The ocean is vital for life on Earth. It creates oxygen, regulates weather, cycles fresh water and absorbs carbon. Home to huge reservoirs of biodiversity, the ocean provides essential nutrition and livelihoods for billions of people. Today, the health of our ocean is under immense pressure from both intense human activity and climate change; a third of the world’s major commercial fish species are overfished. Despite this, the ocean remains the least observed part of our planet. This lack of visibility allows illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing to thrive.

Global Fishing Watch is committed to advancing ocean governance through increased transparency. They create and publicly share knowledge about human activity at sea to enable fair and sustainable use of our ocean. Founded in 2015, through a collaboration between Oceana, SkyTruth, and Google, Global Fishing Watch became an independent, international non-profit organization in June 2017. Using cutting-edge technology, they create and publicly share map visualizations, data, and analysis tools to enable scientific research and drive a transformation in how we manage our ocean.

Announced in April 2023, Global Fishing Watch has secured a five-year $60M USD commitment through The Audacious Project to leverage their data and technology to revolutionize ocean management. They are now looking for a Director of Philanthropy and Partnerships to lead a fundraising campaign that will raise a further $60M USD in matched funding.

The Director of Philanthropy and Partnerships will play a vital leadership role in ensuring Global Fishing Watch has the resources to deliver on their mission. They will join the team at an exciting time for the organization and be responsible for raising $60M USD to support their international program, working with governments and civil society.

Reporting to the Senior Director, Communications and Partnerships, and working closely with the executive leadership team, the Director of Philanthropy and Partnerships will be responsible for developing and executing a holistic fundraising strategy and coaching the global team to successfully contribute to fundraising efforts. They will also establish a fundraising team, identify required roles and competencies, recruit and manage staff, and cultivate a high performing team.

The successful candidate will be a dynamic and inspirational leader with significant experience of relationship management, cultivating opportunities and new business in a fundraising or grant writing environment. They will have the confidence needed to win support from decision-makers at the highest levels, forge new relationships and thrive on enhancing their current partnerships.

Primary responsibilities

• Develop and drive an ambitious, multi-year strategy to increase and diversify funding and grow the organization to a USD $30 M annual budget by FY2028.
• Establish a fundraising team, initially recruiting 2-3 staff and contractors as needed. Set goals and the vision for growth of the new team and manage delivery and performance.
• Identify, evaluate, research and cultivate high-potential prospects, including private, public and family foundations, trusts, and bilateral and multilateral donors.
• Manage relationships with prospective donors, working closely with the Chief Executive Officer, board members, and executive leadership, and providing coordination and counsel as needed.
• Conceive, organize, and manage donor cultivation experiences to strengthen relationships in support of Global Fishing Watch.
• Support the Chief Operating Officer’s resource development prospect pipeline to provide accurate revenue projections and utilize data to drive analysis and forecasting.
• Work with the Grants and Business Affairs Director and Grant Manager to contribute to grant reporting requirements.
• Convey persuasively the mission of Global Fishing Watch to diverse groups, including major donors, corporate executives, and others. 
• Exercise discretion handling confidential information.

Experience

• Proven track record of personally securing and cultivating major gifts in excess of $1,000,000 USD from foundations, trusts, major donors, and institutions.
• Understanding of philanthropic methodology, including prospect research, proposal preparation and the cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship of high-level relationships.
• Familiarity with environmental issues and the ocean funding landscape.
• Demonstrated experience building high performance teams that communicate and work collaboratively toward a common objective, delivering consistent and superior results.
• Proven success in leading proposal writing and achieving strategic alignment with a mission.
• Demonstrated ability to develop and move projects forward with a high degree of independence and autonomy as part of a globally dispersed team.

Skills

• The ability to evaluate issues and make strategic decisions in the short and long term.
• Exceptional oral and written communication abilities in English.
• The ability to understand the nuanced needs and motivations of a range of funders.
• Possess good judgment, being able to make and justify recommendations.
• Highly sophisticated and enthusiastic relationship and network builder.
• The ability to work remotely, across different time zones.

Personal traits desired

• Positive and ambitious, with the ability to find solutions independently and creatively.
• Working collaboratively; bringing people together to achieve a common purpose.
• An interest in environmental issues, ocean protection, and sustainability.
• Autonomous, proactive, and results focused.
• Resilient and flexible.

Reporting to: Senior Director, Communications and Partnerships

Manages:  Contractors & will develop new team

Please send a letter of application stating the skills and approach that you would bring to the post with your CV/resume (no photos) in strict confidence by email only to: Emma Adams at (see email below). A full applicant pack is also available upon request.

Please ensure they are sent as Word documents with the titles “your name cover letter” and “your name CV” Please put “Global Fishing Watch – Director of P&P “in the email subject line. 

The deadline for application is Sunday June 11th 2023

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Daryl 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.