The Northern Rangelands Trust is a non-profit umbrella organization supporting 33 community conservancies across northern Kenya. Its mission is to develop resilient community conservancies, which transform lives, secure peace and conserve natural resources.

Job Purpose:

NRT seeks to recruit a Partnerships & Grants Manager with a proven track record in managing large-scale grants and high-value donor relationships. This role requires expertise in securing multi-lateral and bi-lateral funding, crafting persuasive proposals, and ensuring donor compliance. The ideal candidate will have substantial experience in managing donor relationships, developing grant proposals, and coordinating with cross-functional teams to ensure quality reporting and compliance. The role will steward existing institutional donors and build new relationships, committed to advancing NRT’s mission.

The Key focus of this position will be: 

• Manage bilateral and multi-lateral donor accounts, ensuring compliance and engagement to build strong, long-term partnerships with major funders like the European Commission, USAID, DANIDA, Sida, AfD, FCDO, UN, and the World Bank.
• Oversee donor reporting & communication with varying levels of hands-on support to communicate context, project progress and promote mutual accountability.
• Collaborate with program teams to create compelling written materials, including proposals and reports, emphasizing data, logical flow and conservation-centric perspectives.
• Lead the development of compelling grant proposals and bids, working with cross-functional teams to meet donor requirements and organizational goals.
• Develop and implement strategies for donor engagement and retention, focusing on building strategic partnerships and initiatives to unlock additional funding and diversify into new opportunities.
• Ensure rigorous compliance with donor requirements and internal policies by coordinating financial, MERL, and program reports.
• Assist with budgeting and financial reporting to help develop proposals, review financial reports and monitor burn rates.
• Apply knowledge of monitoring, evaluation, and learning frameworks, creating and reporting against log-frames or management indicators.
• Monitor and manage risks associated with funding opportunities and grant implementation.
• Act independently and in supervisor’s stead as needed, exercise independent judgement to identify and solve challenges to ensure successful outcomes.
• Communicate NRT’s mission to diverse stakeholders effectively.
• Be prepared to travel frequently on short notice and work flexible hours as needed.
• Perform other duties and special initiatives as assigned.

Knowledge, experience, and qualifications required:

• Bachelor’s degree in business administration, finance, accounting, project management, development studies or a relevant field of study.
• A master’s degree or relevant professional certification and membership to a relevant professional body would be an added advantage.
• Minimum of seven (7) years of direct experience in the not-for-profit sector, managing large grants from bilateral and multilateral agencies.
• Possess an in-depth understanding of complex donor processes and requirements, particularly USAID, DANIDA, Sida, AfD, FCDO, UN, and other public funding agencies.
• Have previous experience with not-for-profit fundraising and proposal development, preferably in the fields of conservation, environmental, and natural resource management, particularly with public funding agencies.
• Have excellent analytical, communication and presentation skills, with the ability to prepare proposals, reports, and concept papers to a high level of proficiency.
• Superior organizational, project management, and communication skills.
• Experience in donor management and CRM systems.
• Must have skills: grants management; donor relations; partnerships; fundraising; reporting; donor compliance.