Title: Senior Specialist, Strategic Partnerships
Employee Working Location: Partially Virtual / Hybrid (Ottawa, ON)
Employment Status: Permanent Full-time

The Canadian Red Cross (Red Cross) - an inspirational not for profit organization, helps people and communities in Canada and around the world in times of need and supports them in strengthening their resilience. As a Canada's Best Employers 2024, we are committed to having an accessible, diverse, inclusive, and barrier-free work environment.

In this role, you will:

• Contribute to cross-functional collaboration between departments, ensuring alignment on strategic goals, planning, and reporting.
• Lead collaborative processes to develop and deliver high-quality, successful proposals to government, multilateral, and other institutional donors.
• Advance the organization's efforts to develop and sustain strategic relationships with government and global funders, including identifying opportunities for proactive engagement and positioning.
• Manage or support partnerships with funders and key gatekeepers, ensuring alignment with Movement Principles and CRC's strategic and operational priorities.
• Lead donor intelligence efforts by conducting in-depth research and analysis to identify funder priorities, assess alignment with CRC strategies, evaluate funding trends, and estimate return on investment.
• Ensure effective tracking and analysis of funding opportunities and maintain up-to-date information on sector priorities, donor terminology, and proposal requirements.
• Develop and refine tools and resources (e.g. marketing materials, donor profiles, CRM reports, briefings, analytics products) to support funding acquisition and partnership development.
• Represent CRC in external meetings, donor forums, and sector working groups to strengthen relationships and stay abreast of emerging funding priorities and trends.
• Provide strategic guidance and technical support to colleagues on donor engagement strategies, proposal development, and partnership best practices.
• Track progress against fundraising and engagement targets and contribute to the development, monitoring, and reporting of quarterly and annual workplans.
• Manage analytics and data related to funders and partners, leveraging CRC's CRM and knowledge management systems to inform strategy and decision-making.
• Coordinate internal reviews and post-submission debriefs to extract lessons learned, incorporate donor feedback, and improve future proposal outcomes.
• Monitor and analyze changes in donor policies, funding frameworks, and geopolitical contexts to proactively identify partnership risks and opportunities.
• Collaborate with finance, program, and legal teams to ensure proposals and partnerships meet compliance, budget, and contractual requirements.
• Contribute to the design and implementation of internal processes and tools that enhance the organization's competitiveness and readiness for funding opportunities.
• Support internal capacity-building by developing guidance materials, facilitating training sessions, and mentoring staff on partnership and donor engagement practices.
• Support the development and execution of CRC's institutional funding strategy in alignment with broader organizational priorities and resource mobilization goals.

What we are looking for:

• Qualifications include a minimum of 6-9 years experience and a 3-year college diploma or university degree in international development, public administration, political science, business, or a related field and/or an equivalent combination of education and experience. May require a graduate diploma/degree in a related field and/or a professional degree, certification, or designation. Requires expertise in a specialized discipline or broad experience across fields, along with an understanding of interconnections between processes and business units.
• Experience in institutional fundraising, donor relations, government partnerships, or strategic business development.
• Experience leading the development of complex funding proposals and managing relationships with institutional donors
• Strong understanding of institutional donor landscape, funding trends, and sector priorities relevant to humanitarian or development programming.
• Strategic and analytical thinking skills, with the ability to assess funding opportunities for alignment, risk, and return on investment.
• Strong relationship-building skills and political acumen for managing external partnerships and internal collaboration.
• Proven ability to research, analyze, and synthesize donor intelligence, policy documents, and funding frameworks.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office applications (Word, Outlook, Excel, PowerPoint) and SharePoint is required.
• Ability to identify complex problems, analyze interrelated factors, assess and mitigate risks, and develop solutions using specialized skills.
• Communication and influence skills to gather perspectives, understand needs, and present information to reach consensus, often in somewhat sensitive situations.
• Fluency in English is required, French is an asset.

Working Conditions:

• No unusual physical requirements.
• Requires concentration, attentiveness, and attention to detail.
• Ability to adapt to changes in work priorities and respond to time sensitive needs.
• Work will be conducted in an office-like setting.
• May require travel to safe locations; limited exposure to adverse conditions.
• Work requires the ability to work to deadlines.
• Work requires interactions with dissatisfied clients and the resolution of complex client issues.
• In a large-scale emergency, where staff numbers are compromised or additional resources are required provide disaster relief and/or emergency field operational support.
• As we work with and support people (managers, colleagues, beneficiaries/customers, volunteers, donors and external partners) and communities in Canada and around the world, applicants whose first language is not English may be required to perform the responsibilities of the role in English.
• Eligibility to work in Canada: At this time, we welcome applications from candidates eligible to work in Canada. If you are not a citizen or permanent resident of Canada, we encourage you to carefully review your visa to find out whether you are eligible to work in the job you are considering applying for. Refer to our FAQ for more information.
• If you are selected for this role, you will be required to complete a successful pre-employment screening process which includes a satisfactory Enhanced Police Information Check (E-PIC).

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