Team Leader – Strategic Philanthropy And Innovative Giving [Open To Internal & External Candidates]

Tiered Approach

In line with the commitment to safeguard capacity and support personnel already in the Organization, a majority of UNDP UNCDF/UNV vacancies are advertised using a tiered application process whereby:

• Tier 0 : UNDP/UNCDF/UNV IP staff holding permanent (PA) and fixed-term (FTA) appointments, whose posts will be abolished, or contracts will be terminated or not renewed during 2026.
• Tier 1 : Other UNDP/UNCDF/UNV staff holding permanent (PA) and fixed-term (FTA) appointments
• Tier 2 : UNDP/UNCDF/UNV staff holding temporary appointments (TA), personnel on regular PSA contracts, and Expert and Specialist UN Volunteers
• Tier 3 or no tier indicated : All other contract types from UNDP/UNCDF/UNV and other agencies, and other external candidates

Please make note of the Tier(s) indicated in the vacancy title, if any, and ensure that you satisfy the eligibility to apply.

Background

For six decades, and in some 170 countries and territories, UNDP has shaped the progress of human development, providing integrated support at scale to improve lives for millions of people worldwide. UNDP’s 2026-2029 strategic plan helps countries and communities in their progress towards high human development while protecting the planet through four strategic objectives – prosperity for all, effective governance, crisis resilience, and healthy planet. The plan is powered by three accelerators: digital and AI transformation; gender equality; and sustainable finance. All are underpinned by a commitment to human rights and to leaving no one behind.

The Bureau for External Relations and Advocacy leads and supports UNDP to build and deliver essential strategic relationships and alliances. It creates and delivers a strong public narrative about the organization, impact of our work, and how we align with partners to identify and build solutions towards achieving sustainable development. The Bureau also leads UNDP’s work with traditional donors, as well as building innovative and diversified funding relationships. BERA partnership work enables strong strategic relationships aligning with financial backing and provides partners and supporters with a clear understanding of what UNDP does and how our mission, capabilities and services reinforce global, regional, and national development priorities.

Within the Partnership Group (Non-Member States) the team is responsible to mobilize resources from a diverse group of partners including philanthropic organizations, the private sector, and High Net Worth Individuals (HNWI). Working closely with other parts of UNDP, the team will seek to ensure organization readiness to receive, process and deliver funding from innovative funding sources.

Within the Partnerships Group, under the direct supervision of the BERA Director, the Team Leader - Strategic Philanthropy and Innovative Giving, leads UNDP’s global engagement with philanthropic actors and the private sector.

The Team Leader oversees a growing and strategically critical portfolio, setting the vision and operational strategy to scale high-impact collaborations with foundations, high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs), and corporate partners in support of UNDP’s mandate and the Strategic Plan (2026–2029).

The incumbent leads a team based in both New York and Bonn and is responsible for enhancing and bridging a strengthened focus on philanthropy with innovative, tech-enabled, and market-based giving. As a senior advisor to BERA leadership, the Team Leader spearheads the co-creation of innovative financial mechanisms to deliver funding streams which are flexible, predictable and resilient while stewarding complex, high-value relationships and a growing network of contributors to drive sustainable resource mobilization in support of a fairer and more sustainable world.

UNDP adopts a portfolio approach to accommodate changing business needs and leverage linkages across interventions to achieve its strategic goals. Therefore, UNDP personnel are expected to work across units, functions, teams, and projects in multidisciplinary teams in order to enhance and enable horizontal collaboration.

Duties and Responsibilities

1) Provision of Strategic Leadership, Vision, and Planning Programme Support and Policy Advice:

• Set strategic direction for UNDP’s engagement with the philanthropic and private sectors, ensuring alignment with institutional priorities and SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound) resource mobilization targets.
• Shape and oversee the implementation of engagement strategies and innovative financial partnerships. Utilize client relationship data and donor analytics to track history, preferences, and behavior, ensuring a data-driven approach to partnership development.
• Conduct rigorous ROI reviews of past fundraising and engagement efforts to identify the most effective strategies, channels, and messaging for future scaling.
• Advise UNDP leadership on emerging trends, such as shifting wealth patterns, venture philanthropy, and the integration of ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) with sustainable development goals.

2) Lead Corporate Strategic Positioning and External Engagement:

• Lead a structured donor cultivation cycle to move partners from initial awareness to long-term, multi-year strategic engagement and partnership.
• Implement a robust, multi-touch stewardship plan to ensure high retention and recognition of top-tier donors.
• Move beyond mass outreach to execute personalized relationship management including high-level, 1-on-1 meetings and tailored trust-based dialogues and strategic partnerships with top-tier foundations, family offices, and High Net Worth Individuals (HNWI).
• Develop compelling, impact-focused narratives that articulate the “why” behind UNDP’s mission, tailoring messages to distinct "donor personas" within the philanthropic and corporate ecosystems.
• Represent UNDP externally, be a philanthropic thought partner, identify and align with philanthropic business needs for joined up impact, design specific, high-value fundraising and advocacy activities.

3) Portfolio Oversight, Innovation, and Resource Diversification:

• Manage a high-value global portfolio of partnerships, ensuring risk-informed management, performance monitoring, and compliance from initial proposal to final reporting.
• Champion new partnership models, designing appropriate instruments including co-investment platforms, co-creation of development investment for impact programmes, pooled funds, catalytic financing, joint ventures, and corporate matching or corporate in-kind programs.
• Explore ways to integrate new partnership models based on diversified revenue streams such as cryptocurrency gifts and endowment funds, in coordination with efforts across the organization.
• Leverage digital tools—including social media, mobile-friendly landing pages, and QR-code enabled giving—to create seamless, tech-enabled donation experiences.
• Oversee the research, co-creation and crafting of data-backed, high-quality grant proposals and genuine partnerships for institutional funders and large-scale philanthropic foundations.
• Leverage corporate matching gift opportunities and sponsorship frameworks to double donor impact and broaden UNDP’s reach.

4) Strategic Advisory and Organizational Development:

• Provide strategic advice to Country Offices and Regional Bureau and thematic colleagues on strategic philanthropy and innovative giving, facilitating consistent approaches and cross-bureau support and coordination where appropriate.
• Guide the refinement of philanthropic and private sector engagement policies, templates, and operational processes to reduce bottlenecks and increase agility.
• Lead internal training initiatives to strengthen UNDP staff skills in donor prospecting, digital fundraising, and corporate partnership negotiation.

5) People Leadership, Knowledge Sharing and Cross-Functional Coordination:

• Lead and mentor a globally distributed team, fostering a culture of innovation, high performance, and inclusion.
• Facilitate coordination across teams within BERA, working closely with the Communications and Partnerships groups to amplify UNDP’s presence through peer-to-peer campaigns, virtual/hybrid events, and high-visibility flagship initiatives.
• Promote and execute integrated ways of working within a distributed organizational model to ensure seamless delivery across global locations.
• Foster a culture of learning and knowledge sharing within the team.
• Promote team integration across all functional areas to enhance collaboration.

Other Duties : The incumbent performs other duties within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the Office and the Organisation.

Supervisory/Managerial Responsibilities : Supervision and management of Philanthropy Specialists P4 (4), Philanthropy Analyst P2 (1)

Competencies

Core : Full list of UNDP Core Competencies can be found here .

• Achieve Results: Set and align challenging, achievable objectives for multiple projects, have lasting impact.
• Think Innovatively: Proactively mitigate potential risks, develop new ideas to solve complex problems.
• Learn Continuously: Create and act on opportunities to expand horizons, diversify experiencesl.
• Adapt with Agility: Proactively initiate and champion change, manage multiple competing demands.
  Act with Determination: Think beyond immediate task/barriers and take action to achieve greater results.
• Engage and Partner: Political savvy, navigate complex landscape, champion inter-agency collaboration.
• Enable Diversity and Inclusion: Appreciate benefits of diverse workforce and champion inclusivity.

People Management : UNDP People Management Competencies can be found in the dedicated site .

1) Business Direction & Strategy:

• System Thinking: Ability to use objective problem analysis and judgement to understand how interrelated elements coexist within an overall process or system, and to consider how altering one element can impact on other parts of the system.

2) Partnership Management:

• Relationship Management: Ability to engage with a wide range of public and private partners, build, sustain and/or strengthen working relations, trust and mutual understanding.
• Resource Mobilization: Ability to identify funding sources, match funding needs (programmes/projects/initiatives) with funding opportunities, and establish a plan to meet funding requirements.
• Private Resource Mobilization: Ability to identify, develop and manage partnerships that leverage private sector technical expertise and resources.
• Emerging Partnerships: Ability to engage with emerging partners, develop and manage a strategy and develop approaches to developing and managing these new strategic partnerships.
• Multi-stakeholder engagement and funding: Knowledge and ability to forge multi-stakeholder partnerships and remove any obstacles to resource mobilization and multi-stakeholder funding platforms.

3) Business Management:

• Portfolio Management: Ability to select, prioritize and control the organization’s programmes and projects, in line with strategic objectives and capacity; ability to balance the implementation of change initiatives and the maintenance of business-as-usual, while optimizing return on investment; knowledge and understanding of key principles of project, programme, and portfolio management.

Required Skills and Experience

Education :

• Advanced university degree (master’s degree or equivalent) in International Finance, International Relations, Political or Social Sciences, Law, Economics, Public Policy, Business Administration, or related fields is required. Or
• A first-level university degree (bachelor’s degree) in the areas stated above, in combination with an additional 2 years of qualifying experience will be given consideration in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experience :

• A minimum of 10 years (with master’s degree) or 12 years (with bachelor’s degree) of progressively responsible work experience in partnership development, resource mobilization and team management with international organizations, philanthropies, NGOs, or the private sector.
• Experience designing and overseeing innovative philanthropic resource mobilization, partnership and outreach/engagement strategies and initiatives is required.
• Demonstrated ability to deliver superior performance in fast-paced environments using "out-of-the-box" thinking and adaptive strategies is desired.
• Proven track record of expert-level interpersonal and relationshipb-uilding experiences, supported by an extensive and active professional network is desired.
• Proven track record of existing high-level relationships and networks with relevant funding decision-makers is desired.
• Proven track record of resource mobilization success in philanthropy, private sector and innovative giving is desired.
• Demonstrated experience in developing successful and innovative fundraising plans is desired.
• Demonstrated experience in progressively senior management roles, with the ability to coach and lead fundraising teams to achieve high performance outcomes is desired.
• Experience with relevant organizations and excellent networks is desired.
• Fluency in English is required. Working knowledge of another UN language is desirable

Equal opportunity

As an equal opportunity employer, UNDP values diversity as an expression of the multiplicity of nations and cultures where we operate and, as such, we encourage qualified applicants from all backgrounds to apply for roles in the organization. Our employment decisions are based on merit and suitability for the role, without discrimination.

UNDP is also committed to creating an inclusive workplace where all personnel are empowered to contribute to our mission, are valued, can thrive, and benefit from career opportunities that are open to all.

Sexual harassment, exploitation, and abuse of authority

UNDP does not tolerate harassment, sexual harassment, exploitation, discrimination and abuse of authority. All selected candidates, therefore, undergo relevant checks and are expected to adhere to the respective standards and principles.

Probation

For all new UNDP fixed term appointments (FTA), including for staff members being transferred or seconded to UNDP under the Inter-Organization Agreement concerning Transfer, Secondment or Loan of Staff, on an appointment of more than one year, continuation of the appointment beyond the initial 12 months is contingent upon the successful completion of a probationary period.

Right to select multiple candidates

UNDP reserves the right to select one or more candidates from this vacancy announcement. We may also retain applications and consider candidates applying to this post for other similar positions with UNDP at the same grade level and with similar job description, experience and educational requirements.

Use of AI by candidates

Applicants are invited to read UNDP’s guidance for candidates on using AI responsibly in UNDP recruitment and selection

Scam alert

UNDP does not charge a fee at any stage of its recruitment process. For further information, please see www.undp.org/scam-alert.