Chief Development Officer Job

Job Title: Chief Development Officer

Organisation: Walimu

Duty Station: Kampala, Uganda

About Walimu:

Walimu is a leading health research, policy advocacy and scaling organization in Uganda. Our team of 170, all Ugandan, works with a global team of research scientists from universities such as UCSF, Yale and LSTM to conduct studies that test whether interventions save patient lives. We then work with the Ministry of Health to scale successful interventions nationwide. Our work is made possible by a diverse set of funders, including Bill & Melinda Gates Foundations, World Health Organization, US Agency for International Development, US National Institutes of Health, Wellcome Trust and others. As a team, we are passionate about building a healthier Uganda, eager to take on challenges and committed to integrity in all our work.

Job Summary: Walimu has grown rapidly in recent years. We’ve been able to do so without any development staff, but that is fast growing unsustainable. We see an opportunity to multiply our impact by hiring a Chief Development Officer and building out a development operation.

As CDO, you will develop the strategy for our next stage of growth and lead execution. You will cultivate and manage relationships with our funders and major partners; ensure we are maximizing opportunities with our researchers; move us from primarily a subcontractor to primarily prime; design and lead fundraising initiatives for signature initiatives; and oversee communications.

With strong partner trust, high-quality execution and several extremely cost-effective interventions, we have the components to grow into a major research and scaling institution and reduce morbidity and mortality nationwide — but we need someone like you to get there.

Key Duties and Responsibilities:

Strategy – 20%

Working with the board of directors, executive director and stakeholders in and outside the organization, you will develop a strategy for our next stage of growth.

Fundraising – 50%

You will lead our fundraising efforts, including prospect identification, proposal development, asks/submissions/bids and follow up. Our fundraising efforts will primarily be submissions in response to calls from major funders, either independently or jointly with external researchers. However, we intend to work to diversify our fundraising, pursuing smaller funders, less restricted funding and, most importantly, strategic funders who are interested in large, long investments.

Relationship cultivation – 20%

You will have overall responsibility for Walimu’s critical external relationships, including with funders, universities, researchers and critical partners. Some relationships, particularly with funders, you will directly manage and cultivate. For others, you will work with the broader Walimu team, ensuring that we are delivering the best partner experience and maximizing likelihood of achieving our objectives.

Communications – 10%