Director of Partnerships, CEO Office

Main purpose of the role

• Work closely with the CEO to shape and deliver the organisation’s influencing and resource mobilisation goals (noting that CIFF is an endowed foundation so is not fundraising for itself but rather mobilising the resources necessary to meet the needs of children in our “mission” areas).
• Provide dedicated leadership of diverse philanthropic and official sector partnerships that the organisation requires to achieve strategic aims.
• Ensure the organisation takes a long-term and systemic view in initiating and managing partnerships, appropriately managing reputational risk whilst enhancing the overall suite of strategic relationships and cross-cutting initiatives that are essential to CIFF’s charitable objectives.
• Build trust across the organisation and deliver high quality, timely support to colleagues; convene and facilitate the CIFF partnership community to maximise teamwork and results.
• Work across CIFF teams, and particularly with the CEO Office Team on development finance, to deliver on resource mobilisation objectives.

Role’s responsibilities

Leading CIFF’s partnerships strategy

• Design and execute a CIFF-wide partnerships strategy covering philanthropic, official sector, blended finance, and outcome-based funding mechanisms (e.g., social impact bonds, development impact bonds) to mobilise significant capital to complement CIFF’s own funding.
• Partner closely with teams to identify new partnership opportunities, advising them on fostering relationships with local stakeholders (e.g., regional banks, family offices, government entities)
• In collaboration with other teams, formulate and deliver on advocacy and grant-making that can co-deliver the necessary long-term shifts in political will to ensure sustainable financing in key countries and institutions to meet children’s needs.
• Build the capability of teams through training, coaching, and sharing best practices, ensuring they can negotiate and manage more complex partnerships over time.
• Forge and negotiate large-scale partnerships with MDBs, family offices, impact investors, and private financial institutions, with a focus on Asia, the Gulf, and family philanthropies
• Position CIFF as a credible partner, showcasing our work at high-profile fora and convenings.

Direct support to the CEO as a trusted advisor

• Serve as a trusted advisor to the CEO, delivering actionable insights, professional guidance, and strategic recommendations to inform decision-making and shape organisational priorities, with a strong focus on identifying political opportunities and risks in major co-funder and donor ecosystems.
• Orchestrate the CEO and Chairman’s external engagement where necessary, curating high-value opportunities to elevate our profile and influence as a partner.
• Prepare compelling thought pieces, speeches, and presentations that position CIFF well and advance partnership objectives.
• Conduct due diligence on high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs), family offices, and institutional partners, prioritising relationships that align with our mission and capital goals.

Internal Leadership & Capacity Building

• Mentor and guide the distributed Partnerships team and other relevant staff to execute financing outcomes – in particular, strengthening capacity to align specific financing outcomes with a broader understanding of political advocacy opportunities.
• Lead the distributed Partnerships team, fostering a culture of collaboration, knowledge sharing, and excellence in capital mobilization and advocacy strategy.
• Manage relevant CEO Office Team members (at least one).
• Oversee the development of robust partnership systems (e.g., CRM tools) and processes to enhance efficiency and impact across the Partnerships Community.
• Lead strategic alignment through regular check-ins, offsites, and performance tracking, ensuring partnership efforts deliver measurable results.

Grant & Relationship Management

• Manage key relationships with partnership platforms and co-funders, overseeing relevant processes and ensuring alignment with broader partnership goals.
• Develop efforts to support grantees in their fundraising efforts, enhancing their ability to attract external capital, in collaboration with the Ecosystem and Organisational Development team.

Skills & Experience

• Recognised as a subject-matter expert in advocacy and/or partnership development, with senior-level experience in strategic partnership management, financial engagement, or advocacy on capital
• Mobilisation, with a focus on large-scale public-private partnerships.
• Understanding of innovative financing tools (e.g., blended finance, impact bonds) and their application to social sectors like health, education, or climate.
• Proven success in structuring and closing deals with MDBs (e.g., World Bank, IFC, ADB), development finance institutions, philanthropy, and/or private financial entities.
• Established network of relationships with financial institutions, family offices, development banks, or similar entities, ideally within philanthropy, impact investing, or global development.
• Demonstrated success in designing and executing partnership strategies that leverage diverse funding sources, including blended finance or co-funding structures.
• Exceptional negotiation, communication, and influencing skills, with the ability to engage C-suite leaders, philanthropists, politicians, senior civil servants, and other institutional decision-makers.
• Strategic mindset with a data-driven approach to measuring impact and optimizing partnerships.
• Experience in CIFF’s priority geographies is preferred.
• Experience at organisations such as philanthropic foundations, multi-lateral agencies or a private wealth bank advising family offices on philanthropy/impact investing is a strong plus.
• Excellent people leadership skills and proven ability to motivate, develop and hold to account a small- to medium-sized teams of professionals.
• Able to think critically and analytically to draw sound conclusions on the basis of complex data and political landscaping.
• Experience of identifying and delivering business process improvements
• High-level of financial literacy
• A proven self-starter, who works with pace and resilience.

CIFF operates a hybrid work policy across all locations, which means employees work in the office and some of the time from home. We are happy to provide more information on this as part of the recruitment process.

Alongside a competitive salary, we offer a generous benefits package here at CIFF that includes, but is not limited to the following.

• Annual leave - 25 days per annum. Increasing by 1 day after each year of service to a maximum of 30 days.
• Bonus - CIFF currently operates a discretionary bonus scheme.
• Training allowance
• Wellbeing allowance
• Life insurance
• Medical insurance

Please submit your application on or before Wednesday 19th November. CIFF reserves the right to close the job advert early if we receive a high number of suitable applications.