A Career Opportunity

UNICEF is the world’s farthest-reaching humanitarian organization for children. Across 190 countries and territories, and in the world’s toughest places, we work day in and day out to help children survive. To defend their rights. To keep them protected, healthy and educated. To give them a fair chance to fulfil their potential. Our work for every child relies entirely on voluntary support, including donations from generous Canadians.

Senior Officer, Cultivation & Operations

(Permanent; Full time; Flexible-Hybrid; based in Toronto)

The Senior Officer, Cultivation & Operations works as an integral member of the high value (HV) team to lead the behind-the-scenes development and project management of cultivation, donor communications and operational activities in support of the Development teams’ cultivation and engagement objectives, in a manner consistent with UNICEF Canada’s mission and vision.

This role reports to the VP of Development, and will primarily be focused on the content creation, cultivation and donor engagement activities and operations elements that support the engagement of high value donors, partners, and prospects.  The role operates cross-functionally in identifying opportunities to cultivate high-value partnerships and relationships and ensuring the proper tracking and analysis in support of growing a meaningful HV cultivation program.

The responsibilities of the position will include (but are not limited to):

Donor Cultivation, Communications & Content (50%)

  • Work cross-functionally to support development operations. 
  • Digital and Print Donor Communications: 
  • Create presentation decks and materials for HV audiences and customized donor proposals (25-35 per year) including custom cultivation tools for new donor and supporter outreach for major, community and corporate donors. 
  • Create, write, and design donor proposals and draft MOUs/Gift Agreements incorporating proposed recognition and acknowledgement as per UNICEF stewardship grids collaborating to confirm content and timing with Officer,
  • Stewardship Communications, and other internal teams.   
  • Source and disseminate content, situational updates and external donor communications resources for the development team to solicit and cultivate donations from a wide variety of audiences. 
  • Initiate emergency donor communications within 24 hours of onset for HV team distribution and provide list of emergency donors and prospects. 
  • Proactively identify meaningful communications opportunities for supporters that support the Development team’s goals, fundraising initiatives, or organizational priorities i.e. SM posts/press releases/stories/videos that engage donor interest on monthly/quarterly/annual basis. 
  • Ensure all custom proposals are reviewed and approved by International Programs, Marketing and VP for alignment with stewardship grid options and deliverables. 
  • Maintain an up-to-date and deep knowledge of UNICEF’s work, leadership, and content resources (in Canada and UNICEF global) as well as industry best practices in communications and cultivation, especially as it relates to identifying opportunities to communicate to supporter audiences. 
  • Virtual and In Person Donor Experiences 
  • Plan and execute 3-5 donor engagement events per year in markets across Canada. 
  • Represent UNICEF Canada on Virtual Experience development, distribution, and donor communications for HV team; regularly update the team on upcoming events and seek team input for consultation. 
  • Bi-annual review of fundraising opportunities and external communications on the UNICEF Canada webpages for HV audiences.

Cultivation Activities Project Management (30%) 

  • Architect and implement project plans, workback schedules, tracking and tools to support the team’s ability to manage delivery of cultivation requirements on schedule i.e. calendar of in person and digital cultivation activities for the HV team and outreach reminders of upcoming activities and workback schedules for these activities. 
  • Establish and lead process with Communications and IPP for HV content requests and deliverables. 
  • Maintain positive relationships with relationship/partnership managers and collaborative partners across teams, in order to facilitate the creation and delivery of cultivation materials in a timely manner.

Development Operations & Administration (20%)

  • Ensure global uploads for group donor communications for impact reports, emergency outreach emails, donor communications over 10 constituents. 
  • Manage the Events module in RE for Major Gifts/Corporate and Community Cultivation events i.e. create events, add invitees, track attendees. 
  • Generate lists for emergency donation requests for Major Gifts/Community and Corporate teams and ensure requests are uploaded globally as needed. 
  • Generate briefing notes for donor meetings for HV and Exec teams, generate short bios to support cultivation activities.

The ideal candidate will have:

  • A post secondary degree, diploma, or equivalent years’ work experience with a focus in communications, fundraising or other related discipline.
  • A minimum of three (3) plus years’ related work experience.  
  • Results-driven with the ability to work in a fast-paced environment, prioritize and multi-task, while being organized, detail-oriented, with strong follow through. 
  • Proven ability to collaborate with internal stakeholders at all levels and ability to coordinate complex projects across teams along with customer service skills, sound judgement and risk management. 
  • Demonstrates strong understanding of what donors are looking for and industry best practice and provides a supporter-centric approach to their work. 
  • Superior verbal and written communication skills. 
  • Excellent computer skills and in-depth knowledge of programs like Microsoft Office, Raiser’s Edge (and/or other fundraising, relational databases) 
  • Design experience with InDesign or related creative software (an asset)
  • English/French bilingualism (an asset) 
  • Able to travel for in person events and comfortable with occasional flexible hours to accommodate time differences, evening/ weekend events, donor support or organizational resource management. 
  • A knowledge of and interest in UNICEF’s mission and values.

Salary Range: $51,000 to 60,000 per year

What we offer

UNICEF Canada strongly supports workplace wellness and offers the following benefits:

  • Extended Health and Dental Benefits with Health Care Spending Account
  • Life insurance and AD&D
  • Short Term Disability (STD) 
  • Long Term Disability (LTD) 
  • Employer contributions (5%) to Group Pension plan
  • Employee and Family Assistance Program (EFAP)
  • 2 paid personal days.
  • 10 paid sick days
  • Maternity and Parental leave top-up
  • 3 weeks of annual leave (vacation time increases with time served)
  • One additional day of vacation on the anniversary of each year of service, up to a maximum of 30 days.
  • Staff Appreciation Days.
  • Currently offering Flexible-Hybrid work option. 
  • Learning and Development Opportunities.
  • Discounted rate for a GoodLife membership.

For consideration, please submit your resume and cover letter to careers@unicef.ca by May 3, 2024. Please attach your cover letter (including salary expectations) and resume as one document and reference “Senior Officer, Cultivation & Operations” clearly in the subject heading.

UNICEF Canada sincerely thanks all applicants for their expressed interest in this opportunity, however, only those selected for an interview will be contacted.

Consistent with our Child Safeguarding Policy, the successful candidate must receive clearance by a police background check, including a vulnerable sector screen.

UNICEF Canada is an inclusive workplace and is committed to championing diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility. Requests for accommodation can be made at any stage of the recruitment process providing the applicant has met the requirements for the position.