Director – Strategic Partnerships & Institutional Sustainability

About Quest Alliance

Quest Alliance is building regenerative futures by enabling young people to thrive in a world of change. Through partnerships with schools, skilling institutions, government systems, industry, and civil society, we design joyful, learner-centric ecosystems that strengthen school-to-work transitions.

About the Role 

Quest Alliance is at a defining moment in its journey — deepening impact, expanding geographies, strengthening systems, and shaping the future of learning and work.

To do this meaningfully, we must do more than raise funds.
We must build belief.
We must build credibility.
We must build long-term institutional trust.

The Director – Strategic Partnerships & Institutional Sustainability will steward this mandate.

This leader will anchor Quest’s external positioning, shape our funding architecture, strengthen strategic partnerships, and ensure that our narrative, financial sustainability, and organisational ambition move in coherence.

This role is part of the Executive Team (ET) and contributes actively to organisational strategy, institutional performance, culture, and long-term sustainability.

You will design and drive a diversified, resilient, and forward-looking fundraising strategy aligned with Quest’s long-term ambition.

You will:

• Sustain and deepen relationships with existing donors through trust, transparency, and strategic engagement.
  

• Build new partnerships across foundations, CSR, multilateral agencies, and aligned ecosystems.
  

• Shape a healthy funding pipeline that balances growth with stability.
  

• Position Quest as a credible, impact-driven, systems-level organisation within the funding landscape.
  

• sustain  donor relationships as strategic co-creation partnership
  

Success will mean that Quest is seen not merely as a grantee but as a thought partner and ecosystem leader.

You will provide strategic direction to the Communications function to ensure that Quest’s voice reflects its depth, integrity, and systems-thinking approach.

You will:

• Align communication strategy with fundraising, government engagement, and organisational priorities.
  

• Guide the development of compelling, evidence-backed storytelling that strengthens credibility.
  

• Ensure coherence in messaging across programs, geographies, and stakeholders.
  

• Strengthen Quest’s positioning among funders, government bodies, and ecosystem partners.
  

• Enable the organisation to show up with clarity, confidence, and consistency.
  

Success will mean that Quest’s work is not only impactful — but understood, respected, and sought after.

You will oversee strategic events and high-level engagements as platforms for influence, partnership, and credibility-building.

You will:

• Lead and mentor the Strategic Lead responsible for flagship events.
  

• Ensure events are aligned to fundraising, positioning, and ecosystem goals.
  

• Represent Quest in senior forums, convenings, and policy discussions.
  

• Convert visibility into long-term strategic relationships.
  

Success will mean that every platform Quest occupies strengthens its influence and deepens its partnerships.

IYou will:

• Align fundraising strategy with long-term financial planning.
  

• Partner closely with Finance leadership to ensure predictability, diversification, and risk mitigation.
  

• Contribute to decisions on growth, expansion, and investment priorities.
  

• Ensure excellence, integrity, and credibility in financial stewardship and donor reporting.
  

Success will mean that Quest’s financial architecture supports ambition and without compromising stability.

As a member of the Executive Leadership Team, you will:

• Contribute to shaping the overall organisational strategy and long-term direction.
  

• Engage in institutional decision-making beyond your functional portfolio.
  

• Strengthen cross-functional alignment across Programs, People, Finance, and Operations.
  

• Hold shared accountability for organisational performance and outcomes.
  

• Invest in culture, leadership development, and distributed ownership across the organisation.
  

• Act as a steward of Quest’s values in both internal leadership and external representation.
  

You will build and nurture a high-performing ecosystem across Strategic Partnerships and Communications.

You will:

• Develop strong second-line leadership and succession pathways.
  

• Set clarity of roles, outcomes, and performance expectations.
  

• Foster collaboration across teams to enable integrated strategy execution.
  

• Create a culture of ownership, excellence, learning, and psychological safety.
  

• Reduce key-person dependency by building systems.
  

• Success will mean a confident, empowered team capable of sustaining momentum beyond individuals.
  

This role is for a leader who:

• Thinks institutionally, not transactionally
  

• Is as comfortable in strategy rooms as in donor conversations
  

• Balances ambition with discipline
  

• Understands numbers as deeply as narrative
  

• Builds trust across ecosystems
  

• Sees fundraising as a vehicle for impact, not just revenue
  

• 18+ years of progressive leadership experience in fundraising, strategic partnerships, institutional development, or related domains.
  

• Demonstrated experience in building and sustaining multi-year donor relationships across foundations, CSR, institutional, and funding landscapes.
  

• Proven track record of leading high-value fundraising portfolios and diversifying funding sources.
  

• Experience in providing strategic direction to communications or external positioning functions.
  

• Prior experience as part of a senior leadership or executive team, contributing to organisational strategy and performance oversight.
  

• Exposure to working with government systems and ecosystem stakeholders is strongly preferred.
  

• Experience managing and developing senior teams across functions.
  

• Master’s degree in Management, Development Studies, Public Policy, Communications, Finance, or a related field preferred.
  

• Equivalent senior leadership experience with demonstrated institutional impact will also be considered.
  

• Ability to think beyond function and operate at an organisational systems level.
  

• Strong understanding of how strategy, finance, operations, and culture interlink.
  

• Deep understanding of funding ecosystems and donor behaviour.
  

• Ability to build long-term, trust-based partnerships rather than transactional engagements.