Akshaya Patra - Head - Institutional Fund Raising & Partnerships

TAPF is seeking an exceptional leader to own and grow our institutional philanthropic partnerships - building relationships with foundations and collaboratives, shaping funder-aligned propositions, and driving multi-year funding. This role is responsible for fundraising strategy, donor cultivation, portfolio stewardship, and high-stakes proposal leadership (with execution support from a team).

Institutional fundraising strategy & portfolio ownership

- Build a clear, prioritized institutional donor portfolio aligned to TAPF themes (nutrition & proximate outcomes like education, health, climate, gender)

Relationship development & senior stakeholder engagement

- Represent TAPF in convenings and donor forums to build credibility as a potential long-term grantee partner

Co-creation of funder-aligned programs and investment cases

- Partner closely with RMEL to build evidence-led narratives and credible measurement/evaluation strategies

Grant acquisition leadership

- Lead high-value LOIs & proposals end-to-end (strategy, storyline, donor fit, negotiation), and guide junior staff in submission mechanics and documentation

Stewardship, renewals & growth

- Own renewal strategy to turn on-time grants into longer-term partnerships and coordinate with Finance/RMEL for strong reporting and clean governance

Team leadership & internal capability-building

- Build internal organizational structure & systems to make institutional fundraising scalable: management forums, knowledge curation, pipeline reviews etc.

- Coach team members on donor strategy, writing quality, and cross-functional collaboration

Ideal candidate profile

- Experience: 15-20+ years in institutional fundraising and partnerships at an NGO or other organisations in social impact

- Education: Master's preferred in public policy, development, management, or related.

- Demonstrated experience having built and led a fundraising team of 5-10; cross-country preferred

- Deep understanding of grant structures, M&E, laws & compliance related to philanthropy; technical knowledge & experience in child-development areas (e.g., nutrition, health, cognition & education outcomes etc.) is a must