Fundraising Officer Job Vacancy - PROTA

Plant Resources of Tropical Africa (PROTA) is a long-term, international and interdisciplinary undertaking to build a high-quality information system on the 7,000 useful plants of Tropical Africa.

It is a partnership of 11 scientific institutions (7 in Africa, 3 in Europe and 1 in South-East Asia) and has a legal identity as an International not-for-profit Foundation. PROTA provides rural development organisations, policy‑makers, tertiary institutions, research, extension and industry with the information needed to make optimal decisions in a wide range of sectors such as agriculture, forestry, education and horticulture in harmony with local conditions.

PROTA is hosted by the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) in Nairobi, Kenya.

The position

ICRAF/PROTA seeks to recruit an experienced and highly qualified professional to enhance and manage its donor relations and fund raising programme.

The Fundraising Officer will report directly to the PROTA Chief Executive Officer in Nairobi but will work closely with all officers within the PROTA Network.

She/he will be responsible for developing new strategies for resource mobilization with an ultimate goal of expanding the donor base.

Responsibilities

• Work with PROTA’s management and staff to identify new funding opportunities within multilateral, bilateral, corporate and foundation donor communities to support PROTA’s programme areas.
• Develop, implement and regularly update strategies for resource mobilization with a focus on expanding the available resource base, and provide regular reporting on the progress of the fundraising plan.
• Oversee development and writing of highly competitive grant proposals in coordination with PROTA management and staff, and ensure that the technical content of proposals is precise and accurate.
• Review and edit proposals to ensure that they meet donors’ requirements.
• Enhance PROTA’s internal fundraising capabilities by working closely with staff at all levels.
• Analyze and communicate key strategic, organizational and external issues affecting PROTA and its fundraising activities.
• Support the establishment and maintenance of excellent relations with donors and investors.
• Develop systems to manage donor relations, including donor intelligence, a donor database, promotional materials, financial processing and reporting.
• Develop and maintain a thorough understanding of issues affecting plant resources in Africa in order to communicate effectively with potential donors.
• Carry out other duties as required and within reason.
  

Requirements and qualifications

• Masters or equivalent degree in business management and/or international relations, agriculture, forestry or biological sciences and/or environmental/natural resources sciences, or social sciences.
• At least five (5) years of proven experience in resource mobilization, proposal writing and donor relations with NGO’s, international non-profit organizations or other publicly funded organisations.
• Demonstrated record of success in raising substantial funding from multiple donor sources and experience in successfully building and managing relationships with donors.
• Excellent inter-personal skills and demonstrated ability to work in an interdisciplinary environment, both independently and in a team setting.
• Ability to meet deadlines and prioritize workloads.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills, including demonstrated formal and informal presentation skills.
• Fluency in English required. Knowledge of French an added advantage.
• Computer skills are necessary.
• Willingness to travel internationally if necessary.
  

ICRAF/PROTA is an equal opportunity employer and offers a collegial and gender-sensitive working environment.

The position is on regional terms and will be for an initial period of two (2) years, renewable subject to six (6) months probation period, assessment of performance, continued relevance of the position and availability of resources.

Applicants are invited to send a cover letter illustrating their suitability for the above position against the listed qualifications, competencies, skills, salary expectations, vacancy announcement source together with a detailed curriculum vitae with names and addresses of three referees, including telephone, fax numbers and email addresses.

All correspondence should be addressed to the Human Resources Unit, World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), P.O. Box 30677, Nairobi, Kenya OR via email: icrafhru @ cgiar.org.

Applications will be considered until 15th June 2009 and should indicate “Application for a Fundraising Officer - PROTA” on their application letters and email submissions.

Only short-listed applicants meeting the above requirements will be contacted.

We invite you to learn more about us at:

http://www.worldagroforestrycentre.org

http://www.prota.org