Job Description

The Partnerships Fellow supports the smooth, reliable, and professional delivery of Catalyst Now’s fundraising and partnership activities. The role provides the operational foundation needed to ensure that funding opportunities, grants, donor relationships, and related processes are effectively coordinated and managed.

The Fellow ensures that funding opportunities are properly assessed, proposals and supporting documents are prepared on time, donor and grant records are kept up to date, and key deadlines, agreements, and follow-up actions are effectively tracked. The role also supports internal coordination, meeting logistics, briefing materials, and communication across the team.

This position is important to ensuring that fundraising processes remain organised, funders receive timely and professional support, income is effectively managed, and Catalyst Now meets its commitments to partners and donors.

Responsibilities will include:

Scouting & Assessment

• New grant opportunities identified and shared per month
• Each opportunity assessed against fit criteria before escalating, no unfiltered forwarding
• Funding calendar maintained and flagged proactively, at least 2 weeks ahead of deadlines

Proposal Writing & Submissions

• First draft of grant proposals/sections produced independently, on time
• All supporting documents compiled and submission-ready before review
• 100% of grant deadlines met

Pipeline & Admin

• Pipeline and donor database kept current – updated within 48 hours
• Invoices, agreements and payments tracked; nothing outstanding beyond 30 days without a flag

Internal Coordination & Support

• Key meetings scheduled promptly with all logistics handled 
• Accurate and timely minutes circulated within 24-48 hours of key calls
• GC meeting slides and briefing materials compiled and ready for review ahead of deadlines
• Team kept informed on deadlines and action points

The role works closely with:

• The Fundraising Specialist and Resource Mobilization and Partnerships Team
• Programme and Secretariat staff
• External funders and partners (for operational coordination)

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

For this role, we invite applications from people who have:

• Bachelor’s degree in a related field
• The ideal candidate has a background in nonprofit fundraising, grants management, or operations support
• Fluency in English
• Strong organisational and tracking skills
• Comfort working with CRMs, spreadsheets and document systems
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• High attention to detail and reliability
• Ability to manage multiple deadlines and priorities
• Strong management skills with the ability to articulate complex information in a compelling way to advocate for change
• Ability to develop strategic engagement plans for individuals and organisations
• Proactive coordination skills to ensure seamless communication and pipeline management across different leads and initiatives