Background

In our endeavour to transform leadership in Africa in the 21st Century, Strathmore Business School (SBS) has taken the responsibility of influencing leadership of public and private sectors in the continent. This we believe is our overarching mission at SBS; Service to Society through the development of international executive business management and leaders...

JOB PURPOSE

The job holder is responsible for leading resource mobilization for the Advancing Women Leadership in Academia program by identifying new funding opportunities, cultivating donor relationships, supporting proposal writing and building the capacity of the team in resource mobilization. The role is to integrate program evidence, MEL outputs, and pillar achievements into competitive funding pitches that diversify and grow the program’s multi-donor base.

MAIN DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

Donor Prospecting, Pipeline Development & Market Intelligence

• Identify, research, and prioritize funding opportunities aligned with the program’s pillars.
• Maintain a donor pipeline dashboard covering grants, foundations, multilaterals, philanthropies, and corporate partners.
• Analyze funding trends in gender equality, higher education, academic leadership development, institutional reforms, and systems strengthening.
• Prepare regular RM intelligence briefs for PMO and leadership.

Proposal Development & Bid Coordination

• Coordinate full-cycle proposal development with PMO, MEL, finance, and pillar leads.
• Gather evidence, KPIs, and success stories from MEL and program teams.
• Develop high-quality concept notes, budgets, pitches, and application packages.
• Ensure compliance with donor templates, guidelines, and submission deadlines.
• Maintain a repository of reusable proposal components.

Donor Stewardship, Relationship Management & Partnerships

• Support engagement of existing and prospective donors through meetings, presentations, and structured communication.
• Prepare tailored briefing materials for leadership and Co-Investigators.
• Coordinate donor site visits, learning sessions, and visibility events.
• Contribute to donor reporting by assembling required evidence, impact data, and narratives.

Cross-Pillar Coordination & Internal Capacity building

Work closely with:

• APM WLAP for participant stories, learning outcomes, and leadership pipeline evidence.
• APM Policy/Infrastructure/ICT for institutional reforms, system change indicators, and infrastructure achievements.
• MEL for KPIs, evaluation findings, and evidence-driven messaging.
• Align fundraising priorities with annual workplans and the master Gantt.
• Build the team’s capability in resource mobilization by equipping staff with practical skills in opportunity scanning, proposal writing, donor stewardship, and the preparation of high-quality funding materials.

Communications & Impact Positioning

• Develop donor-facing materials (impact briefs, case studies, infographics, decks).
• Coordinate storytelling, newsletters, and visibility campaigns with the Communications team.
• Ensure consistent program messaging across all RM assets.

Contribution to Institutional Learning

• Document lessons learned from fundraising attempts and outcomes.
• Support internal capacity building in resource mobilization techniques.

JOB REQUIREMENTS:

The post holder will be required to have and demonstrate evidence of the following qualifications, attributes, and skills:

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Social Sciences, Development Studies, Business, Public Policy, Economics or similar.
• At least 3–5 years of relevant experience in fundraising, proposal development, or donor relations.
• Demonstrated contribution to winning grants (not necessarily sole responsibility).
• Experience with donor-funded programs or higher education institutions.
• Excellent writing, research, and communication skills.
• Strong capacity to synthesize evidence into compelling narratives.

Key Competencies and Skills:

• Gender & inclusion literacy, leadership development, and system change processes.
• Ability to work collaboratively within a cross-functional team.
• Stakeholder engagement skills.
• Experience preparing decks, briefs, and donor communication assets.
• High integrity, confidentiality, and professionalism.
• Research, writing and presentation skills.
• Experience working with donor-funded organizations, NGOs, higher education institutions, or research environments is an added advantage.
• Demonstrable Innovative capability in problem-solving in complex scenarios

• Identify, research, and prioritize funding opportunities aligned with the program’s pillars.
• Maintain a donor pipeline dashboard covering grants, foundations, multilaterals, philanthropies, and corporate partners.
• Analyze funding trends in gender equality, higher education, academic leadership development, institutional reforms, and systems strengthening.
• Prepare regular RM intelligence briefs for PMO and leadership.
• Coordinate full-cycle proposal development with PMO, MEL, finance, and pillar leads.
• Gather evidence, KPIs, and success stories from MEL and program teams.
• Develop high-quality concept notes, budgets, pitches, and application packages.
• Ensure compliance with donor templates, guidelines, and submission deadlines.
• Maintain a repository of reusable proposal components.
• Support engagement of existing and prospective donors through meetings, presentations, and structured communication.
• Prepare tailored briefing materials for leadership and Co-Investigators.
• Coordinate donor site visits, learning sessions, and visibility events.
• Contribute to donor reporting by assembling required evidence, impact data, and narratives.
• Align fundraising priorities with annual workplans and the master Gantt.
• Build the team’s capability in resource mobilization by equipping staff with practical skills in opportunity scanning, proposal writing, donor stewardship, and the preparation of high-quality funding materials.
• Develop donor-facing materials (impact briefs, case studies, infographics, decks).
• Coordinate storytelling, newsletters, and visibility campaigns with the Communications team.
• Ensure consistent program messaging across all RM assets.
• Document lessons learned from fundraising attempts and outcomes.
• Support internal capacity building in resource mobilization techniques.

• Gender & inclusion literacy, leadership development, and system change processes.
• Ability to work collaboratively within a cross-functional team.
• Stakeholder engagement skills.
• Experience preparing decks, briefs, and donor communication assets.
• High integrity, confidentiality, and professionalism.
• Research, writing and presentation skills.
• Demonstrable Innovative capability in problem-solving in complex scenarios

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Social Sciences, Development Studies, Business, Public Policy, Economics or similar.
• At least 3–5 years of relevant experience in fundraising, proposal development, or donor relations.
• Demonstrated contribution to winning grants (not necessarily sole responsibility).
• Experience with donor-funded programs or higher education institutions.
• Excellent writing, research, and communication skills.
• Strong capacity to synthesize evidence into compelling narratives.
• Experience working with donor-funded organizations, NGOs, higher education institutions, or research environments is an added advantage.