visa for Ireland at the time of application.