Risk Level: Level 1 - Likely to have no contact with participants or sensitive data 

About Mercy Corps

Mercy Corps is a leading global organization powered by the belief that a better world is possible.

In disaster, in hardship, in more than 40 countries around the world, we partner to put bold solutions

into action — helping people triumph over adversity and build stronger communities from within.

Now, and for the future.

The Department

In support of Mercy Corps’ mission, the Corporate and Foundation Partnerships teams manage Mercy Corps’ fundraising relationships with major global companies and foundations. We set bold visions for the positive social change we can create with our partners, provide outstanding partner services and relationship management, and together build meaningful partnerships that provide value to all parties while creating lasting impact for the local communities where we work. Our partnerships span areas including emergency response, economic opportunity, technology for development, food and water security, and climate resilience. We work across many teams at Mercy Corps, including marketing and communications, individual fundraising, the executive office, and with our program and field-based colleagues around the world.

The Position

The Senior Development Officer plays a key role in supporting Mercy Corps’ global corporate and foundation partnership teams by providing business intelligence, project management, and operational support. This position is responsible for delivering high-quality research and analysis to strengthen prospect pipelines and guide sophisticated engagement strategies with corporate and foundation donors worldwide.

They maintain a strong understanding of existing partnerships, regularly share insights on trends and opportunities, and identify potential reputational risks to ensure alignment with Mercy Corps’ policies and values. The role requires building and maintaining efficient operational processes to effectively manage, track, and measure research, due diligence, and pipeline development.

In addition, the Senior Development Officer provides critical operational support across the teams, including knowledge management, preparation of donor-facing materials, preparing background materials for events, and management of invoices and other logistics.

Essential Responsibilities

PRIVATE SECTOR BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE – 60%

●        Maintain a strong familiarity with current donors and prospects and provide timely business development insights on strategy announcements, leadership transitions, philanthropic trends and other opportunities for funding across the private sector funding landscape.

●        Proactively identify new prospects through relationship mapping, industry scans and other data sources to add to the corporate, foundation, strategic philanthropy, and Gulf donor pipelines.

●        Assess prospect capacity and alignment; work closely with Sr. Directors of Coporate & Foundation Partnerships to assign qualified prospects and make recommendations for engagement strategies.

●        Create and maintain systems for tracking, prioritizing and allocating research requests from the global corporate & foundation partnership teams, and report on key performance indicators.

●        Coordinate with the Major Gifts research team on cross-department strategies and business intelligence.

DUE DILIGENCE COMPLIANCE – 20%

●        Develop and lead tracking systems for due diligence screenings, approvals and filing in compliance with Mercy Corps policies, in partnership with Executives

●        Conduct in-depth due diligence research for partners and prospects, assessing reputational risk for the organization, securing approvals and elevating for executive review as required.

OPERATIONS & PROJECT MANAGEMENT – 20%

●        Support prospect outreach, proposal development, grants management, and donor stewardship activities as needed.

●        Support across the corporate and foundation teams in organizing and preparing materials and logistics for global events and donor travel.

●        Manage internal team knowledge sites, for example the team SharePoint site.

●        Manage in-bound inquiries and responses via the CFT partnerships email on the website.

●        Manage team subscriptions and invoices.

●        Maintain schedule, agenda, and meeting notes for regular meetings.

●        Other duties as assigned.

Supervisory Responsibility

None.

Accountability

Reports Directly To: Director of Fundraising Strategy & Services

Works Directly With: Sr. Directors, Directors and Deputies for Corporate & Foundation Partnerships, Development Officer MCE Corporate & Foundation Partnerships, and other Corporate and Foundation team members, as well as other team members across the broader Philanthropic Growth & Engagement team.

Accountability to Participants and Stakeholders

Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our program participants, community partners, other stakeholders, and to international standards guiding international relief and development work. We are committed to actively engaging communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring and evaluation of our field projects.

Minimum Qualification & Transferable Skills

●        BA in relevant field required, such as International Relations, Business, Communications & Marketing, etc.

●        5+ years of experience in supporting donor relations and stewardship - preferably foundation and corporate partnerships.

●        Demonstrated success managing project timelines.

●        Experience in conducting in-depth donor research.

●        Excellent writing and analytics skills, with proven ability to present clear and succinct analyses.

●        Excellent problem-solving skills and a demonstrated ability to work independently.

●        Outstanding interpersonal skills, with the ability to communicate with colleague in both remote and in-person work environments.

●        Excellent computer & tech skills (MS 365, Sharepoint, Google Suite, project management software), including remote communication and project management platforms.

●        Experience in international development work or a demonstrated interest in this field is preferred.

Success Factors

The ideal person for this role is deeply interested in the private philanthropy and international development nexus. They will keep a pulse on philanthropic trends for the team as well as conduct in-depth research on foundation and corporate entities and present succinct and clear summaries and strategic recommendations. The successful candidate will be detail oriented, comfortable with multi-tasking and have superior project management and organizational skills. They must have a proven ability to learn quickly and adapt to new situations, to understand the larger picture while remaining focused on the details, as well as be able to prioritize effectively and efficiently.  Awareness of and sensitivity to multicultural international development work is extremely important, along with a commitment to a diverse and inclusive working environment.

Living Conditions / Environmental Conditions

The position is based remotely within the US, and may require up to 5% travel to domestic and international locations to support with event organization.

Ongoing Learning

In support of our belief that learning organizations are more effective, efficient and relevant to the communities we serve, we empower all team members to dedicate 5% of their time to learning activities that further their personal and/or professional growth and development

Team Engagement and Effectiveness 

Achieving our mission starts with how we build our team and collaborate. By bringing together individuals with a variety of experiences, backgrounds, and perspectives, we strengthen our ability to solve complex challenges and drive innovation. We foster a culture of trust and respect, where every team member is valued for their contributions, empowered to reach their full potential, and motivated to do their best work. We recognize that building a strong and effective team is an ongoing process, and we remain committed to learning, improving, and growing together.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Mercy Corps is an equal opportunity employer committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all employees and qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, sex, sexual orientation, religion or belief, national origin, age, disability, marital status, veteran status, or any other characteristics protected under applicable law.

Safeguarding & Ethics

Mercy Corps is committed to ensuring that all individuals we come into contact with through our work, whether team members, community members, program participants or others, are treated with respect and dignity. We are committed to the core principles regarding prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse laid out by the UN Secretary General and IASC and have signed on to the Interagency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme. We will not tolerate child abuse, sexual exploitation, abuse, or harassment by or of our team members. As part of our commitment to a safe and inclusive work environment, team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner, respect local laws and customs, and to adhere to Mercy Corps Code of Conduct Policies and values at all times. Team members are required to complete mandatory Code of Conduct elearning courses upon hire and on an annual basis.

As an applicant, if you witness or experience any form of sexual misconduct during the recruitment process, please report this to Mercy Corps Integrity Hotline ([email protected]).

As a safeguarding measure, Mercy Corps screens all potential US-Based employees. This is done following the conclusion of recruitment and prior to assuming full employment.  Our screening process is designed to be transparent and completed in partnership with new Team Members. You will have the opportunity to disclose any prior convictions at the conclusion of the recruitment process before the check is initiated. 

We ask that you do not disclose any prior convictions in your application materials or during the recruitment process.