Institutional Partnerships Senior Associate

Acumen is seeking an Institutional Partnerships Senior Associate to support the advancement of Acumen’s Institutional Fundraising and partner engagement efforts. This role will report to the Associate Director, Climate Partnerships, based in San Francisco. The ideal candidate will be based in New York, with expectation to be three-day in office from Tuesday through Thursday.

About Acumen
Acumen is a global force of entrepreneurs, investors, philanthropists, and social innovators working together to build a world based on dignity. We were founded by Jacqueline Novogratz on the radical idea that business, when cultivated with moral imagination, can break the cycle of poverty. We invest in transformational companies, build sustainable markets, and prepare leaders with the tools they need to create a more just and inclusive future. Since 2001, we have scaled companies and shaped markets in some of the hardest-to-reach communities on the planet, impacting over half a billion lives. To learn more, visit acumen.org.

About the Development & Partnerships team
We are a small and mighty team responsible for fundraising to support Acumen’s work globally. We sit at the nexus of philanthropy and investing. The successful candidate will walk in both worlds and be a results-driven performer. Given our entrepreneurial culture, the candidate must be a self-starter, be curious and analytical, and be comfortable managing both up and across teams.

About the Role
The Institutional Partnerships Senior Associate will support the advancement of Acumen’s institutional fundraising and partner engagement efforts in support of Acumen’s latest poverty and climate investment strategy and Acumen Academy. This role will focus on research, proposal development, partner communications, and coordination across teams. This is an excellent opportunity for someone interested in climate finance, impact investing, and institutional fundraising to gain hands-on experience working across global teams and external partners.

Accountabilities include: 

• Support cultivation and stewardship of private institutional partners (foundations and corporations) aligned with Acumen’s Poverty & Climate and Acumen Academy strategy. across Institutional partners (government and private) to ensure coherence in approach.


• Lead and conduct research on prospective funders to expand and maintain a strong institutional funder pipeline.


• Manage and update institutional partnerships pipeline, ensuring information and data are cohesive across systems


• Draft and edit concept notes, proposals, and other assets needed for opportunities with institutional donors. Collaborate internally to gather information as needed. 


• Prepare briefing materials, meeting notes, and follow-up communications for meetings.


• Develop and update external-facing materials (presentations, strategy briefs, one-pagers, impact summaries) to support fundraising efforts.


• Support planning and content preparation for major industry events and convenings (e.g., COP, London Climate Action Week, NY Climate Week) and Acumen-hosted events. 


• Collaborate internally to help inform and capture insights and lessons that are shared with partners and other relevant audiences. 


• Work across regions and with the grant management function to ensure that Acumen delivers against the outputs and objectives it commits to with partners, including all grant and financial reporting requirements. 

Required Skills 

• Strong relationship building & management experience as a primary liaison, able to build trust, collaboration and maintain mutually beneficial relationships with stakeholders


• Minimum 5 years of experience in fundraising, climate finance, social entrepreneurship, strategic partnerships, impact investing, grant management or similar fields 


• Relationship-oriented and solutions-focused, with a strong service mindset and ability to partner effectively with internal teams and external stakeholders


• Excellent communication and writing skills, including ability to turn technical information into engaging stories that show the impact of the work


• Technical proficiency with CRM tools and database management (Salesforce, Hubspot etc.) and other partner management tools


• Self-directed and thoughtful, with sound professional judgment and the ability to balance strategic vision with operational execution


• Self-reflective and aligned with Acumen’s Values


• Authorized to work in the US, based in New York

Preferred Skills

• Familiarity with philanthropy, impact investment, international development, and nonprofit sectors preferred


• Experience in strategic planning, project oversight, and budget development, ideally within complex, multi-stakeholder or international environments preferred


• Experience working at a global, matrixed institution preferred


• Able to work efficiently and proactively (both virtually and in person) with the ability to manage upwards when needed

The salary range for this role is $68,700 to $74,000 USD plus a performance-based bonus. This range represents the present low and high end of pay range for this role. Actual compensation will vary based on various factors including but not limited to experience. Acumen has equal pay, so pay is determined through comparison to a cohort of employees in the market at the same level of accountability.

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