Job Title: Director Partnership Enablement

Company: Conservation International

Location: New Zealand

Job Type: Full Time

Director Partnership Enablement

Conservation International protects nature for the benefit of humanity. Through science, policy, fieldwork, and finance, we spotlight and secure the most important places in nature for the climate, biodiversity, and for people. With offices in 30 countries and projects in more than 100 countries, Conservation International partners with governments, companies, civil society, Indigenous peoples, and local communities to help people and nature thrive together.

POSITION SUMMARY - This position is based in Fiji or New Zealand

The Director of Partnership Enablement is responsible for supporting fundraising efforts of CI Pacific, ensuring that fundraising strategies and goals are aligned with organization-wide fundraising initiatives and priorities. The role strategically works with the Partnership Director to cultivate and solicit gifts and meet fundraising goals, and enable the development and implementation of the engagement strategy for these donors to meet annual and multi-year development goals for CI in the Pacific. The Director supports the Partnership Director to proactively grow and diversify the donor base in the Pacific. The role will assist in the proposal development for fundraising strategies that identify, cultivate, and solicit new and ongoing sources of funding, and will promote high-quality stewardship and grants management, and reporting for existing donors.

They will work with CI’s global network of donor managers and account leads, and Pacific colleagues across time zones, languages and cultures, to develop high-quality written proposals and other materials in accordance with CI internal processes and procedures. They will provide inputs and guide the project design, including budget development, safeguards, informing MEL frameworks, and GEDSI strategies under the project.

The Director may represent the organization externally and work with senior staff to develop strong relationships with prospects and cultivate them into becoming active financial contributors to CI. The role will ensure the updating of tracking tools for Pacific proposals and cataloguing fundraising materials, and prepare regular reports on efforts, losses, and successes, analyze trends, and capture institutional memory of information used to inform the field management unit fundraising strategy. 

The role works closely with and engages staff throughout CI to collaborate on fundraising opportunities and strategies. They will participate in the development of annual and multi-year revenue projections and ensure timelines are set and milestones are reached. They will prepare detailed fundraising progress reports and analyses of funding strategies and recommend strategy refinements as needed.

The role is responsible for supporting the Partnership Director in donor strategy development in close collaboration with CI Pacific FMU leads and Country Directors, ensuring proper stewardship of donors, identifying new prospects, and leading or providing support for writing and editing of proposals, reports, and other correspondence with donors. 

The Director will aim to:

• Develop proposals that are strategically aligned to CI’s global mission, the Southern Cross, and Institutional Strategies, such as the
  Pacific Strategy and the Oceans Strategy, as well as respond to strategic donor investment opportunities.
• Support the Partnership Director in securing funding from a diversity of donors in support of CI’s work in the Pacific region, with an
  emphasis on developing and securing concept notes for philanthropic donors and public funders.
• Support relationships with partners and donors, including representing CI internally and externally in forums and meetings.
• Build and maintain relationships with country leads and fundraising teams across the institution, to facilitate stronger partnerships and advance programming.
• This role will work closely with the Partnership Director in the Pacific through developing concept notes and proposals, budgets, theories of change, activities and timelines, monitoring and evaluation frameworks, program staffing structures, and other key
  documents.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Lead development of proposals in partnership with technical leads.
• Ensure high-quality stewardship and management of existing donors and grants in portfolio.
• Support fundraising efforts for the Pacific Ocean and Islands program and/or priorities in the assigned geographic and/or regional portfolio; collaborate with fundraising staff across CI to maximize fundraising efforts and share information.
• Track fundraising efforts in a CI Pacific regional database.
• Prepare fundraising progress reports and analyses, including pipeline analysis.
• Work closely with CI staff to ensure cultivation opportunities are fully maximized and aligned with travel plans and key events.
• Work with the Partnership Director and Country leads to identify and pursue new business development opportunities, including donor or opportunity identification and cultivation, proposal development and submission, and award negotiation.
• Document a strong pipeline of donor accounts to invest in the Pacific Ocean and Islands Program, including regional and country-level programs.
   

ADDITIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES

• Support to identify and develop partnerships around fundraising and donor opportunities.
• Support to identify and cultivate major donor opportunities (e.g., GCF, GEF, IKI).
• Regularly partner with CI staff on funding proposals and regional/global fundraising efforts in collaboration with Pacific Country Leads.
• Ensure multi-divisional coordination and alignment as required; liaise with institutional account leads from other divisions.
   

PEOPLE AND RESOURCE MANAGEMENT RESPONSIBILITIES

• This job does not supervise other employees

WORKING CONDITIONS

• Hybrid Role (2 work from office days), based in Suva.
• Flexibility in work schedules to accommodate time differences with HQ and field programs may be necessary.
• Occasional travel to meet with donors may be required.
• This position is a fixed-term assignment. 

QUALIFICATIONS

Required

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent combination of education and experience, plus 7 or more years of relevant work experience. 
• Proven track record in proposal writing for individuals, corporations, public funders, foundations, and/or other institutional donors.
• Successful experience in managing and tracking multiple prospects and donors.
• Knowledge of Pacific culture and capability in one Pacific language
• Comfort and ability to meet tight deadlines for information requests.
• Ability to work across time zones and in multi-cultural settings and context.
• Superb interpersonal skills, including the ability to listen, use diplomacy and tact, and build strong relationships with donors, volunteers, and all levels of staff.

Preferred

• Experience living in and/or working with countries across the Pacific region is preferred.
• Excellent interpersonal communication and management skills, with a high-level attention to detail and an ability to identify strategic priorities, issues, and solutions.
• An understanding of key conservation issues, policies, and the Pacific region is preferred.
• Ability to absorb and synthesize content-specific information on key conservation issues.
• Demonstrated ability to embrace the mission and strategies of Conservation International.
• Experience working in a fast-paced environment, yet sometimes with limited resources.
• Excellent interpersonal skills, ability to work with diverse teams in many regions of the world, and to facilitate contributions from staff.
• Excellent communication skills, with demonstrated strategic agility, diplomacy, team building, written and oral
  communication, negotiation skills, and always engaging in a culturally sensitive manner.
• Superior organizational skills with a high level of attention to detail

Posted: 14/10/2025