Director of Strategic Partnerships

Compensation and Benefits Salary: $123,000 Location: Flexible / Remote position with a requirement to work ~3 hours between 8AM and 12PM PST, at least four days per week (Monday–Friday) Job Classification : Full time, Regular, Exempt Reports to: Senior Director Supervision Responsibilities: This position doesn’t currently have supervision responsibilities, but may have a direct report in the future Travel Requirements: This position requires approximately 5-8 trips per year both in and outside of the U.S. Start Date : January 04, 2027 Application Deadline : August 31 by 5pm PT The CLIMA Fund The CLIMA Fund is a collaboration among Global Greengrants Fund, Grassroots International, Thousand Currents, Urgent Action Fund for Feminist Activism, and the Youth Climate Justice Fund. The CLIMA Fund offers a way for large funders to efficiently and effectively reach grassroots work in over 160 countries. We holistically support climate movement-building, from rapid response for environmental defenders to long-term partnership and support to social movements. We partner with movements advancing food sovereignty, water and forest protection, gender justice, and Indigenous rights, recognizing that systemic transformation is led from the ground up. Position Overview The Director of Strategic Partnerships (DSP) will expand CLIMA Fund's philanthropic growth strategy—growing investments in grassroots climate justice movements while helping reshape how climate philanthropy understands impact, scale, and systems change. The DSP will be responsible for expanding CLIMA's philanthropic influence, strengthening its internal fundraising systems, and cultivating strategic donor relationships. This role sits at the intersection of fundraising and philanthropic influencing, helping translate movement-led climate solutions for philanthropic audiences while growing CLIMA's long-term sustainability. The CLIMA Fund has raised $35M+ in five years. Our annual budget was $6.1M in FY26, supported by 26 foundations and 18 individuals, and our aim is to grow to more than $8M in multi-year funding in FY27. Although the majority of our budget comes from family foundations and individual donors, our influencing strategy aims to bridge to large mitigation-focused foundations, philanthropic advisors, and new climate philanthropists, where much of global climate philanthropy is concentrated. Climate philanthropy is undergoing rapid transformation. As new wealth enters this philanthropic sector, there is an unprecedented opportunity to expand investment in effective climate solutions. This role will help shape both CLIMA's growth and the broader evolution of climate philanthropy. The CLIMA Fund is uniquely positioned to expand understanding of what constitutes climate impact and scale, and to channel greater resources toward grassroots climate justice movements worldwide. The ideal candidate combines strong fundraising experience with a sophisticated understanding of climate philanthropy and the ability to engage institutional funders, family philanthropies, and high-net-wealth donors. The successful candidate will be both a relationship-builder and a strategist, capable of identifying new opportunities while stewarding existing partnerships. The CLIMA Fund team is small (currently 1.6 FTE) but growing (expected 3.6 FTE by 2027), and functions as a network secretariat, which means that the successful candidate will ‘wear many hats’, be self-led, and be comfortable operating with ambiguity and adapting to shifting priorities and responsibilities. As a small organization, the DSP will need to feel comfortable with both strategy and execution as a small fundraising team. Key Responsibilities 1. Philanthropic Influencing & Strategic Partnerships (Approximately 45% of the role) Co-develop and co-lead CLIMA's strategy for influencing major climate foundations and high-net-wealth philanthropists alongside the CLIMA Fund Director, including identifying target institutions and individuals, developing engagement pathways, coordinating relationship ownership across member organizations, and tracking progress toward strategic objectives. Build relationships with key philanthropic influencers, donor networks, philanthropic advisors, and other strategic partners. Design, coordinate, and deliver donor education programming, including translating CLIMA's programmatic learning and analysis for key philanthropic audiences through briefings, publications, webinars, funder events, and conference sessions. Support member organizations in communicating movement-led approaches to funders in their own strategies and donor engagement efforts as relevant. Represent CLIMA in philanthropic spaces, conferences, and strategic convenings to amplify CLIMA's influence and visibility. Monitor and synthesize emerging trends in climate philanthropy and identify opportunities for engagement and influence. 2. Fundraising & Donor Stewardship (Approximately 40% of the role) Develop and implement strategies to expand CLIMA's base of multi-year, unrestricted funding by 50% by 2028. Lead cultivation plans, reporting schedules, forecasting processes, and stewardship systems. Write proposals, reports, donor communications, and fundraising materials for current and prospective donors. Identify and cultivate new philanthropic relationships beyond CLIMA's current donor network. Coordinate member intelligence and relationships to pursue strategic donor opportunities, including mapping existing relationships, identifying entry points, and aligning engagement strategies across member organizations. 3. Organizational Systems & Coordination (Approximately 15% of the role) Facilitate the cross-fund Fundraising Team with representatives from the five member foundations. Maintain development systems, forecasting, and tracking. Strengthen coordination between CLIMA’s fundraising, communications, learning, and program functions. Support organizational planning related to fundraising and donor engagement. Attend annual CLIMA strategy meetings and monthly team meetings. Candidate Profile Experience and Required Core Competencies At least 10 years of experience in philanthropy, fundraising, partnership development, or related fields. Demonstrated success cultivating and stewarding institutional, family, and individual donors. Strong understanding of climate justice, systems change, and movement-led approaches. Strong understanding of climate philanthropy and philanthropic trends. Outstanding communication, interpersonal, and relationship-building skills with an ability to prioritize, negotiate, and work with a variety of internal and external stakeholders and produce compelling written and digital materials. Demonstrated success translating strategic vision into actionable initiatives and guiding concepts from ideation to implementation. Experience developing fundraising strategies and donor engagement systems. Ability to translate complex ideas into compelling narratives for diverse audiences. Comfort representing organizations in high-level philanthropic spaces. Experience with project management with the ability to stay on top of multiple projects: plans backwards, anticipates obstacles, identifies and involves stakeholders appropriately, and uses resources wisely. Experience managing complex initiatives across organizations, networks, or collaborations. Deep commitment to justice, equity, and movement-led change with experience in the Climate Justice sector preferred Ability to bridge different cultures, perspectives, and sectors. Collaborative leadership style and comfort working across organizational boundaries. Passion for how philanthropy can evolve to better support systemic transformation. Application Instructions To apply, please submit a resume and respond to our screening questions . The deadline to apply is Monday, August 31st at 5pm PT. We anticipate holding interviews in September through early November and our desired start date for the candidate is January 4, 2027. Do you think this might be you? If you see yourself in this job description but don’t feel like you meet every single criteria, we encourage you to apply anyway! Research shows that individuals from historically marginalized groups, particularly women, trans, non-binary folks, and BIPOC, tend to self-select out of opportunities at higher rates. We take a holistic approach to all of our hiring practices and want to hire those who best align with our mission and goals.