Fundraising Director

DCA Background

DCA has been present in Afghanistan since 1988, focusing its interventions to herders and pastoralists communities’ resilience and enabling them to achieve long-term, inclusive and equitable development. DCA is implementing several livestock development and humanitarian programs in 29 Provinces of Afghanistan. In 2023, we were able to benefit more than 3.8 million vulnerable Afghans in building their resilience.

DCA’s mission is to reduce poverty and increase food security for the people of Afghanistan by protecting the livelihoods assets and building resilience. Our livelihoods approach sits at the nexus of humanitarian aid and long-term development support, and focuses on building resilience with pastoralists, farmers and small enterprises along local value chains. DCA’s community driven approach is built upon a nationwide network of veterinary field units (VFUs) providing animal health service delivery in support of food security and livelihoods improvement, extension using farmer-field school approaches, value chain development for livestock and agricultural products , and strengthening institutional capacities. Gender equality and a one health approach continue to be our fundamental guiding principles.

General Position Summary:

The fundraising director will assist in leading DCA’s efforts in the designing, securing, and managing funding opportunities to support the organization’s mission by closely working with Senior Management Team (SMT) and External Relations Director (ERD). This includes building partnerships, and ensuring alignment with DCA’s strategic goals, mission, and guiding principles.

Responsibilities:

1. Develop and implement a fundraising 5 years’ strategy for DCA-LP including
   • Tactics to identify, research, and track grant opportunities and funding trends with regional, international donors, foundations and other funding agencies
   • Tactics to building partnerships and facilitating consortium opportunities
   • Tactics to identify and incorporate emerging technologies, methodologies, or partnerships that can enhance funding opportunities.
   • Decision tree on which tenders should be pursued following the GO/No Go process.
2. Lead the development and timely submission of concept notes and project proposals
   • Ensure proposals align with donor priorities and effectively communicate impact while working closely with DCA senior management to safeguard that concepts notes and project proposals fall within the remit of DCA-LP strategy plan 2025-2029
   • Prepare and compile due diligence documents for funding applications.
   • Maintain an internal tracking database of donors, opportunities, and new funding
   • Adapt proposals for scalability and different donor requirements.
3. Maintain and strengthen relationships with existing and new doners
   • Monitor trends in humanitarian and development funding to adapt DCA’s fundraising approaches.
   • Strengthen relationships with international organizations, foundations, funding agencies and key stakeholders.
   • Represent DCA at regional and global forums, effectively advocating for its mission and goals, and undertake additional duties as assigned model

Qualifications and Experience:

• Master’s degree in international development, International Relations, or a combination of Veterinary Science and MBA or a related fields (PhD is preferred).
• Minimum of 7 years of progressive experience in grant acquisition, program development, and donor relations, preferably in the humanitarian and development sector with possessing work experience in challenging environments.
• Proven track record of successfully securing significant funding from institutional donors such as USAID, EU, FAO, GAC, IFAD, OCHA, SDC, FCDO and international foundations.
• Experience in livestock development, resilience building, or related fields is highly desirable.

Skills and Competencies:

• Exceptional writing and communication skills with the ability to craft persuasive proposals and reports.
• In-depth understanding of donor landscapes, funding trends, and requirements.
• Ability to work effectively in a multicultural and dynamic environment.
• Commitment to DCA’s mission, guiding principles, and community-driven approach.
• Expertise in donor positioning, compliance, and program cycle management with adherence to quality standards in humanitarian and development programming.
• Demonstrated experience in capacity building, particularly in proposal development, reporting, and MEAL frameworks.

Understanding and Compliance to DCA’s policies

Demonstrating unwavering commitment to DCA’s values and Code of Conduct by upholding the highest standards of ethical and professional conduct, with a strong focus on safeguarding against sexual exploitation, abuse, and harassment.

What does DCA offers

Accommodation will be provided at DCA’s guest house for overseas employees including air tickets and visa facilitation.

Salary: attractive and commensurate with experiences