Marketing, Communications & Fundraising Officer

Role Overview

This position sits at the intersection of programme delivery and external engagement. You will translate the foundation’s field work—supporting coffee-farming communities across East Africa—into compelling narratives, donor-ready materials, and practical fundraising actions that secure long-term resources. Day to day, you will coordinate with programme, monitoring and evaluation, finance, and leadership teams to capture evidence, maintain a steady flow of digital content, and move funding opportunities from research through to submission.

Key Responsibilities

• Build and manage a master communications and fundraising calendar that aligns with project milestones, funding cycles, and sector events such as industry conferences and harvest seasons.
• Craft human-centred impact stories, case studies, newsletters, donor reports, and presentation decks that turn technical programme updates into clear, credible, and accessible content for diverse audiences.
• Maintain and refresh digital channels, including the organisation’s website and LinkedIn page, using SEO best practices and performance analytics to guide content decisions and improve reach.
• Travel to field sites to collect interviews, photography, video footage, and producer voices, ensuring all material is ethically gathered, properly consented, and safely archived for reuse.
• Research and screen institutional donors, foundations, and corporate partners to build a live pipeline of funding opportunities, complete with eligibility criteria, deadlines, and next steps.
• Draft concept notes, grant applications, and proposal packages, pulling together input from programme, finance, and leadership colleagues, and maintaining a library of boilerplate material such as organisational profiles, case studies, and due-diligence documents.
• Support donor stewardship by preparing briefing notes, progress updates, and visibility materials for partner visits, campaigns, and fundraising events.

Requirements & Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in communications, journalism, marketing, international development, business administration, or a closely related field.
• Four to six years of professional experience in communications, fundraising, business development, or donor relations, ideally within an NGO or development organisation.
• Proven ability to develop external communications and contribute to successful proposal writing, donor research, and fundraising initiatives.
• Exceptional written and spoken English, with strong editing, interviewing, and presentation skills; you should be able to make complex technical information understandable to non-specialists.
• Hands-on familiarity with website content management systems, social media scheduling tools, Microsoft 365, digital analytics platforms, and SEO principles.
• Comfort working independently and confidently in rural or field environments, sometimes with limited supervision; photography, video, or graphic design skills are a plus.
• Strong organisational judgement, initiative, and ability to build relationships across teams and cultures.
• Fluency in Swahili or another language used in the foundation’s operating countries is highly desirable.
• Experience managing digital content across cultures, with East African work experience strongly preferred; knowledge of coffee value chains, sustainable sourcing, or rural livelihoods is an advantage.