Director of Special Projects

About the role

Raising The Village is building a Special Projects team to identify and drive large‑scale funding opportunities that accelerate its mission to lift ultra‑poverty in East Africa. The Director of Special Projects will own the end‑to‑end process for “big‑bet” initiatives, from idea generation through partnership execution.

Key responsibilities

• Source, evaluate, and shape a pipeline of high‑upside opportunities aligned with organizational priorities and external trends.
• Translate ambiguous concepts into actionable strategies with clear theory of change, success metrics, resource plans and stage‑gate decisions.
• Lead one priority opportunity at a time, coordinating product, program, research, finance and other functions to unlock revenue and impact.
• Engage senior philanthropies, foundations and strategic partners, creating tailored pitches, meeting plans and negotiation support.

Required profile

• 7+ years of experience in complex sales, fundraising or related roles, managing multi‑million‑dollar opportunities.
• Proven ability to lead cross‑functional projects and maintain high‑velocity execution while ensuring detail orientation.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with strong analytical and data‑fluency capabilities.
• Willingness to travel 3‑4 times per year to program countries for retreats, donor visits or events.