(Senior) Director of Philanthropic Partnerships

Responsibilities

• Frontline major and principal gift fundraising (approximately 50%)
  • Lead the full donor cycle for portfolio relationships: identification, qualification, cultivation, solicitation, closing, and stewardship of donors in the $25,000+ range.
  • Personally solicit and close gifts across the portfolio, with measurable annual revenue targets set jointly with the CPPO.
  • Partner with the Chief Partnerships and Philanthropy Officer (CPPO) to advance and close principal gifts in the personal portfolio, including coordinating briefings, donor strategy, and meeting roles.
  • Carry a meaningful portion of IPA’s $15 million capital campaign goal, with a personal portfolio aligned to campaign priorities and a multi-year cultivation and solicitation plan.
  • Move qualified prospects from the major gift range into the principal gift range over time, building IPA’s long-term revenue.
• Prospect and market building (approximately 25%)
  • Lead IPA’s prospect identification and qualification efforts, building a forward-looking pipeline of new individual and family foundation donors aligned with IPA’s strategic priorities with a focus on unrestricted and core institutional funding priorities.
  • Build IPA’s presence in priority new philanthropic markets, including artificial intelligence (AI company founders, executives, and aligned foundations), family offices, finance and hedge fund philanthropy networks, effective giving and evidence-aligned communities, and the major donor philanthropic market in the United Kingdom.
  • Position IPA’s evidence base for relevance to emerging philanthropic priorities in AI, including responsible deployment of AI in low- and middle-income country development, and translate IPA’s research portfolio into propositions that resonate with AI-sector funders.
  • Develop and execute a written market expansion plan with quarterly milestones, in partnership with the CPPO.
  • Align prospect and market-building activity to the capital campaign timeline, ensuring that new markets and new prospects translate into campaign commitments within the campaign window.
• Team leadership and program oversight (approximately 15%)
  • Directly supervise two managers responsible for philanthropy operations and the mid-level and planned giving program, holding each accountable for the performance of their respective functions.
  • Hold the team accountable to revenue targets, pipeline discipline, and documented moves management practices.
  • Coach team members on frontline fundraising fundamentals, including qualification, cultivation, solicitation, and pipeline management.
  • Identify and develop talent on the team, supporting growth into more senior frontline fundraising responsibilities over time.
  • Set annual goals, conduct performance reviews, and partner with the CPPO on structural decisions about the team’s composition, capabilities, and growth.
• Senior leadership and external positioning (approximately 10%)
  • With the CPPO, contribute to strategic planning, revenue forecasting, and resource allocation decisions.
  • Represent IPA at external convenings with donors and prospects.
  • Maintain a current and authoritative view of the international development funding landscape, especially in the United States and United Kingdom, and translate that intelligence into strategic decisions for the CPPO.
  • Support board engagement in fundraising where appropriate, including activating board members as connectors and advocates for new prospect introductions.

Qualifications

• Ten or more years of progressive frontline fundraising experience for the Director level, or fifteen or more years for the Senior Director level.
• Demonstrated direct experience fundraising for an international development, global health, research, or higher education organization.
• Demonstrated personal track record of closing gifts in the six- and seven-figure range, including documented examples of cultivating and securing transformational commitments.
• Demonstrated experience opening new philanthropic markets or donor segments, not solely sustaining established donor pipelines.
• Experience in one or more of IPA’s priority markets: the United Kingdom philanthropic market, finance and hedge fund philanthropy networks, artificial intelligence philanthropy networks, family offices, or effective giving communities.
• Track record of securing unrestricted or core institutional support, as distinct from project-restricted grants.
• Experience managing fundraising managers, with direct accountability for the performance of their teams.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to translate research evidence into compelling donor narratives.
• Proficiency with Salesforce or a comparable customer relationship management (CRM) system, and with moves management and pipeline reporting practices.
• Willingness to travel approximately 20 percent of the time, including some weekends and evenings as needed.
• Right to work in the United States or the United Kingdom, depending on the location selected.
• Familiarity with randomized evaluations, evidence-based policy, or development economics (preferred).
• Experience contributing to or leading campaign fundraising, including multi-year cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship of campaign-level gifts (preferred).