Director, Institutional Partnership

Position Overview

Institutional partnerships are a powerful catalyst for expanding hope, restoration, and transformation for prisoners, their families, and victims of crime worldwide. The Director of Institutional Partnerships leads Prison Fellowship International’s institutional fundraising strategy, securing philanthropic investment that fuels immediate impact and long-term sustainability.

The Director is accountable for institutional revenue growth across both cash and Gifts-in-Kind partnerships. This role leads the identification, cultivation, solicitation, stewardship, renewal, and upgrade of foundations, corporations, and other institutional partners, building a strong multi-year pipeline of mission-aligned funders. The Director is responsible for achieving institutional revenue goals and works under the Vice President of Development to shape institutional partnership strategy and maximize partnership value.

As both strategist and leader, the Director partners across Development, Global Impact, and Finance to strengthen PFI’s readiness for increasingly sophisticated institutional fundraising and partnerships. Beyond generating annual revenue, the Director strengthens funding models, partnership frameworks, compliance practices, reporting capabilities, and cross-functional systems, positioning PFI for long-term institutional growth. The Director provides leadership and oversight to the Senior Grant Writer, works closely with contractors and consultants, and supports the continued development of the institutional function as the portfolio expands.

Core Responsibilities

Strategy & Team Leadership

• Develop and lead a foundation-first institutional fundraising strategy that prioritizes near-term cash revenue through five-, six-, and seven-figure foundation grants while supporting long-term institutional funding growth.
• Own institutional revenue performance, including cash and Gifts-in-Kind revenue, multi-year forecasting, pipeline health, stewardship, and reporting; surface risks and opportunities to leadership.
• Serve as an organizational thought partner and develop a roadmap to prepare PFI for increasingly sophisticated institutional fundraising, including stronger compliance, outcomes measurement, reporting, and multi-year funding capabilities.
• Build and lead a high-performing institutional partnerships function—supervising the Senior Grant Writer and working with contractors, with additional roles added over time as the portfolio grows.
• Establish and maintain systems for pipeline development, opportunity qualification, proposal creation, grant management, and reporting that support sustainable, multi-year revenue growth.
• Set annual goals and forecasts; manage departmental budgets; and monitor performance through clear KPIs, pipeline reviews, and regular reporting.
• Cultivate a culture of collaboration, trust, excellence, and continuous improvement across teams.

Funder Cultivation & Portfolio Growth

• Manage and grow a diversified portfolio of institutional funders, including five-, six-, and seven-figure foundation partners, serving as lead strategist and relationship manager.
• Source and qualify new foundation prospects; build and maintain a healthy, multi-year pipeline with clear progression, renewal, and upgrade strategies.
• Lead cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship efforts, engaging executive leaders as appropriate.
• Represent PFI credibly in meetings, negotiations, presentations, and site visits with institutional partners.
• Ensure timely, tailored stewardship and impact reporting to deepen trust and position PFI for long-term partnership growth.
• Ensure accurate, timely CRM entry for all opportunities, submissions, awards, reports, and funder interactions.

Gifts-in-Kind & Strategic Partnership s

• Lead GIK strategy and win partnership with the Vice President of Development and the Vice President of Global Impact, with accountability for revenue, portfolio performance, stewardship, and reporting.
• Identify, build, secure, and expand Gifts-in-Kind and strategic institutional partnerships that support our priorities, ministry impact, visibility, and long-term sustainability.
• Ensure GIK partnerships align with program priorities, organizational capacity, and partner expectations.

Proposal Development, Contracting & Grant Systems

• Lead and, at times, personally write compelling concept notes, LOIs, proposals, budgets, and reports that reflect PFI’s mission and program impact.
• Partner closely with Global Impact and Finance to align theories of change, outcomes, metrics, and multi-year budget structures.
• Review and help negotiate grant contracts, agreements, and MOUs, ensuring obligations are feasible, auditable, and aligned with PFI’s strategic, financial, legal, and programmatic interests.
• Maintain grant calendars, dashboards, and tracking systems; ensure compliance, audit readiness, and on-time renewals.
• Strengthen team capacity in research, writing, data synthesis, compliance, and relationship management.

Cross-Team Collaboration & Organizational Readiness

• Work with Global Impact to translate program models, data, and outcomes into fundable opportunities and education-aligned cases for support.
• Partner with Finance to develop funder-ready budgets, financial reports, and cost narratives; support adoption of funder-aligned models and multi-year budgeting practices.
• Lead institutional funding readiness across Programs and Finance, including change management for budgeting models, data flows, reporting standards, compliance expectations, and the implementation discipline required for complex institutional partnerships.
• Support Individual and Major Gifts teams with institutional-style proposals, joint solicitations, and co-investment strategies.
• Collaborate with Brand & Communications to ensure aligned storytelling, visibility, and engagement with institutional audiences.

Requirements

• Demonstrated success securing, renewing, and expanding institutional and foundation grants.
• Proven ability to lead complex proposal development, including budgets, metrics, outcomes, and compliance requirements.
• Strong executive presence and ability to represent the organization credibly in high-level institutional conversations.
• Experience reviewing and negotiating grant agreements, MOUs, and institutional partnerships.
• Demonstrated cross-functional leadership, particularly in partnership with Development, Global Impact, and Finance.
• Experience reviewing and negotiating grant contracts, MOUs, and institutional agreements.
• Strong project, workflow, and change management capabilities.
• Demonstrated ability to connect organizational vision, program strategy, partnership development, and revenue generation to create sustainable institutional funding opportunities.
• Demonstrated ability to strengthen fundraising capacity and advance institutional fundraising maturity through systems development, process improvement, and organizational leadership.
• Experience operating in global or cross-cultural environments.
• Commitment to Prison Fellowship International’s mission, vision, values, and statement of faith.

Education & Experience

• 8+ years of progressive experience in institutional fundraising, foundation relations, business development, strategic partnerships, international development, or related fields.
• Demonstrated experience shaping fundable initiatives, partnership opportunities, or institutional cases for support in collaboration with program and operational leaders.
• Experience working across fundraising, programmatic, financial, and executive leadership functions to align funding opportunities with organizational priorities and capacity.
• Familiarity with international development, humanitarian work, faith-based organizations, or global program environments is preferred.
• Experience with CRM systems (Salesforce preferred) and grant management tools.
• Proven track record securing and stewarding six- and seven-figure institutional grants and, where applicable, Gifts-in-Kind partnerships.

Work Status

• Employment: Full‑time, exempt.
• Schedule: In‑office at HQ with structured hybrid available (Mondays and/or Fridays), subject to supervisor approval.
• Weekly Hours: Minimum 40 hours.

Travel

• Approximately 10-20% travel, including domestic and international trips.

Salary Range: $130,000 - 170,000