Director Business Development and Strategic Partnership Full Time

The African Initiatives for Relief and Development (AIRD) is a non-political, non-religious and non-profit making NGO with Country Programme Offices in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, Republic of Congo, Tanzania, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Sudan and Uganda. AIRD’s objective is to offer operational technical support, including but not limited to: supply chain, logistics and infrastructure in partnership with relief and development organisations that focus on disaster-affected, poverty stricken and development-oriented areas. AIRD delivers for and through partners including but not limited to UN Agencies, international and national donor organisations and governments.

AIRD is unique and top tier African home grown and based organisation with more than 1,500 talents delivering first class service to the most vulnerable across the continent. The organisation has grown tremendously since its creation in 2006. In 2023, AIRD set the ambition to be a USD$100 million organisation. Despite the challenges in the operating landscape and context, AIRD has huge opportunities and potential to exceed that ambition.

AIRD is looking for an exceptional, bald and ambitious team member to lead its growth.

Summary of the Role:

The Director of Business Development and Strategic Partnerships, is a senior executive leader responsible for driving organizational financial sustainability, building high-value partnerships, and leading growth through innovative income generation strategies—including grants, philanthropy, private sector partnerships, and social enterprise initiatives.

This role calls for a seasoned professional with a proven track record in high yield grant writing, multi-year strategic planning, revenue diversification, and leadership of business development functions across multiple countries. The successful candidate will build and lead a high-performing department, work across AIRD’s humanitarian-development spectrum, and represent the organization at the highest levels of influence, advocacy, and negotiation.

Core Responsibilities:

1. Strategic Leadership

• Lead the strategic visioning, design, and execution of a comprehensive business development strategy aligned with AIRD’s long-term mission and financial sustainability goals.
• Oversee the reorganization and staffing of the Business Development and Strategic Partnerships (BDSP) Department to build capacity, improve productivity, and increasingly deliver measurable results.
• Lead annual business planning and multi-year strategic growth frameworks to guide fundraising and partnership efforts.
• Provide a leadership and oversight to the staff and inspire them as a role model.

2. Fundraising, Grant Acquisition & Donor Relations

• Serve as AIRD’s chief grant strategist, ensuring high-value proposal development for institutional donors, foundations, corporates, and individual philanthropists.
• Maintain a high harvest ratio by managing the end-to-end grant acquisition cycle—from pipeline development to proposal writing, submission, follow-up, continued reflection and learning.
• Cultivate and sustain funding relationships with C-level executives, high-net-worth individuals, and key donor partners.
• Strengthen donor stewardship and reporting processes to improve compliance, visibility, and trust.

3. Social Enterprise and Income Generation

• Design and oversee social enterprise models and income-generating initiatives, including multi-purpose skilling and vocational projects, logistics value chain, construction and AIRD Academy/Institute
• Design and oversee an end-to-end business planning cycle i.e. (a) relief/emergency/humanitarian response/logistics, (b) Rehabilitation, coping and resilience building, and (c) Long term sustainable development
• Integrate entrepreneurial thinking into project design to drive sustainability in humanitarian and development interventions.

4. Representation, Advocacy, and Influence

• Represent AIRD in high-level forums, donor briefings, inter-agency meetings, and sectoral platforms.
• Advocate for AIRD’s value proposition and influence funding priorities in line with AIRD’s mission.
• Act as a key spokesperson and ambassador for AIRD’s fundraising, partnership, and innovation agenda.

5. Marketing, Communications, and Visibility

• Guide internal and external communications, marketing, and donor-focussed messaging to enhance AIRD’s visibility, reputation, identity and branding.
• Oversee development of marketing tools, social and print media campaigns, and storytelling assets to support donor engagement.

6. Team Leadership and Organizational Culture

• Mentor and grow a dynamic team across AIRD’s Head Office and Country Programs, fostering a high-performance, learning-oriented culture.
• Model AIRD’s core values, championing bold decision-making, accountability, and results orientation.
• Promote a mindset of innovation, agility, and shared ownership within the BDSP department and across the organization.

Essential Qualifications and Competencies:

• Minimum of 15 years of leadership experience in business development, strategic partnerships, and fundraising, ideally in international NGOs or social enterprises.
• Proven success in securing multi-million-dollar funding from foundations, corporates, HNWIs, and institutional donors.
• Demonstrated capacity to build and reorganize departments, manage multi-country teams, and deliver against ambitious financial targets.
• Experience with social enterprise design and implementation of sustainable skilling and livelihood programs.
• Deep understanding of humanitarian, resilience, and development programming cycles.
• Expert in strategic planning, stakeholder engagement, negotiation with C-level leaders, and donor influence.
• Exceptional analytical and critical thinking skills with the ability to interpret internal and external trends and guide decision-making.
• Bald, ambitious, be a people centered, positive and energetic
• Right positive attitude, behavior and mindset
• Fluent in English; proficiency in French is required.

Skills and Attributes

Successful applicants will embody the following characteristics

• Proactive Ownership: Anticipates needs, takes initiative, and owns their tasks.
• Focus on Execution and Delivery: Prioritize results by setting clear, measurable goals and driving accountability for delivering outcomes on time.
• Culture of Continuous Learning and Improvement: Have a learning mindset that continuously develops skills that support their roles and the team’s goals.
• Encourage Proactivity and Personal Accountability: Prospective team members are self-starters who actively seek ways to contribute and improve.
• Collaboration and Knowledge Sharing: Prospective team members build a collaborative culture where information is freely shared, and team members work together to solve problems.
• Resilience and Adaptability: Encourage a mindset that can handle setbacks and adapt to changing circumstances without losing momentum.
• Result-Oriented Communication: Ensure all communication is clear, purposeful, and focused on achieving results.
• Focus on Impact and Value Creation: Drive efforts toward outcomes that directly benefit the organization, “customers”, or stakeholders.
• Humility: Humility is the ability to recognize one’s limitations and value others’ contributions without ego. It involves acknowledging that learning is a continuous process and that others can offer valuable insights

Tagged as: African Initiatives for Relief and Development, Uganda