Summary
The Sr. Partnerships Manager will lead the strategy for building meaningful and long-lasting relationships with Root Capital’s institutional partners, leading the identification, cultivation, and stewardship of private foundations, corporate foundations, and public agencies. As such, this individual will play a critical role in helping the organization meet its fundraising goals and pursue its mission of transforming rural communities by investing in agricultural businesses’ growth. The Sr. Manager will serve as a conduit between Root Capital’s programmatic staff and our institutional partners, collecting and synthesizing information from different departments and areas of operations, aligning that information with the goals and interests of donors, and communicating that vision in a compelling way to achieve our fundraising goals.
Working with Root Capital
Our team members work hard to tackle the challenges inherent in changing the world for the better, so we strive to cultivate an environment in which it feels great to work. In addition to salary, health insurance, and a generous vacation package, anyone working for Root Capital can expect to enjoy the following:
- Diverse and dynamic team: with staff based in the United States, Latin America, Indonesia, East Africa, and West Africa. Our team is highly collaborative, and we regularly consult with one another to gain expertise or a new perspective.
- Flexibility: once a week, avoid the commute and join your team from the comfort of your home via videoconference.
- Dress: dress in the way that makes you feel most productive, from business casual to jeans.
- Coffee: Did we mention the coffee? We take it very seriously; it’s high quality and always available!
Mission and History of Root Capital
Root Capital is a nonprofit social investment fund whose mission is to grow rural prosperity in poor, environmentally vulnerable places in Africa, Latin America, and Asia by lending capital, delivering financial training and strengthening market connections for small and growing agricultural businesses. Root Capital clients include associations and private businesses that help create sustainable livelihoods by aggregating the products of hundreds, and often thousands, of farmers.
Since our launch in 1999, we have provided more than $1 billion in credit to over 650 small and growing agricultural businesses. Root Capital envisions a thriving financial market serving agricultural businesses that generate long-term social, economic, and environmental sustainability for small-scale farmers and their communities around the world. Headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Root Capital currently has associated offices in Costa Rica, Mexico, Peru, Senegal, and Kenya.
Responsibilities
Development & execution of partnerships strategy (30%)
- Design and oversee implementation of strategy for relationship management with current and prospective institutional partners, including private and corporate foundations, and public agencies
- Communicate these strategies to colleagues throughout the organization to ensure alignment across departments and geographies around program goals, budgets and partner expectations
- Collaborate with colleagues to set targets and performance metrics, monitor progress against these targets, and provide feedback to team, to develop partnership strategies as appropriate
Management of portfolio of relationships (40%)
- Act as primary relationship manager for 20-30 private foundations, public sector agencies, and corporate foundations, personally implementing strategies and moves management plans to keep donors engaged in Root Capital’s work and position for renewals and expanded partnerships
- Keep institutional partners close to Root Capital’s work and impact by leveraging communication content (client stories, impact studies, analyses, etc.) and help to curate communications with, and occasional site visits to, Root Capital’s field offices and clients
- Represent Root Capital externally at conferences, meetings, events, etc.
- Collaborate with colleagues to ensure that the organization delivers on grant deliverables
- Collaborate with the creative team, which leads on writing proposals, reports, etc.; acting as reader and editor as needed, and providing sign off where appropriate.
Leads Development (20%)
- Oversee process of identifying and cultivating new leads, ensuring a strong pipeline of 10-20 future partners we are actively pursuing at any given time
- Coordinate implementation of lead cultivation strategies by all Root Capital relationship managers (both inside and outside the department), and play a key role in cultivating many of those relationships personally
- Build and maintain relationships with sources of new leads such as peer institutions and other funders
Help Set Organizational and Programmatic Strategy, and Team Culture (10%)
- Participate in organizational strategy development, ensuring appropriate integration of market trends as well as specific donor insights and theories of change
- Participate in Root Capital’s “Root Lab” process, helping to develop and test new program ideas
- Represent the fundraising department to staff in other departments to achieve a shared understanding of Root Capital’s institutional partners and fundraising priorities
Skills and Experience
- Proven ability to create and maintain relationships, with a minimum of five years related experience.
- Experience working with institutional funders and/or in a fundraising role strongly preferred; experience with public donors a plus.
- Demonstrable track record in stewarding engagements and bringing transactions to closure.
- Superior communication and listening skills, including the ability to engage a variety of stakeholders and to distill and deliver complex, technical ideas.
- Ability to thrive in a fast-paced and rapidly evolving work environment.
- Highly motivated to create solutions concerning issues relating to poverty, international development, and the environment. Experience in international development and time in developing countries strongly preferred.
- Knowledge of and/or passion for gender a plus.
- Knowledge of and interest in financial markets and/or impact investing a plus.
- Entrepreneurial spirit and ability to think creatively, take initiative, and work independently, while enjoying working collaboratively and knowing when to seek support.
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Fluency in Spanish strongly preferred; French a plus.
Salary
Commensurate with experience.
Applications and Nominations
Please apply by using the form below.
Root Capital does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion (creed), gender, gender expression, age, national origin (ancestry), disability, marital status, sexual orientation, or military status, in any of its activities or operations.
Application Form