Local recruitment: Director, Foundation Relations

The fact that 1 in 4 people in the world today don’t have clean water is unacceptable, and we need you to help change that.

We’re the #1 international non-profit exclusively focused on bringing clean water, sanitation, and hygiene education (WASH) to the children and families who need it most. These people are the 2.2 billion reasons we do what we do. Our global WASH programs, led and maintained by the communities where we work, aren’t a quick fix. We strive for long-term access to WASH that truly transforms people’s lives.

To fuel our global mission, we are looking for an experienced and energetic fundraising professional to serve as Director of Foundation Relations.  

In this new role, you’ll drive revenue growth to advance our ambitious strategy and work to establish WaterAid as the partner of choice with the sector’s most influential and innovative private foundations.  You will develop and lead the foundation strategy with the goals of securing $10m+ annually and maintaining a pipeline of funding valued at $30m.  You will also monitor industry trends to identify and secure opportunities to build WaterAid’s visibility within the foundation sector.  You will build strategic alliances and position WaterAid at the intersection of innovative policy and programming.

As a representative of WaterAid America’s foundation team, you will model collaboration and demonstrate your passion for WaterAid’s mission through strong influencing, communication, and interpersonal skills. You will enable a ‘One WaterAid’ approach that draws on insights from across the federation and advise and support colleagues to maximize the impact of global fundraising initiatives in the US market.

Specific responsibilities include (but are not limited to):

Fundraising leadership

• Grow annual revenue from private foundations; develop the foundation strategy under the umbrella of the Chief Development Officer’s ambitious multi-year fundraising strategy.
• Develop and lead the execution of annual plans to achieve that strategy, consistently monitoring progress towards goal, addressing challenges
• With the support of a prospect researcher and WaterAid’s policy & advocacy team, research, identify, target, and solicit large US private foundations to ensure a pipeline of growth to support WaterAid’s WASH programs around the globe.
• Create and/or update and implement donor strategies to manage and steward a portfolio of private foundation donors and stakeholders.
• Establish WaterAid as the WASH partner of choice. Identify opportunities to build WaterAid’s visibility and strategic position within sophisticated policy and programming settings.
• Develop compelling presentations and proposals aligned with and/or related to objectives that support foundations’ strategic priorities for mutual impact.
• Negotiate partnership terms and contracts, ensure due diligence is completed and legal review secured, as necessary; ensure that work conforms to WaterAid’s Ethical policy.
• Keep abreast of sector and trends and developments, as well as legal issues affecting foundation fundraising and WaterAid’s global programs.
• Keep clear, accurate and timely records on our fundraising database of all prospecting and partnership conversations and use it to inform prospecting plans.
• Represent the foundation team across WaterAid’s global federation (WAi); advise and support colleagues to maximize the impact of global fundraising initiatives in the US market; represent and advocate for US priorities within global fundraising working groups.
• As needed, manage special projects.

People management and leadership

• Carry out/ contribute to the performance management cycle for direct reports and colleagues: deliver regular, prompt, and high-quality feedback; serve as coach and mentor; assess capability gaps and support the learning & development of direct report(s) by offering opportunities for personal and professional growth.
• Take ownership of setting, communicating, and delivering goals and objectives and line manage the team to ensure accountability.
• Work across the Partnerships team to identify and close gaps to ensure that the team’s ways of working across systems, policies, and procedures, are effective and efficient.
• Work with Managing Director(s) to contribute to building, leading, and managing a diverse and high performing team by creating an environment that enables staff to maximize their full potential.
• Ensure a safe, secure, and legal work environment; model and champion WaterAid’s values; exercise discretion, sound judgement and maintain confidentiality; ensure the safeguarding of organizational assets

Essential qualifications:

• A commitment to WaterAid’s mission and water, hygiene, and sanitation’s vital role in reducing poverty.
• Undergraduate degree and experience in fundraising for WASH, policy, advocacy work and/or international development organizations, ability to navigate complex international and/or federated organizations.
• Demonstrated track record (at least 10+ years) of generating and closing high-impact, strategic foundation gifts.
• Deep expertise and experience in navigating private foundation strategies; proven track record of building and managing meaningful relationships with senior and executive level representatives.
• Outstanding communication skills; proven ability to listen and engage with authenticity, to translate strategic or programmatic information; able to deliver compelling presentations and pitches to senior-level stakeholders and/or Board of Directors.
• Collaborative approach to create innovative and strategic propositions and work positively in a team environment, towards shared goals.
• Proven ability to translate strategy to annual and operational goals; bold approach to setting short- and long-term objectives that achieve organizational goals and persisting to get results (and modelling and coaching that for others).
• Proven ability to exercise discretion and sound judgement to maintain confidentiality; commitment to upholding honest & ethical practices to ensure the safeguarding of people and organizational assets.
• High degree of proficiency with MS Office (Word, Outlook, PowerPoint, Excel) as well as a CRM (Salesforce);
• Comfortable with understanding and analyzing budget and project reporting information.
• An appetite to learn new tools, and a commitment to professional growth.
• Professional manner and excellent communication skills, with the ability to work positively in a team environment, towards shared goals.
• Ability to model and champion WaterAid’s values; exercise discretion, sound judgement and maintain confidentiality; ensure the safeguarding of organizational assets.
• Ability to travel domestically and internationally, flexibility to work across time zones (with varied work hours) and maturity to achieve and maintain work/ life balance

Desired skills and qualifications

• Advanced degree in relevant field.
• Proficiency in French and/or Spanish is helpful but not required.

Employment & Benefits

WaterAid offers a generous vacation and benefits package available to its full-time employees:

• Health (medical) insurance (WAA offers several options, ranging from 70-100% employer-paid for you and your dependents), dental & vision insurance (100% employer-paid for you and your dependents), and pre-tax Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) for childcare, medical and commuter expense.
• Participation in WaterAid’s 403(b) deferred contribution plan (after 1 year of service, personal contributions are matched, up to 5% of gross annual salary).
• Paid time off (PTO) including: 12-13 public holidays (depending upon the calendar year) + a ‘floating’ holiday to be used at your discretion; 120+ hours of PTO upon hire (with new and increased hours awarded annually), 3 paid days for volunteering, and additional PTO available for “Summer Fridays” and office closures, such as between the Christmas and New Year’s holidays.
• Employee Assistance Program including Health Advocate, OneMedical, TalkSpace, and other services
• Professional development investment

WaterAid America’s US workforce is currently 65% remote and 35% hybrid, with a physical office in New York, NY.  

For all candidates, any offer of employment will be commensurate with market rate criteria of your specific years experience, skillset qualifications, and geographic location. Salaries and benefits for different countries will vary in line with the location of the successful candidate and depending on experience.

For US-based candidates inside major metropolitan areas, such as New York, NY or Washington, DC, the minimum salary for this position is $130,000 USD.  For US-based candidates outside of major metropolitan areas, such as New York, NY or Washington, DC, the minimum salary for this position is $120,0000 USD.  

About us

In 2022, WaterAid launched a ten-year global strategy that significantly shifts our approach to achieving access to clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene for everyone, everywhere.   We have ambitious aims that are crucial to accelerating progress. As a global Federation across 30 countries, we are
focused on achieving universal, sustainable water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services; increasing financing for WASH; and connecting the dots between water and other issues including global health and climate change.

Building impact at scale requires us to leverage the power of our partners and allies across countries, pushing for catalytic change that will reach 400 million more people globally with sustainable and safe water, sanitation and hygiene by 2032.  WaterAid America channels the substantial resources of the U.S. market to fuel impact worldwide.

Equal Opportunity Employer

We celebrate, support, and thrive on diversity and difference for the benefit of our employees, our mission, and the communities we serve. WaterAid is proud to be an equal opportunity employer and encourages applications from suitably qualified candidates regardless of sex, race, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, religion or belief, marital status, or pregnancy and maternity. We value diverse experiences and will also consider qualified applications from those who have had prior contact with the criminal legal system in accordance with the NYC Commission on Human Rights’ Guidance on the Fair Chance Act.

WaterAid is committed to the safeguarding and wellbeing of all individuals, including the people in communities in which we work, staff, volunteers, contractors, and partners. Any form of abuse is not tolerated.

Apply:

Please submit your CV and cover letter no later than Friday, January 17, 2026. Only candidates shortlisted for interviewing will be contacted within two weeks.