Regional Director, North America (Programs and Partnerships)
Aga Khan Foundation Canada

• Develops and grows a long-range pipeline of current and future opportunities with North American partners corresponding to AKDN priorities and Board-approved strategies.
• Cultivates a wide range of institutional partners in North America, including multiple government agencies in Canada and the US, relevant multilateral institutions, foundations, and corporations, ensuring adequate diversification across AKF’s grant portfolio. Some of these partnerships include: Global Affairs Canada, USAID, World Bank, UN system institutions, and private foundations, among others.
• Enhances AKF’s profile and relationships with North American foundations and corporations in collaboration with the AKFC CEO, the global partnerships team, and the Global Program Team.
• Leads and oversees the partnership team’s cultivation, solicitation, and maintenance of relationships with all North American partners and potential partners, including resource mobilization, technical assistance, or policy engagement.
• Ensures the integration of North American partnerships strategies and staff with the global resource mobilization strategy of AKF and the global partnerships function, contributing ideas, time, and labour wherever needed.
• Leads and oversees the partnership team’s development and review of specific concept notes and proposals (competitive and unsolicited) for North American donors, including logical frameworks and budgets. When needed, provides direct hands-on support at the field level (or elsewhere) in the design of concept notes and proposals.
• Leads in the strengthening AKF's global and North American systems related to business development, including systems to ensure rigorous pipeline management, constituent relationship management, and proposal development.
• Represents AKDN in North America (and elsewhere, as required) in key fora, including panel discussions, public events, and occasionally to the media.
• Participates and actively engages in relevant networking events/conferences to build awareness of AKDN in North America and expand AKF’s relationships.

• Maintains a diversified North American grant portfolio that responds to the AKDN’s needs internationally, and demonstrates strong results, best practices, sound reporting, and an outlook on what is being achieved.
• Develops and fosters a portfolio management approach to ensure successful implementation of the grant portfolio, including, monitoring and evaluation, communications, development of best practice, AKDN governance, and reporting.
• Reviews approaches to managing the portfolio, determining ways to work more efficiently and effectively.

• Provides supervision, oversight and mentorship to ensure that the portfolio of active grants is in full compliance with grant agreements, acting as a central resource for the field in donor best-practices; ensuring smooth cooperation among AKF’s partnerships team, AKF’s finance team and relevant AKDN agencies/field units.
• Leads and oversees communications with donors on a regular basis regarding the implementation of on-going grants in order to maintain solid relationships and to address queries or challenges effectively.
• Working with the Global Lead, Performance, helps design, implement, and oversee systems to assist with monitoring compliance, spending, and results across portfolio.
• Working with the Global Lead, Performance and the senior partnerships team, organizes capacity-building activities with AKDN agencies and program partners to standardize compliance and grant management procedures, ensuring that all staff have the tools and training in order to understand donor guidelines and compliance requirements.
• Collaborates closely with AKF units, other AKDN agencies, or other implementing partners to identify implementation risks and find solutions.
• Reviews content of various compliance workshops to ensure they are relevant, useful, and are meeting the needs of AKFC, AKF USA, and field units.

• Contributes to and packages development programs across agencies within the AKDN, to be submitted for funding, ensuring a roster of well-thought-through concepts which reflect the interests of stakeholders and agencies in the Network and will be well-received by key institutional funders.
• Coordinates and networks within the AKDN to engage stakeholders and connect to global best practices.
• Promotes the development of concepts that reflect the mandate and priorities of AKDN agencies and ensure that internal plans and strategies are able to connect to the plans and priorities of external partners.
• Ensures projects are fully leveraged to contribute to key AKDN program priorities.
• Fills the gap in central institutional planning and cross-agency coordination where possible.
• Contributes to the resolution of issues and challenges which arise between AKDN agencies in program planning and implementation.

• Acts as the main interface with government agencies, multilateral organizations, foundations, and corporations in North America, forming and maintaining strong working relationships with various branches and gaining support for program priorities through substance-based meetings and approaches.
• Ensures that such organizations recognize AKF as a “partner of choice” with strong intellectual grounding and reinforce the AKD’s privileged status.
• Builds and fosters working relationships within government agencies and multilateral organizations to develop and maintain open relations based on trust, ensuring access to, and the ability to call on, a variety of contacts for discussions and information sharing.
• Develops strong and productive relationships with key contacts and transforms relationships into implementation or strategic partnerships.
• Serves on committees with institutional partners as requested in order to develop larger programs.
• Contributes to the development of shortlists of priority programs / partnerships on which to focus engagement with institutional partners.

• Builds and maintains relationships and networks which promote the AKDN and create innovative development opportunities.
• Represents the organization as a leader and key partner in international development.
• Identifies potential new partnerships and develops strong working relationships with priority partners to create and implement programs.
• Forms relationships with implementing partners, donors, and knowledge partners; defining opportunities to work collaboratively and defining frameworks of partnerships.
• Leverages/grows network to develop an increasing number of diversified partnerships, including non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the higher education sector.

• Establishes regular mechanisms to provide intellectual leadership across the organization.
• Provides cross-organizational leadership and mentorship on development content; including program development, public engagement, policy activities, and strategic planning, while ensuring departments are working effectively together, and leveraging expertise to deliver strong programming.
• Contributes to efforts to promote learning on relevant global issues and mobilize public support for international development, AKF, and the AKDN across both Canada and the USA, in consultation with AKFC’s Director of Public Engagement and Resource Mobilization and AKF-USA’s Director of Resource Development and Communications.
• Assists in fostering programs at the Delegation of the Ismaili Imamat in Canada.
• Promotes the AKDN’s work, approach, and strategy to a range of external stakeholders.
• Provides thoughtful, practical, and strategic contributions to overall leadership and management of the Global Partnerships Team and AKF in North America.
• Ensures regular and productive interactions across departments, including especially with Finance, Communications, and Resource Development.
• Works with AKF’s Global Director of Institutional Partnerships to contribute to the overall leadership and management of AKF’s institutional partnerships function and staff.

• Prepares reports and regularly presents to national governors in Canada and the US, contributing to strategic discussions, prioritization, and follow-up from governance decisions.
• Helps the global Director and senior partnerships team promote an organizational culture of teamwork, support and inclusiveness, and the commitment to high-quality, transparency, and accountability.
• Supervises, coaches and mentors Programs and Partnerships staff in North America (and elsewhere, as needed), building a highly skilled and motivated team demonstrating best practice in the sector and exemplifying AKF values and behaviours.
• Demonstrates and role models AKF’s values.
• Builds a culture of continuous improvement, in which teams are cognizant of and influence the broader learning agenda alongside delivery objectives.
• Manages a team of professionals, through coaching and mentorship, performance management, professional development, recruiting, and structuring team to address change and new challenges.
• Identifies staff with potential for advancement and, as part of succession planning, contribute to their development.
• Ensures required abilities to carry out duties and responsibilities.

• Addresses and responds to urgent and/or unanticipated priorities, rapidly developing responses to internal or external stakeholder questions, queries or issues.
• Ensures urgent priorities are addressed in a timely manner.

University and Graduate Degrees in a relevant discipline supported by at least ten (10) years in a progressively complex role in the development and management of programs and staff. Significant international and/or non-profit experience required. Preference for a proven track record of securing new partnerships with North American institutional donors and overseeing successful implementation of large-scale programming supported by these donors.

• Ability to set and lead vision in alignment with AKDN/AKF values and strategic plan

• Creativity, critical thinking, and project management

• Demonstrated ability to forge strong organizational partnerships

• Must be an entrepreneurial, pro-active self-starter with maturity and emotional intelligence

• Excellent writing, speaking, and other communications skills, with thoroughness and attention to detail

• Strong client orientation; ability to provide stable, consistent, reliable, and courteous communication when dealing with external organizations, senior colleagues and community members

• Excellent operational management skills with the ability to set and achieve strategic objectives and develop and manage budgets

• Effective conflict management skills

• Ability to prioritize workload and function effectively within and outside the office in a cross-cultural, interdisciplinary environment

• Ability to work under pressure to complete multiple tasks, meet demands and deadlines with a positive, constructive attitude

• Strong managerial and leadership skills with ability to manage and develop high-performing teams

• The ability to problem-solve, work independently, and multi-task in a fast-paced environment with numerous and competing deadlines

• Ability to handle complex relationships with colleagues, and governance and external stakeholders in a professional manner

• Demonstrable ability to foster a healthy organizational culture of teamwork, collaboration, and problem-solving

• Strong financial literacy, including the ability to read and produce detailed budgets and business plans

• Demonstrated ability to have a heightened awareness of cross-cultural communication and business etiquette to work effectively alongside people with various backgrounds, from various levels of organizations.

• The Incumbent must exhibit ability to manage and effectively respond to and resolve unanticipated priorities.

• Must be adept with standard technical and computer tools, commonly used in office applications, with advanced knowledge of Microsoft Office products.

• The incumbent must possess a proven understanding of the not-for-profit sector and grant management.

• Multilingual skills preferred, especially knowledge of French for the engagement of Canadian partners.

• In general, able to work with minimal operational direction and manage a layered supervisory structure. Performs work as defined by responding to the requirements of the organization, department, grants, and donors.  Incumbent must comply with any direction or policies coming from the Board, the National Committee, or the Chief Executive Officer, and must comply with all pertinent legislation and associated regulations.

• Location: This position will ideally be based in Ottawa or Washington, D.C., with frequent travel to the other city, and with regular travel to sites of AKDN operation globally.

• Physical conditions: Occasional prolonged sitting and use of keyboard and mouse; frequent international travel to rural and remote areas.

• Psychological conditions: Working to deadlines, irregular schedules and overtime, intense mental focus. Stress associated with handling multiple projects under deadlines, dealing with competing interests, supervision of staff (local and in various international time zones), working remotely, and financial management.

• Because of the changing nature of work and work to be done, this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities required of the incumbent.  The incumbent may be asked to perform other duties as required.