Overview
Senior Manager, Portfolio Funding Support Jobs in Johannesburg Metropolitan Area at Maliasili
Title: Senior Manager, Portfolio Funding Support
Company: Maliasili
Location: Johannesburg Metropolitan Area
About Maliasili
At Maliasili, we find the best local African conservation organisations and make them better by strengthening their organisational performance, leadership, and resources so that they can achieve greater impact. Our partner portfolio includes outstanding local and national organisations at the forefront of wildlife conservation, land restoration, and coastal fisheries.
Our partners are pioneering conservation approaches grounded in community and indigenous land rights, generating economic opportunities from nature-based businesses, and restoring ecosystems across many of Africa’s most important landscapes.
Since its founding over a decade ago, Maliasili has built a portfolio of more than 50 partners working across over 100 million hectares of critical landscapes and ecosystems in 16 countries. Our goals are to strengthen the capacity of a portfolio of Africa’s best local conservation organisations, scale up their leadership capacity within the conservation field, and help shift power within the environmental sector so our partners have the money, influence, and partnerships to grow their impact.
The Maliasili team is made up of over 50 dynamic individuals working remotely across the 16 countries where we work. We value and prioritise a diversity of lived experiences and welcome anyone with a passion for our work to join our team.
Position Summary
The Senior Manager, Portfolio Funding Support leads three connected strands of collective action and fundraising work. The first is building the methodologies, tools, and training that strengthen Maliasili’s and the Portfolio team’s ability to support partners’ resource mobilisation. The second, equally central, is working directly with partners themselves: troubleshooting fundraising challenges as they arise, designing and facilitating cluster fundraising workshops, and helping partners build robust, realistic fundraising plans. The third is supporting Maliasili’s (and partners’) donor engagement work, including furthering donor relationships and Vuma Fund positioning, supporting the broader shift to “better money” for community-led conservation. Working closely with Communications, Portfolio, and FAD, the Senior Manager also ensures that fundraising methodology and funding-pipeline thinking show up in how partners are supported to communicate and pursue funding, not just in internal tools and guides.
Working under the strategic direction of the Director, Collective Action and Funding, the Senior Manager operates with high levels of autonomy, exercising independent judgment in methodology design, training delivery, direct partner engagement, and select donor relationships. This is a developmental leadership role: as the Senior Manager’s capability and tenure grow, the role is expected to progressively take on elements of strategic representation and support for the Director.
Strategic Context
This role is central to achieving Maliasili’s 2026–2030 strategy and directly supports all four strategic goals. The role builds the partners’ fundraising capacity, strengthens their organisational resilience, empowers their leaders, improves and increases their funding, and enables their full participation in collective action and advocacy. This position is critical to achieving Maliasili’s partner funding targets.
Responsibilities
Fundraising Methodology & Tools
- Lead the development and codification of fundraising methodologies, tools, and practical guides for the Portfolio team and partners
- Own the fundraising resource library and its integration into the Maarifa Hub and other knowledge-sharing platforms
- Set the improvement agenda for methodology and tools based on Portfolio and partner feedback
Portfolio Manager Support and Strengthening
- Design and deliver materials and support that strengthen Portfolio Managers’ ability to diagnose and support partner fundraising needs
- Establish and manage a regular cadence of fundraising clinics, office hours, and strategy sessions with the Portfolio team
- Serve as a bridge between the Collective Action and Fundraising team and Portfolio, ensuring there is clear understanding of the work, progress, and strategy of the CAF team amongst Portfolio team members
Direct Fundraising Support
- Provide direct fundraising support to partners on complex or higher-stakes opportunities, serving as a trusted advisor
- Identify and help broker new funding opportunities for partners, connecting them with aligned donors
- Design and lead fundraising workshops that build skills and generate new opportunities for partners
Donor Engagement
- Support the Director on select donor relationships and represent Maliasili in select donor conversations as delegated
- Support the Director in positioning and advancing the Vuma Fund, with the Director retaining overall leadership
- Contribute to fundraising strategy discussions and materials in support of the Vuma fundraising goal
Cross-Team Coordination and Growing Strategic Support
- Coordinate with Finance and Admin, Strategic Initiatives, Communications, and Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning to ensure fundraising systems integrate with organisation-wide data and learning platforms
What Success Looks Like
- Portfolio team is equipped with high-quality, well-used fundraising methodologies and training
- Workshops and other interventions result in new funding secured and stronger peer relationships
- Partners report increased fundraising capacity and confidence as a result of direct support
- Demonstrated growth in independent donor engagement and representation, with an emerging capability to deputise for the Director on defined matters
- Strong, trusted working relationship with the Director and the two Senior Manager peers
- Where relevant and of interest, growing contribution to collective action activities (community building, peer learning, or aggregated impact messaging) alongside core fundraising duties
Growth Area
Depending on the interests and demonstrated capability of the individual in this role, there is room to take on challenges around strengthening collective action, voice and agency of local community leaders, building out that body of work. There is also continuous growth in building fundraising muscle, helping local organisations secure improved and better funding.
Reporting
Reports to: Director, Collective Action and Funding.
Collaborates with: Portfolio Managers, Senior Manager (Grantmaking and Partner Funding), Communications team, Director (Leadership and Learning), and other members of the Senior Management Team.
Location
This position is a remote, work-from-home role based in Africa or Europe, within a diverse global team.
Compensation & Benefits
- A competitive salary commensurate with experience
- Other benefits include a health stipend, home office stipend, and discretionary paid leave
Interested?
Interested candidates can apply by submitting their details here. Applications will be processed on a rolling basis, and the position will close on 21st August 2026.
Maliasili is an equal opportunity employer with a strong organisational commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
To apply, click here – https://maliasili.jobs.personio.com/job/2747936/apply