Senior Managing Director of Partnerships

Location:London, UK

Location type: Hybrid

Reporting to:Chief Executive Officer

Annual salary:£110 - £120K GBP

Contract type: Permanent

Working hours: Full-time

Candidate level: Experienced Manager

Closing date: Monday 10^th November, 9:00 am CET

Background

The Global Innovation Fund (GIF) is a non-profit, impact-first investment that finds, funds, and helps scale cost-effective, evidence-based innovations that have the potential to measurably improve the lives of millions of people living in LMICs.

GIF uses a blended finance model to support social innovations with grants, debt, and equity investments ranging from $230,000 to $15 million. To date, GIF has supported over 75 innovations expected to benefit more than 150 million people annually by 2034.

GIF operates across two primary capital strategies:

GIF Core (including its sub-funds and strategies) – Our foundational, mission-driven platform, backed by leading bilateral agencies and philanthropies. Core capital is deployed flexibly across early-stage innovations that demonstrate strong potential for scalable social impact.
GIF Growth – A for-profit subsidiary making long-term, returnable investments in high-impact enterprises ready to scale. GIF Growth mobilises catalytic and concessionary capital to address financing gaps in emerging markets.

Purpose of role
We are seeking a strategic and entrepreneurial leader to serve as Senior Managing Director of Partnerships. Based in London, this role will lead the evolution and delivery of GIF’s organisation-wide fundraising and investor engagement strategy. You will be responsible for expanding and stewarding relationships across GIF’s capital spectrum from public sector development partners to philanthropic funders to impact-first investors.
The leadership role will focus primarily on GIF Core (60%) while also supporting partnership efforts for GIF Growth (40%). The role reports into the GIF CEO with a dotted line to the Managing Director Growth, and includes oversight of the donor relations team and communications function, ensuring alignment between our capital strategy, external voice, and internal systems.

Key responsibilities
Capital mobilisation and partnership development

Lead GIF’s global fundraising and capital strategy across Core (including its specialised sub-funds and strategies) and Growth, aligning with our impact mission and blended finance model.
Develop tailored engagement strategies for different funder types, including bilateral and multilateral donors, foundations, family offices, and catalytic investors.
Translate GIF’s long-term vision into compelling partnership opportunities and secure flexible, multi-year funding to support our innovation pipeline.
Maintain and expand GIF’s relationships with key development partners while cultivating new philanthropic and private capital sources.
Monitor and respond to Requests for Proposals (RFPs) issued by prospective donors, ensuring timely, high-quality submissions that reflect GIF’s priorities.
Oversee development of proposals, investor materials and pitch content tailored to each capital segment.

External engagement and relationship stewardship

Serve as an ambassador for GIF, representing our mission, model, and portfolio to donors, investors, and the broader global development and impact investing community.
Steward high-value relationships with current funders and investors, ensuring they are engaged and informed through regular and ad-hoc reporting, and confident in GIF’s ability to deliver impact efficiently and represent strong value for money.
Provide strategic direction to the communications team to ensure that GIF’s messaging, campaigns, and thought leadership effectively support external engagement and position GIF as a global leader in innovation finance.

Team leadership and internal coordination

Lead and oversee GIF’s donor relations and communications functions, ensuring strategic alignment across fundraising, partner engagement, and external messaging.
Build and manage a high-performing team that delivers excellence in donor stewardship, reporting, and storytelling.
Ensure effective coordination with legal, finance, impact, and investment teams to align funding strategies with operational delivery.
Develop and maintain systems and tools that enable efficient, consistent engagement with donors and investors.

Profile
We are seeking a senior leader with the experience and capability to build partnerships across the capital continuum, including but not limited to bilateral aid agencies, philanthropies, and return-seeking investors, all anchored in a shared commitment to social innovation and measurable impact.

Essential qualifications

10 or more years of professional experience in institutional fundraising, philanthropic partnerships, or investor relations.
Demonstrated success raising significant capital from bilateral donors, foundations, DFIs, or impact-first investors, including for initiatives in climate adaptation and resilience and/or gender equality, and the ability to position GIF’s work in these areas to funders whose priorities align with our mission.
Deep understanding of global development finance, impact measurement, and the evolving philanthropic and investing landscape.
Outstanding relationship management skills and credibility with senior-level funders and investors.
Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, with strong strategic storytelling and proposal development capabilities.
Experience managing cross-functional teams and leading fundraising and communications functions.
Ability to operate independently, think strategically, and thrive in a mission-driven, entrepreneurial environment.
Familiarity with grant compliance and reporting to bilateral aid agencies and donors.
Exposure to investment fund structures or blended finance vehicles is desirable.
An unrestricted right to work in the UK is essential for applying for this role.

Terms and conditions
GIF’s mission and model are more important than ever. Mobilising capital to accelerate evidence-based, inclusive solutions is essential to meeting the challenges facing communities around the world. We are seeking a thoughtful and strategic leader who can engage across sectors, build trusted partnerships, and help shape how mission-driven capital delivers lasting impact. The position is based in London and will require international travel (approximately 25 percent of the time).

GIF is committed to promoting equal opportunities in employment and creating a diverse and inclusive environment where all team members feel valued and empowered. We believe that diverse perspectives drive innovation and strengthen our ability to achieve our mission. We strongly encourage women and individuals from underrepresented groups to apply.

If you have any questions about the role or organisation and would like an informal chat ahead of submitting a formal application, please reach out to Ruth Gardner at ruth@upsallinternational.com.

To note: in order to keep your application safe and ensure your data is GDPR compliant, applications will not be accepted via email.

·The deadline for applications is Monday 10^th November 2025, 9:00 am CET·

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Upsall International actively promotes equality, diversity and inclusion. In recruiting candidates, we seek candidates with the proven skills required, irrespective of race, gender, religion or belief, age, disability or sexual orientation.

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Senior Managing Director of Partnerships