Institutional Partnership Advisor

We support people in overcoming emergencies and we strive to guarantee that everyone can have a decent and dignified life as well as opportunities and a better future. We work in more than 20 countries around the world, including in Italy, with more than 166 emergency, humanitarian aid and development projects. Our activities mainly involve women, girls and young people, actors of change in every community for a fairer and more inclusive world.

We operate in several natural and man-made crisis in various regions of the world. The emergency response is composed by multi-sectorial interventions comprising of WASH, EiE, CVA, Food Security, Protection, and others. We operate also in protracted crisis with provision of humanitarian aid through a prevention, emergency relief and rehabilitation approach. In the last 4 years we have strengthened the regions and the countries where we have been working, we have created new programs, developed new quality and compliance systems and now we need new people who want to join us to build the world we want in the coming years. We believe in a world where everyone has equal opportunities and rights and we work everyday to make it happens. Join us.

Position: Institutional Partnership Advisor

Reporting Relationship: Head of International Programs

Location: Italy / possibility to be home based from Europe with frequent missions to be discussed

Deadline: 15/02/2026

Starting date: April 2026

Working context

WeWorld has its HQ in Italy in Milan. While being integral part of the International Programs Department, the Institutional Partnership Advisor will be based in Italy or Europe, with possibility to be home based. Travels to Italy, Europe and overseas may be considered.

Job description

The Institutional Partnership Advisor is part of the HQ team of the Partnership Area with the objective of supporting the development of partnerships, improving and expanding the relationship with institutional donors and the positioning of the Foundation. He/she reports to the Head of Department in charge of the Partnership Area.

MAIN TASKS AND RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Institutional Donors Engagement

2. Partnership development

3. Strategy and content development

Institutional Donors Engagement

• Contribute on defining, monitoring and developing WeWorld's donor engagement strategy.
• Develop and maintain the mapping of the foundation's institutional donors, in relation to the assigned donors' portfolio.
• Help develop relationships with new institutional donors.
• Contribute to nurturing relationships with strategic institutional donors, except for the EU.
• Mapping and participating in events and conferences relevant to identified strategic donors, especially in relation to the assigned donors' portfolio.
• Keep Regional and Country Directors and other relevant WeWorld people updated on donor engagement opportunities.
• Facilitate synergies and scale up successful donor engagement activities carried out locally.

Partnership Development

• Represent WeWorld to high-level external figures, including donor communities, networks, alliances, etc.
• Support the Head of Department in developing relationships with ChildFund Alliance Members, Joining Forces and other strategically relevant NGOs.
• Assess the effectiveness and strengthen WeWorld's presence in networks.
• Map and enhance the work in clusters and thematic working groups at the global level (e.g., Global WASH Cluster, Global Education Cluster, INEE, ECW, etc.) in coordination with WeWorld representatives involved in these clusters and working groups.

Strategy and Content Development

• Support to monitor and review the Country and Regional Strategies in relation to partnership development
• Contribute to the development of strategic policies such as HDP Nexus and Localisation.
• Participate in the Content Team to support the development of advocacy messages and positioning strategy in alignment with the donor engagement strategy.
• Support the planning and development of advocacy products, studies, and technical/strategic documents in alignment with the positioning strategy.
• Support the international dissemination and promotion of WeWorld's advocacy products, studies, and technical/strategic documents.
• Support the development and dissemination of the documents developed by country offices, with support from regional Communication Focal Points (e.g., SitRep, Response Plan, etc.).

ESSENTIAL REQUIREMENTS

Qualifications and Professional experience

• Strong experience in the development and humanitarian sectors.
• More than 7 years of experience in designing, implementing and monitoring humanitarian and/or development projects.
• Working experience with civil society organizations.
• Proven skills in business development and institutional donor engagement across.
• Knowledge of main institutional donors and funding mechanisms (National Agencies, etc.)
• Demonstrated history of achieving fundraising objectives and cultivating strategic partnerships.
• Networking experience.
• Excellent knowledge of English (written and spoken).
• Flexibility and adaptation skills in changing situations.
• Commitment to WeWorld's values and principles.

DESIRABLE REQUIREMENTS

• Knowledge of non-traditional donors and funding mechanisms.
• Previous experience in a similar position in other NGOs.
• Knowledge of French.
• Knowledge of Italian and other languages.

The recruitment process may be closed early if a suitable candidate is found.

Due to the large number of applications, we apologise in advance and will only respond to those profiles deemed suitable for the role.