Development Officer

About Education for Employment 

Education For Employment (EFE) was founded on the belief that when young people have jobs and the hope of building a future for themselves, they help lay the foundation for secure and peaceful societies. We currently operate in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) - the region with the world's highest youth unemployment rate. We are transforming the lives of young people by giving them the opportunity to work and the tools to create productive, independent livelihoods. Through unique partnerships with business, government, education, and civic leaders in our countries of operation, we design tailor-made training programs that give unemployed young people the specific skills to get and keep a job. At the end of our training programs, our graduates are placed in jobs that our partners commit before training begins. Graduates receive ongoing support through our mentoring and alumni networks. For more information, see www.efe.org.

Education For Employment has Affiliates and offices operating in nine countries in MENA. Through 2020, EFE programs have graduated over 114,000 youth since its inception in 2006, connecting them to the world of work. EFE is poised for a period of rapid growth with an emphasis on quality and strengthening of the programming and EFE’s systems across the Network. The US Development Officer will be an important contributor to this next strategic phase.

Qualification, Skill and Knowledge Requirements

Position Summary

EFE is hiring a US Development Officer to help create and implement a comprehensive fundraising strategy that achieves our revenue and sustainability objectives. The US Development Officer’s primary focus will be to diversify and broaden our existing donor base, with particular emphasis on individual donors and foundations in the US. The US Development Officer will be responsible for creating fundraising systems and processes to streamline donor identification cultivation. The US Development Officer will report to the President and CEO.

The ideal candidate will bring a demonstrated passion for EFE’s mission and the communication skills to effectively share EFE’s impact through creative and data-driven storytelling. S/he must also demonstrate a successful record of supporting fundraising teams successful at securing individual and foundation gifts. To work well in EFE’s culture, the US Development Officer’s must also be a collaborative team player who proactively builds relationships with colleagues and other key stakeholders. The top candidate also will possess an entrepreneurial mindset and thrive in a dynamic, fast-paced, and high-growth environment.

Key Responsibilities

• Strategy. Working in collaboration with the President/CEO and EFE-Global management team, contribute to an annual development strategy for EFE in the United States. 
• Donor cultivation. Research, identify and cultivate new U.S. donor prospects, and contribute to the cultivation process resulting in an award. Assist stewardship of existing and new donors to achieve fundraising objectives.
• Communications support. Draft correspondence for Executive Leadership and Board Chair to engage and update donor prospects and current donors about EFE’s programs, events and successes.
• Events & Conferences. Plan EFE events in the US, maintain an events calendars, and identify opportunities for Executive Leadership to attend and speak at conferences. 
• Proposal & Collateral development. Working with the Program & Partnership / Communications teams, develop funding proposals and targeted collateral tailored to individual and institutional donors to achieve fundraising objectives in the United States.
• Systems. Oversee the establishment of the processes and systems (including databases and other technology solutions using Salesforce.com) to coordinate development and fundraising initiatives for individual, foundation, corporate and government grants for the US organization. Track fundraising activities across the Network to ensure successful donor stewardship.
• Team management. Recruit interns and manage staff to support the development function. In addition to the US Development Officer, there is currently .50 FTE committed to supporting fundraising activities.

Key Qualifications

• A passion for EFE’s mission.
• Outstanding written and oral communication skills, including drafting proposals and visual donor reports.
• At least 5 years’ experience working on a fundraising team for international causes, including individual donor, foundation and major gift cultivation.
• Demonstrated ability to engage senior staff.
• Successful experience designing, developing, implementing and managing development strategies.
• Familiarity with social media fundraising or crowdsourcing strategies a plus.
• Experience with event planning.
• Experience building organizational capacity (systems, processes, technology) and staff capacity (training) a plus
• Demonstrated ability to thrive in an entrepreneurial, high-growth, collaborative and learning environment.
• Exposure to the MENA region a plus; Ability to travel to the MENA region.
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