Business Development & Fundraising Manager – Action For Ocean (AFO), Dar es Salaam | August 2026

Organization: Action For Ocean (AFO)
Job Title: Business Development & Fundraising Manager
Department: Strategy, Partnerships & Growth
Duty Station: Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, with regular travel to AFO seascapes
Reports To: Executive Director
Management Level: Senior Management
Employment Type: Full-time, renewable
Start Date: Immediately
Application Deadline: 31 August 2026

About Action For Ocean

Action For Ocean (AFO), formerly Aqua-Farms Organization, is a Tanzanian, youth-led and community-rooted nonprofit focused on marine ecosystem conservation and strengthening coastal livelihoods.

AFO works across the Tanga, Kilwa, Mtwara and Dar es Salaam seascapes, with programmes covering ecosystem restoration, fisheries co-management, conservation finance, sustainable livelihoods, marine skills development, research and policy engagement.

Under its 2026–2030 Strategic Plan, AFO aims to mobilize more than US$16 million over five years to support marine conservation, community resilience, the blue economy, research and organizational development.

Job Summary

The Business Development & Fundraising Manager will provide strategic leadership for resource mobilization and organizational growth.

The successful candidate will manage AFO’s end-to-end fundraising function, including:

• Donor engagement and stewardship
• Strategic partnerships
• Funding opportunity identification
• Proposal development
• Fundraising pipeline management
• Donor relationship management
• Consortium and co-financing opportunities
• Fundraising systems and reporting
• Innovative and conservation finance

The role will work closely with the Executive Director, Senior Management Team, Programme teams, MEL and Finance to secure sustainable and diversified funding.

Key Responsibilities

1. Resource Mobilisation & Income Generation

• Implement AFO’s 2026–2030 Resource Mobilisation Strategy.
• Develop annual and multi-year fundraising targets.
• Develop fundable programme packages and donor-specific cases for support.
• Diversify funding across institutional grants, foundations, bilateral and multilateral donors, corporate/ESG partnerships, philanthropy and conservation finance.
• Conduct funding-gap, scenario and pipeline analysis.
• Prioritize multi-year, unrestricted, core and capacity-strengthening funding.
• Apply opportunity qualification and bid/no-bid processes.

2. Fundraising Pipeline Management

• Manage AFO’s fundraising dashboard and Monday.com workflow.
• Maintain accurate donor and opportunity information.
• Conduct prospect research and donor intelligence.
• Lead weekly pipeline reviews and monthly performance reviews.
• Track proposal submissions, outcomes, conversion rates and lessons learned.
• Maintain secure and well-organized fundraising records.

3. Proposal Development & Bid Management

• Lead development of concept notes, EOIs, proposals and donor presentations.
• Coordinate proposal kick-off meetings and bid plans.
• Work with Programme and MEL teams on theories of change, results frameworks, indicators and sustainability strategies.
• Coordinate Finance teams on budgets, cost recovery, co-financing and value-for-money narratives.
• Ensure proposals address gender, social inclusion, safeguarding, climate risk and locally led development.
• Conduct proposal quality assurance and red-team reviews.
• Manage proposal consultants and external technical contributors.

4. Donor Cultivation & Stewardship

• Manage relationships with existing and prospective donors.
• Develop donor engagement plans.
• Prepare senior management for donor meetings and field visits.
• Maintain donor stewardship calendars.
• Coordinate donor reporting with Programme, MEL and Finance teams.
• Identify renewal, extension and scale-up opportunities.
• Monitor donor satisfaction and emerging risks.

5. Strategic Partnerships

• Develop partnerships with NGOs, research institutions, government agencies, foundations, private-sector organizations, CBOs and financing partners.
• Develop partnership engagement plans.
• Lead consortium development for major funding opportunities.
• Conduct partner due diligence.
• Develop co-financing, cost-sharing and match-funding opportunities.
• Represent AFO at donor roundtables, conferences and sector forums.
• Support development of MOUs and partnership agreements.

6. Innovative Finance & Sustainability

• Explore blended finance, conservation finance, blue-carbon, biodiversity-finance and earned-income opportunities.
• Assess financial viability, risk and mission alignment.
• Develop investor, funder and partner materials.
• Support AFO’s efforts to increase flexible and earned income without compromising its nonprofit mission.

7. Team Leadership & Capacity Building

• Supervise and coach fundraising staff, interns, consultants and bid teams.
• Conduct proposal-writing and donor-intelligence training.
• Strengthen cross-departmental collaboration.
• Maintain institutional knowledge, fundraising procedures and lessons learned.

Qualifications & Experience

Applicants should have:

• A Bachelor’s degree in International Development, Ocean Conservation, Marine Science, Blue Economy, Environmental Science, Business, Public Policy, Economics, Finance or a related field.
• A relevant postgraduate qualification is desirable.
• At least 7 years of progressively responsible experience in fundraising, resource mobilization, business development, strategic partnerships or institutional advancement.
• Demonstrated contribution to securing significant grants or partnerships of at least US$1 million.
• Experience leading complex, multi-partner and multidisciplinary proposals.
• Experience managing donor pipelines, forecasts, CRM/fundraising dashboards or digital project-management systems.
• Strong knowledge of donor compliance, due diligence, restricted/unrestricted funding, cost recovery, co-financing and match funding.
• Experience in East Africa is strongly preferred.
• Experience in conservation, climate resilience, coastal livelihoods or the blue economy is advantageous.
• Experience supervising staff, consultants or cross-functional teams.

Essential Competencies

• Strategic judgment and prioritization
• Excellent proposal writing and persuasive communication
• Strong donor and partner relationship management
• Financial and commercial acumen
• Programme design knowledge
• Strong project and deadline management
• Digital systems and dashboard management
• Leadership and coaching
• Cross-functional collaboration
• High integrity and ethical judgment
• Knowledge of safeguarding, compliance and reputational risk
• Strong learning and analytical orientation

Desirable Experience

Experience in the following areas will be an advantage:

• Marine conservation
• Fisheries
• Climate adaptation
• Blue carbon
• Biodiversity
• Sustainable livelihoods
• Locally led development
• EU and other complex institutional grants
• Private foundations
• International conservation funders
• Blended finance
• Impact investment
• Carbon or biodiversity finance
• Conservation trust mechanisms
• Donor pitching and international representation

Working Conditions

• Location: Dar es Salaam
• Regular travel to AFO’s seascapes and partner locations.
• Occasional evening or weekend work may be required.
• The position involves desk-based work, external representation and coordination across dispersed teams.

Application Requirements

Interested applicants should submit their application through the application channel provided by AFO.

Application Deadline: 31 August 2026

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

Quick Assessment

This is a senior-level fundraising and business development position. The strongest candidates will need to demonstrate 7+ years of relevant experience, a proven record of contributing to US$1M+ funding opportunities, strong institutional fundraising experience, proposal leadership, donor relationship management and strategic partnership development.

The role is particularly suited to candidates with experience in NGOs, international development, conservation, climate finance, marine/blue economy programmes or institutional fundraising.

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