Background
UWS Nepal is a charity dedicated to improving educational opportunities for underprivileged children. We started operations in 2015 as a non-profit, the same year our country witnessed a 7.8 magnitude earthquake. Post-earthquake UWS Nepal has constructed 536 earthquake-resistant classrooms across 216 communities, educating 13,451 students in our Sankhuwasabha, Gulmi, and Taplejung districts. We aim to provide quality education to all children, and to reach that goal; we work to improve educational opportunities for children living in marginalized communities and remote regions. Our education transformation philosophy is maintained by developing and introducing child-friendly pedagogies that allow for more significant innovation in the classroom and greater engagement between the in-class lessons and real life, parents-teacher relationship, and harmonized relationship between local government and local communities in a shared mission to ensure a future for children in the communities where we work.
Role Summary:
The Partnership and Fundraising Manager (PFM) will support the overall country grant acquisition, strategic partnership, and management strategy with public and private stakeholders, in order to obtain both financial and non-financial support to run UWS Nepal programmes.
DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES:
Fundraising
- Identify and analyze funding opportunities originating in the country and scope potential partnerships to complement and strengthen the country office’s program portfolio
- Coordinate and lead market study, donor mapping, and country office plan to ensure strong fundraising pipeline
- Effectively communicate the organization’s strategies, cultivating and managing donor/partner relationships, and providing opportunities for cooperation, networking, and alliance-building
- Gather relevant and timely intelligence information necessary for grant acquisition; identify grant opportunities and relevant institutional guidance materials to share with relevant departments
Grant writing
- Engages fully in grant proposal development, ensuring compliance with grantor requirements, the management of the process setting up new grants including researching, writing, editing, and submitting high-quality grant proposals to donors and the management and proper close-out of said award.
- Facilitate and coordinate development and writing of concept notes and full proposals in line with the donor call priorities as well as UWS priorities together with the Programme Team and members of other relevant Nepal teams.
- Work closely with Finance and Programme teams to develop accurate and compelling project budgets that align with grant requirements and organisational priorities.
- Stay updated on grant trends, best practices, and changes in grant-making policies and regulations to continuously improve grant writing techniques and optimise funding success.
Partnerships, Networking, and Positioning
- According to the priorities of the Country’s Fundraising Strategy, take the lead in activities related to networking and positioning before donors. This means, inter alia, approaching donors, organizing meetings or events to make United World Schools, Nepal known amongst the donor community, and build a network of contacts for the organization
- Support the country office/country director to engage in strategic partnerships with civil society, INGOs, multilateral agencies, and government entities as appropriate, to maximize the use of available resources for the implementation of quality programs.
- Maintain close working relationships with donors; explore new donors (including Trust Funds, Corporates, Foundations etc) and establish contact/relationships with them in order to identify their calls for proposals that fit with UWS Nepal priorities and facilitate initial discussions on the calls with the team.
Knowledge management and Information generation
- Ensure that the Country Program provides relevant information that serves the purpose of positioning the organization before donors and influencing their programming and funding decisions
- Lead the management of the pipeline and knowledge database to ensure information is shared among field program and other concerned staff, to capture new opportunities, and track the ongoing fundraising
- Develop and maintain a knowledge management system for tracking fundraising opportunities including maintaining a repository of proposal development templates, pre-award tools, program concepts, proposal templates, bidding documents, etc.
Knowledge and core competencies
We are looking for a successful, confident, and creative professional who is ambitious and willing to grow and develop with the organization. This means that above all, we are looking for someone who is adaptable, resilient, and open to learning new skills, and can take a proactive approach to new tasks and responsibilities.
- Master’s degree in relevant fields preferably in development studies, fundraising, communications or any other relevant field;
- Minimum of five to seven years’ relevant working experience in development organisations with similar responsibilities and have demonstrated experience of writing winning proposals;
- Proven success in fundraising in or with diverse organizations, philanthropists, or companies highly preferred;
- Ability to think and work strategically and to take the initiative;
- Strong digital and technical skills and confidence in working with and reporting on data;
- Ability to produce high-quality reports, proposals, presentations, and other communications to a range of current and potential stakeholders;
- Proven analytical skills and the ability to think strategically in relation to donor landscaping in Nepal
- The ability to work in a fast-paced environment and prioritize work and juggle multiple things at once;
- Determined, persuasive, ambitious, flexible, and a proactive team player which means you commit and deliver for the cause.
How to Apply
To apply for this position, please send a comprehensive CV (max 2 pages) and a supporting statement (no more than 2 pages) to uwsnepal@uwsglobal.net. The deadline for applications is 5 pm on 08 September 2023.
You should give the names, positions, organizations, and telephone contact numbers of two referees, one of whom should be your current/most recent employer. References will only be taken once your express permission has been granted.
UWS is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are only able to accept applications from candidates that have the permanent right to employment in Nepal.
UWS is committed to the safeguarding of children and ensuring we recruit safely is central to this commitment. All applicants will be required to undertake a DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) check as a condition of employment.
