Head of Institutional Funding West Africa

Sightsavers is looking for a Head of Institutional Funding – a vital role within our expanding institutional funding team to lead the development and implementation of a portfolio of work currently focused on West Africa and lead on the development of strategic partnerships with individual institutional donors

Salary: £58,000 – £65,000

Location: UK remote – with very occasional travel to Haywards Heath, when required

Contract: Permanent

Hours: This is a full-time role with some flexibility around hours worked and lots of home working

We are looking for an experienced institutional funding expert to lead and manage a busy portfolio. This is a role in which the successful candidate will need to juggle multiple and complex projects. Key duties will include:

• Leading the development and implementation of a portfolio of work within the institutional funding team (IFT) currently focused on West Africa (17 Anglophone, Francophone and Lusophone countries), and lead on the development of strategic partnerships with individual institutional donors as prioritised.
• Providing direct line management and strategic support to a sub-team within IFT, that will support continued income growth and contract management, in line with the Institutional Funding strategy.
• Managing existing grant / contracts falling within the remit of this role and secure new income to the organisation.
• Supporting programme learning and capacity building of country office teams and partners and to deputise for the Director of Institutional Funding

This role is involved and multi-faceted with regular meetings across the organisation. This is a full-time role that may be worked from home for the majority of the time however some visits to our offices in Haywards Heath, West Sussex (RH16 3BW) will be required. On average this is likely to be twice per year. If you prefer to work from or are visiting our collaborative, modern office space, you will find it an easy 20-minute train journey from Brighton or 45 minutes from London. Programme travel to West Africa and other locations will also be necessary – we anticipate approximately three trips per year, usually of one week each.

Further information about the role.

This is a varied role, please read the full job description for further details. As an equal opportunity employer, we actively encourage applications from all sections of the community. Sightsavers is a Disability Confident Leader and qualified people with a disability are particularly encouraged to apply.

Sightsavers offers some fantastic benefits. Our comprehensive benefits package includes generous annual leave allowance, pension, season ticket loan, cycle to work scheme, discounted gym memberships and wellness discounts.

This is an ideal opportunity for an experienced individual with great multi-tasking skills from an INGO or consultancy background. To succeed in this role, you will need

• Extensive experience of working in government or statutory funding for an international development organisation
• Proven track record of having raised and managed significant funding from a range of institutional donors e.g. DFID, USAID, EC, major foundations
• Experience of support and capacity building of non-programme funding specialists in grant application and grant contract management
• Line management experience
• Demonstrable strong organisational and multi-tasking skills
• Established relationships with major multilateral and bilateral donors
• Excellent written and spoken communication skills
• Project coordination skills
• The ability to train and develop others’ understanding
• An understanding of and commitment to equality of opportunity for disabled people
• Willingness and ability to travel overseas regularly for proposal development, workshop delivery and donor visits
• Strong spoken and written French would be of particular benefit

To apply for this exciting new opportunity, please submit a CV and covering letter via our recruitment portal. We anticipate that remote interviews will take place in late June/ early July and the evaluation process will include an initial timed, written task to be completed by shortlisted candidates in advance of this and a presentation at second interview stage. We are keen for the successful candidate to be in post as soon as possible but encourage applications from all candidates with the relevant skills and experience.

As an equal opportunity employer, we actively encourage applications from all sections of the community. Sightsavers is a Disability Confident Leader and qualified people with a disability are particularly encouraged to apply.

In line with its commitment to safe programming and recruitment, Sightsavers participates in the inter-agency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme (MDS) administered by the Steering Committee for Humanitarian Response. Through collaboration with other MDS members, Sightsavers aims to ensure that there are no sexual exploitation, abuse or harassment issues relating to potential new hires and that we can respond systematically to checks from fellow MDS members. This ensures our work is accountable, delivered to a high standard and supports safeguarding across the development and humanitarian fields.