Job Opportunity for Assistant Lead, Fundraising at Vision Spring in Kolkata

Description

Are you a change maker who wants to play a pivotal role in restoring vision for millions of people in low-income settings across India? Would you like to work for an organisation that is a pioneer in social impact practices?

We are seeking a highly motivated, dynamic, and self-driven candidate who would like to have a challenging and meaningful career path in fundraising, CSR engagement, and social sector. Fundraising and CSR engagement are key focus areas at our organisation and require a proactive and dynamic approach. The candidate should be dedicated and sincere towards her/his work and should always be open to learning new things. The candidate should have in-depth subject matter knowledge, expertise, and experience. Timely and high-quality delivery of goals would be essential and will be a key performance measurement criterion. The Assistant Lead, Fundraising serves as a key member within the Vision Access Programs team and will be based in India out of Kolkata.

About You

• You are accustomed to being a top performer in a high-growth environment. Achieving goals fills you with a sense of drive and satisfaction. You are self-motivated and strategic in your approach to winning new business.
• You enjoy meeting new people and deepening existing relationships, so making calls, whether by phone or in person, comes easily to you.
• You are a team player and like working with different stakeholders.
• You are a people’s person and love travelling.
• You are adept at proposing concepts and have a knack for painting a picture with words, making your vision tangible, and getting others excited about what they are going to do.
• You have the maturity, confidence, and communication skills to build rapport with C-level executives and top leaders.
• You have a special talent for negotiating with partners for the win-win closure of grants/projects.
• You understand that excellent service is the key to productive long-term partnerships, and regularly provide the ongoing support, information, and guidance that your partners can rely on.
• Ideas for new collaboration opportunities pop into your head because you know them so well.
• You are willing and able to take up high-responsibility roles and oversee managing, building, and scaling relationships.
• You know how to maintain relationships with partners by providing support, information, and guidance and being able to independently research and recommend new collaboration opportunities.
• You work efficiently in need analysis by collecting, analyzing, and summarizing demographic information.
• You know how to write and submit proposals.
• You are proficient in organising and participating in conferences, seminars, and workshops to create awareness of the cause.

About Us

• We are creating access to eyeglasses for low-income people. Clear vision creates opportunities for increased learning, work, safety, civic participation, and quality of life.
• As a social organization, social change motivates us first. Our focus is on advancing our mission objectives – to increase functioning, productivity, and income earning potential for our low-income people by correcting impaired vision with eyeglasses.
• We are working to transform the systemic dysfunction which has failed to deliver eyeglasses – a 700-year-old technology – to approximately 55 Crore people in India in need of vision correction.
• We serve low-income people who are more than beneficiaries for us. Our beneficiaries expect high-quality eye-screenings and eyeglasses.
• To efficiently scale, we must deliver each new unit with less cost.
• We run our operations on metrics and social impact measures. We leverage a range of processes and practices to get the work done.
• We believe in scaling our impact, not our organisation. We are a lean team of doers.

What You’ll Do

Team Management and Strategic Planning

• Prepare the fundraising and partner engagement strategy in collaboration with your team and make a timebound roadmap to implement the same.
• Roll up your sleeves and travel extensively with your team to meet partners and organise and attend events.
• Train, develop, and review current team members and hire new team members, as and when required.
• Maintain your professional and technical knowledge by attending educational workshops, reviewing professional publications, establishing personal networks, and participating in professional societies.

Fundraising and Partner Development

• Conduct research to identify and pursue new opportunities to establish partnerships with CSRs, donors, NGOs, and government agencies and secure funds for Vision Access Programs.
• Cold-call and network to find new opportunities, including representing the organisation at conferences, seminars, and events to proactively identify high-potential partners.
• Consistently follow up with existing and new partners to deliver the highest levels of partner service and engagement.
• Grow and manage the network of CSR partners. Use your creativity to find new paths, and expand existing ones, to bring eye-screenings and eyeglasses to our target population.
• Write, build, and submit concept notes, budgets, and proposals. Make grant estimates and align funding opportunities accordingly. Ensure our partners can scale impact most efficiently.
• Meet and surpass monthly, quarterly, and annual goals by securing, renewing, and scaling grants and partnerships.
• Ensure that all activities are duly recorded in Salesforce and an updated database is maintained.

Partner Engagement and Management

• Map and manage partners across India with the help of the team. Maintain and strengthen relationships with key decision makers and stakeholders and assure that we are building lasting partnerships. May require independent management of a few key partners.
• Regularly follow up with clients for MOUs/Agreement renewals and grant disbursals.
• Monitor completion of project deliverables in collaboration with program and implementation teams. Provide partners with timely and accurate information about project progress. Proactively communicate challenges and recommend solutions.
• Help partners share their impact with internal stakeholders, including boards of directors and employees, and work with partners’ marketing and communications teams to share results externally.
• Collect positive feedback and testimonials from satisfied partners.

Requirements

• Master’s degree/MBA in marketing, partnerships development, management, and/or related field.
  8 to 10 years of professional experience in fundraising, partnership development, and relationship management.
• Relevant experience of fundraising in the social sector and/or of partnership development in the institutional environment.
• Exceptional partner and team management skills.
• Excellent communication skills in English, Hindi, and regional language, including strong presentation, proposal writing, and negotiation skills.
• Must meet the highest standards of ethics and personal integrity.
• Willingness to travel up to 35% of the time, within India.

Compensation And Benefits

• Salary based on experience and education.
• Competitive benefits, including health insurance and generous vacation time.

To Apply

We want to know more than just what you have done. We want to know who you are. What are the passions and talents that draw you to this role?

Please submit your application, including a thoughtful cover letter and your CV/résumé, to: hr.india@visionspring.org. Please ensure there is a short description of each organisation on your CV/résumé. Include your last name and “Assistant Lead, Fundraising” in the subject line.
Please note, only candidates to be interviewed will be contacted.
We are an Equal Opportunity Employer.