Philanthropy Partnerships Manager – West Coast, US (Home Based)

Background

The Bureau for External Relations and Advocacy (BERA) is responsible for positioning UNDP as the world’s leading global development agency, working with 170 governments and hundreds of partners to achieve sustainable development through the interconnected issues of poverty, good governance, environmental protection, crises stabilization to name a few. The Bureau for External Relations and Advocacy leads and supports UNDP in building and nurturing strategic relationships and alliances essential to achieving its mission.
BERA coordinates, sets the strategy and delivers functions of partnerships, marketing and communications within UNDP. BERA is positioned around three service lines: Public Partnership; Advocacy, Marketing and Communications; and Private and Finance Partners. BERA also delivers through a network of Representation Offices (Brussels, Copenhagen, Geneva, Tokyo, Washington D.C and Berlin) and Regional Team Members in five hubs (Africa, Arab States, Asia Pacific, Europe and CIS, and Latin America and the Caribbean) providing audience-centric communications and management and strengthening of relationships with public and private partners.
Cognizant of the evolving landscape of international development cooperation - including the shift in traditional ODA and a renewed emphasis on multilateralism to address global development challenges - UNDP is deepening its engagement with foundations and philanthropies. The upcoming Strategic Plan (2026-2029) envisions a revived platform for collaboration on shared goals by leveraging UNDP’s global presence, multi-stakeholders/partners outreach, and extensive know-how and expertise across critical development areas.
Within the Public Partnerships Group of BERA, the Philanthropy Team leads and facilitates UNDP’s work with foundations, donor collaboratives, family offices, and high-net-worth individuals to collaborate and co-invest for sustainable development outcomes.

Duties and Responsibilities

Within the context of the Philanthropy Team, UNDP requires the services of an experienced International Manager who is responsible for overseeing philanthropic partnerships.
The Philanthropy Partnerships Manager will play a key role in scaling up UNDP’s partnerships with US based philanthropies by cultivating strategic, co-created, catalytic, and long-term partnerships. The Philanthropy Partnerships Manager will work closely with the Philanthropy Team and other units in BERA, Central and Regional Bureaux, Country Offices, and relevant technical teams to operationalize new engagements with philanthropic actors on the region. Their responsibilities will include:

1. Landscape Scanning and Intelligence Gathering:

• Map key philanthropic actors in the region ecosystem, including foundations, family offices, donor-advised funds (DAFs), and high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs), funds and other forms of philanthropy.
• Identify emerging funders, generational shifts in giving, and collaborative mechanisms or pooled funding vehicles.
• Maintain an up-to-date regional database and feed intelligence into corporate CRM systems and global strategy.
• Analyze sectoral and funding trends across thematic and regional priorities aligned with UNDP (e.g., climate, health, gender, digital inclusion, crisis response).

2. New Partnership building, outreach and relationship development:

• Identify, prioritize, and establish new prospective philanthropic partnership opportunities for UNDP to expand its donor base and resource mobilization efforts.
• Develop and implement a targeted and flexible outreach plan for high-potential philanthropic partners.
• Cultivate trust-based, long-term relationships through consistent engagement, listening, and shared value creation.
• Participate in key philanthropic and development finance forums/events, either virtually or in person.
• Coordinate high-level meetings, including preparation of tailored briefing materials, agendas, and follow-ups.

3. Offer development and co-design of opportunities:

• Collaborate with the relevant bureaux to translate institutional priorities and new creative ideas into tailored philanthropic "offers" (flagship projects, thematic packages, cross-cutting portfolios).
• Co-develop new ideas, concepts and funding proposals with philanthropy partners, ensuring alignment with their goals and strategic priorities.
• Identify intersectional opportunities (e.g., climate-health, digital-gender) that respond to philanthropic interests and leverage UNDP’s comparative advantage.
• Support the development of one-pagers, slide decks, and talking points to convey offers with clarity and impact.

4. Strategic advisory and partnership structuring:

• Advise on structuring partnerships that balance flexibility with accountability in lin