Senior Director, Global Impact Partnerships

The Senior Director, Global Impact Partnerships is an enterprise leadership opportunity at USA for UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, to accelerate ambitious growth and translate humanitarian priorities into transformational private-sector engagement. Reporting to the Chief Development Officer, this leader will shape and execute an integrated strategy for partnerships with private-sector organizations headquartered in the United States, including corporations, institutional foundations, civil society and faith-based organizations, community partners, and gift-in-kind partners, while collaborating globally to maximize humanitarian impact.

The Senior Director will steward a large, multifaceted team of 12+ fundraising, relationship-management and partnership professionals; strengthen the team’s leadership, collaboration and performance; and create the conditions for talented colleagues to succeed. As a trusted enterprise partner, they will influence strategy and execution across USA for UNHCR, collaborate closely with senior leaders and Board members, and build strong, productive relationships with UNHCR colleagues around the world.

The role will deepen and expand complex, multi-year and multimillion-dollar partnerships while opening new pathways for financial support, gifts-in-kind, employee engagement, cause marketing, thought leadership and cross-sector innovation. Through these efforts, the Senior Director will help mobilize resources and relationships that advance UNHCR’s work to save lives, protect rights and build better futures for people forced to flee.

Why This Role Matters Now

USA for UNHCR is entering an important period of partnership growth, innovation and organizational development. At a time when one in every 70 people worldwide is forcibly displaced, USA for UNHCR has an urgent opportunity to expand the resources, expertise and innovation available to people forced to flee. The Senior Director will build on a uniquely broad portfolio that spans corporations, foundations, civil society, faith communities and gift-in-kind channels to create integrated, transformational partnerships and shape a multiyear growth agenda. 

By mobilizing financial support, capabilities and cross-sector solutions, this leader will help translate private-sector engagement into lasting humanitarian impact. The Senior Director will have the opportunity to strengthen an established platform, sharpen a multiyear growth strategy, develop leaders across a complex team and deepen collaboration with global colleagues and major partners at a moment of extraordinary humanitarian need.

This opportunity is ideal for an accomplished senior partnerships executive from a leading humanitarian, international development or mission-driven organization. The successful candidate will bring external credibility, strategic and commercial judgment, inclusive people leadership and the ability to deliver results through trust and influence in a global, matrixed environment.

We recognize that exceptional candidates bring varied experiences and may not meet every listed qualification. If this opportunity aligns with your leadership experience and commitment to people forced to flee, we encourage you to apply.

Key Essential Functions and Accountabilities of the Job:

• Set enterprise partnership strategy. Establish and lead a multiyear strategy across corporate, foundation, civil society, faith-based, community and gift-in-kind partnerships, aligned with USA for UNHCR’s growth priorities and UNHCR’s humanitarian objectives.
• Drive sustainable revenue growth. Maintain executive accountability for acquisition, retention, expansion, pipeline health, forecasting and delivery against ambitious revenue and partnership goals.
• Develop transformational partnerships. Guide the cultivation, negotiation and stewardship of complex, integrated, multimillion-dollar and multi-year relationships that mobilize funding, expertise, employee engagement, marketing, thought leadership, advocacy and in-kind resources.
• Lead and develop the team. Build, coach and retain a high-performing multidisciplinary team; strengthen leadership capacity, clarify accountability, delegate decision-making and foster inclusion, collaboration, learning and sustainable performance.
• Strengthen global collaboration. Serve as a connector across USA for UNHCR and UNHCR, establishing trusted ways of working, clarifying roles and decision rights, resolving competing priorities and aligning colleagues around shared outcomes.
• Shape compelling partner propositions. Collaborate with program, stewardship, communications, brand, finance and global colleagues to translate humanitarian priorities into differentiated opportunities and persuasive partner narratives.
• Provide portfolio and operational leadership. Oversee strategic planning, budgets, forecasts, resource allocation, performance measurement, account planning and data-informed decision-making across the partnerships portfolio.
• Exercise governance and risk stewardship. Ensure rigorous due diligence, safeguarding, compliance, ethical partnership practices, reputational-risk management and appropriate governance of complex and multi-party agreements.
• Engage executive and Board leadership. Advise the Chief Development Officer, CEO, Executive Leadership Group and Board on partnership strategy, opportunities, risks, performance and decisions requiring senior sponsorship.
• Represent USA for UNHCR externally. Serve as a credible senior spokesperson and relationship leader with corporate and foundation executives, humanitarian leaders, peer organizations and other influential stakeholders.
• Other duties as assigned.

Job Requirements

Education, Certifications, and Licenses Required

• Bachelor's degree required; relevant master's degree preferred. 

Experience Required

• 12+ years of progressively responsible leadership in partnerships, business development, institutional advancement or resource mobilization, with demonstrated success developing strategy, engaging Boards and leading integrated, multimillion-dollar fundraising programs
• Demonstrated experience navigating complex, matrixed global organizations

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

Knowledge of:

• Private sector partnership strategy across corporations, foundations, civil society, faith-based organizations, community partners and in-kind channels
• Integrated and shared-value partnership models that combine philanthropy, business capabilities, employee engagement, marketing, thought leadership, advocacy, and in-kind support.
• Global humanitarian architecture, refugee and forced-displacement issues, and the roles of UN agencies, NGOs, governments, civil society, and private-sector actors.
• Revenue growth, pipeline development, portfolio management, partner retention, account planning, and performance measurement.
• Governance, compliance, due diligence, safeguarding, reputational risk, and ethical partnership practices in complex global organizations.
• Organizational strategy, change leadership, and decision-making within highly matrixed, multicultural environments.
• Emerging trends in corporate social impact, institutional philanthropy, innovative finance, impact investing, and cross-sector collaboration.

Skills in:

• Setting and communicating a compelling multiyear partnerships strategy linked to organizational and humanitarian priorities.
• Cultivating, negotiating, securing, and expanding complex, transformational, multimillion-dollar and multi-year partnerships.
• Leading executive-level engagement with corporate, foundation, nonprofit, UN, and Board stakeholders.
• Translating technical humanitarian priorities into persuasive investment opportunities, value propositions, proposals, and executive communications.
• Building alignment across teams with differing priorities, incentives, cultures, and decision-making authority.
• Exercising sound judgment in partnership governance, due diligence, reputational risk, and complex multi-party agreements.
• Using portfolio, pipeline, financial, and performance data to allocate resources, assess risk, and drive decisions.
• Coaching senior leaders and developing high-performing, inclusive, and accountable teams.

Ability to:

• Lead a large, multidisciplinary team with clarity, trust, empathy, accountability, and sustainable performance expectations.
• Influence decisions and align stakeholders across USA for UNHCR and UNHCR without relying solely on formal authority.
• Establish shared accountability, clarify roles and decision rights, and resolve competing priorities constructively.
• Build trusted relationships with executive leaders, Board members, global colleagues, partners, and technical experts.
• Balance ambitious revenue growth with mission integrity, partner value, operational feasibility, and reputational stewardship.
• Delegate effectively, develop leaders, share information and credit, and create conditions for others to succeed.
• Invite challenge and diverse perspectives while making timely, well-reasoned decisions in ambiguous circumstances.
• Lead through organizational change, humanitarian emergencies, and evolving external conditions with resilience and adaptability.
• Represent USA for UNHCR credibly in high-level external settings and communicate sensitively about displacement and human rights.
• Foster a culture of collaboration, innovation, inclusion, learning, and accountability.

Other Qualifications  

• Demonstrated commitment to refugee protection, human rights, and centering the dignity, agency and perspectives of people with lived experience of forced displacement.
• Experience leading partnerships or resource mobilization during humanitarian emergencies and/or rapidly evolving external conditions.
• Experience partnering with UN agencies, global NGOs, country or regional teams, and technical experts across cultures and time zones.
• Leadership experience in a humanitarian, international development, UN-affiliated, or other complex mission-driven organization strongly preferred.

Travel Requirements

☐ Minimal (<10%) ☒ Moderate (10-25%) ☐ Frequent (>25%)

Salary:
New York, NY: $218,765 - $240,888

Washington, DC: $206,596 - $227,488

Work Environment & Physical Demands

This position operates in a professional office environment and may be performed in-office, remotely, or in a hybrid setting, depending on organizational requirements and role-specific expectations. Employees are expected to maintain a workspace that supports productive and confidential work, whether on-site or remote.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to communicate and exchange information clearly and effectively. The role is primarily sedentary and involves frequent use of computers and standard office equipment. Tasks may require prolonged periods of sitting and operating technology at a workstation. Occasional movement within the work environment may be necessary. The employee may frequently lift or move items up to 10 pounds and occasionally more without assistance.

The typical work environment has moderate noise levels and controlled lighting and temperature. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions.

Organizational Commitment

At USA for UNHCR, we are proud to cultivate a workplace that reflects and respects the rich diversity of the communities we serve. We believe that varied backgrounds, perspectives, and lived experiences make our team stronger, more creative, and better equipped to drive meaningful impact.

We are committed to equity and inclusion at every level of our organization. Excellence is not one-dimensional—it emerges through collaboration across lines of difference. We welcome and support employees and candidates of all races, ethnicities, national origins, religions, gender identities, sexual orientations, physical abilities, veteran statuses, and citizenship statuses.

We actively encourage individuals from historically underrepresented communities to apply and contribute to our mission of building a world without refugees.

Our Values

• Passionate.  The heads and hearts of our team members are committed to our mission
• Dynamic.  We are committed to continuous evolution – finding the best course of action and taking it
• Transparent.  We are open and honest, with each other and with our donors, partners and other stakeholders
• Cutting Edge.  We aspire to be pioneers and find new approaches to connect others with our mission
• Data Driven.  We analyze data, facts and trends to understand our circumstances, and act on what we learn
• Forward Thinking.  We are outcome oriented and focused on what’s ahead