JOB DESCRIPTION

Deadline for Applications

September 19, 2025

Grade

GS7

Staff Member / Affiliate Type

General Service

Reason

Temporary > Temporary Assignment/ Appointment

Hardship Level

H (no hardship)

Family Type

Family

Residential location (if applicable)

Target Start Date

2025-10-01

Target End Date

2025-12-31

Standard Job Description

Senior Private Sector Partnerships Individual Giving Associate

Organizational Setting and Work Relationships

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is mandated to lead and coordinate international action to protect and assist refugees and other persons of concern (POC).

Private Sector Partnerships Service (PSP) sits within UNHCR”s Division of External Relations (DER) and is responsible for mobilizing resources from the private sector for refugees. UNHCR has developed a Private Sector Fundraising Strategy focusing on both Individual Giving and Private Sector Partnerships, identifying priority fundraising markets and regions.

Individual Giving (IG) is targeted at the general public to secure the support of individuals through regular, unrestricted donations, cash appeals and legacies. The aim is to generate both monthly and one-time donations from individuals using various channels and methods including direct mail, face-to-face fundraising, telemarketing, digital fundraising, DRTV and emergency fundraising, with focus on strong donor loyalty and lifetime value.

The purpose is to maximize the donor base from the individual giving (IG) for UNHCR, those with the ability to provide donations of between $1 to $10.000 (depending on local market conditions, as well as scope of responsibility) per year to UNHCR.

The Senior PSP Individual Giving Associate promotes team development of the IG team, providing effective leadership to enable and motivate a team of support staff members to operate to their full potential.

All UNHCR staff members are accountable to perform their duties as reflected in their job description. They do so within their delegated authorities, in line with the regulatory framework of UNHCR which includes the UN Charter, UN Staff Regulations and Rules, UNHCR Policies and Administrative Instructions as well as relevant accountability frameworks. In addition, staff members are required to discharge their responsibilities in a manner consistent with the core, functional, cross-functional and managerial competencies and UNHCR’s core values of professionalism, integrity and respect for diversity.

Duties

General

• Develop annual plans for acquisition, donor retention and development programme (i.e. forecasts of costs and expenses, income projections, donor figures, etc.)
• Develop, manage and improve donor servicing and communications to provide a best in class donor care with best practice standards (welcome, information, thank you letters, donor monthly newsletter, in-bound and out-bound donor emails and calls, complaints, etc.).
• Work with marketing agencies to develop contact strategies and donor journeys for different segments of the database using a variety of channels including telemarketing, digital and mail.
• Supervise the implementation of campaigns such as upgrade, conversion, acquisition, welcome, recapturing, loyalty, thank you, one-off calls, marketing research, upgrade middle donors, middle donors one-off and others.
• Draft submission to the National Growth Fund related to IG programs to secure funding to increase and diversify donor base.
• Contribute to the development of detailed annual plan for the IG programs.
• Supervise on progress against the work plan, expenditure, budget and targets.
• Supervise middle value donors and prospects activities as well as manage regular communication with IG Fundraising Unit and major donor specialist.
• Supervise the donor database management and any activity related to the donor data care, ensure data entry accuracy and provide analysis of data upon request.

Donor Acquisition

Work to develop cross channel fundraising campaigns such as F2F, Digital, DRTV, Multichannel, Direct mailing, etc. and in particular for:

a) Face to Face

• Supervise the Face to Face activities, both in-house and/or outsourced.
• Lead in the development, implementation, and management of the Face to Face fundraising strategy.
• Lead in the development, management and achievement delivery of Face to Face budgets, financial targets and expenditure according to UNHCR policies on financial management, sustainability and best value.
• Manage relations with partners, contractors and suppliers to implement the program(s).
• Diversify Face to Face models, suppliers and channels (i.e. Door to Door, B2B, etc.) in order to reduce the risk of dependency.
• Supervise that a location strategy, policies and communication cycle are in place in order to acquire new locations, to keep and upgrade the existing ones.
• Manage and support the creation of marketing briefs in order to create specific Face to Face campaigns based on improving the connection between the donor and the cause.
• Ensure workforce (in-house model) is managed, inducted and trained in accordance with UNHCR/PSP’s needs, policies and procedures in order to build Face to Face marketing competencies.
• Proactively line manage the Face to Face team (in-house model), ensuring team(s) has clear objectives and targets set out and understood and that they fully comply with UNHCR/PSP policies and procedures.
• Assist in the procurement process for all supplier relationships linked to new agencies or suppliers.

b) Digital, DRTV and Multichannel

• Oversee a long term effective and innovating digital strategy, as well as an annual action plan for all digital fundraising activities, ensuring that they are aligned with annual objectives and plan.
• Supervise the relationship with external suppliers, providing digital campaign briefing to the external suppliers and providing feedback on digital media plans, working with all required suppliers to get advertising tracking in place, ensuring campaigns are executed and managed to target.
• Supervise the online content as well as the implementation of digital marketing and fundraising campaign initiatives.
• Ensure UNHCR maximizes the use of other digital channels, such as SMS and DRTV and that these tools are integrated where appropriate.
• Supervise all lead generation programmes (including telemarketing) with channels integration to maximize ROI.
• Actively promote innovative way to recruit and retain supporter via digital channels.
• Maintain effective relationships with all suppliers responsible for digital fundraising to ensure that all new acquisition targets are met or exceeded.
• Assist in the procurement process for all supplier relationships linked to new donor acquisition through digital channels.
• Supervise accurate reporting and analysis in order to facilitate effective management of the digital acquisition programmes.
• Work with the PSP team to prepare annual budgets for the digital programme.
• Assist with reporting related to digital fundraising, including quarterly reports, mid-year and year end reports.

c) Cold Mailing

• Develop a test plan strategy for new products with technical inputs related to the production process.
• Supervise the production process of each DM activity in line with planned timing, quantity and quality of service.
• Supervise donors’ data extraction from the database to secure names file delivery to suppliers.
• Check and approve the executive printing files, laser draft and packaging.
• Develop campaigns reporting systems and setting report templates to monitor supplier performances.
• In case of emergency, develop and implement production procedure.
• Negotiate with suppliers to keep production costs at lowest level ensuring the best quality possible.
• Work on other direct marketing acquisition activities if requested (i.e. inserts production, press ad, take ones, etc…)

Donor Retention and Development

Work to develop cross channel donor cultivation activities to maximise acquisition investment and improve donor Life Time Value (LTV), such as:

• Define and supervise a data strategy.
• Supervise donor journeys according to planned schedule, conduct testing among journeys, implement donor engagement activities, fostering a donor centric culture and communication.
• Supervise, monitor and review supporter experience initiatives and retention program performance. Draw conclusions and make recommendations to improve future activity and feed into longer term strategic plans including legacy marketing.
• Oversee donor development communications plans and fundraising activities, such as newsletter and special appeals, through a variety of media including direct mail, telemarketing, email and mobile.
• Supervise that annual email communication is fully integrated with offline campaigns such as Direct Mail and other digital channels such as SMS and DRTV.
• Supervise negotiations with external agencies/consultant on email marketing performance optimization including the design of new email templates and email assets.
• Supervise email marketing segmentation strategies and data selections aimed at delivering highly personalized and tailored email communications to increase existing supporters’ retention and income.
• Oversee the development and implementation of donor retention communication materials and activities for existing donors and for emergency appeals.
• Supervise the design and production of the donor care materials.
• Lead the coordination of the relation with telemarketing suppliers.
• Improve income of regular committed individual donors, optimising opportunities through data segmentation, supporter journey enhancement, new fundraising products, and optimization of current programmes.
• Supervise that donor care activities comply with the requirements of local legislation and remain up to date with all relevant charity law, regulations, and codes of practice.
• Oversee the execution of monthly operations of recapturing by emails/mails, thank-you to donors.
• Improve the responsiveness, depth and quality of the relationship with donors.
• Supervise that all in-house and outsourced donor care representatives are provided with all information, including Q&A documents, necessary to handle any in-bound donor communications resulting from the donor development activities.

• Support the identification and management of risks and seek to seize opportunities impacting objectives in the area of responsibility. Ensure decision making in risk based in the functional area of work. Raise risks, issues and concerns to a supervisor or to relevant functional colleague(s).

• Perform other duties as required.

Minimum Qualifications

Years of Experience / Degree Level

For G7 – 4 years relevant experience with High School Diploma; or 2 years relevant work experience with Bachelor or equivalent or higher

Field(s) of Education

Not applicable.

Certificates and/or Licenses

Public Administration, Business Administration, Economics

or other related field.

(Certificates and Licenses marked with an asterisk* are essential)

Relevant Job Experience

Essential

Experience in private sector fundraising, sales, client/donor communication, marketing or journalism. Proven experience working in donor retention/ development programmes. Experience in coordination and supervision of fundraising campaigns in profit or non-profit industry. Experience in fundraising related databases and software.

Desirable

Experience with the non-profit sector. Previous experience in supervising database migration and setting up a Contact Relationship Management (CRM) system. Previous experience in project management. Previous experience in managing agencies / vendor.

Experience in data analysis and segmentation.

Functional Skills

PS- Direct Marketing and Direct Response Fundraising

PS-Experience in Private Sector Fundraising and partnerships

PS-Fundraising-face to face, digital, emergency, DRTV, etc.

CO-Cross-cultural communication

CO-Drafting and Documentation

(Functional Skills marked with an asterisk* are essential)

Language Requirements

For International Professional and Field Service jobs: Knowledge of English and UN working language of the duty station if not English.

For National Professional jobs: Knowledge of English and UN working language of the duty station if not English and local language.

For General Service jobs: Knowledge of English and/or UN working language of the duty station if not English.

Competency Requirements

All jobs at UNHCR require six core competencies and may also require managerial competencies and/or cross-functional competencies. The six core competencies are listed below.

Core Competencies

Accountability

Communication

Organizational Awareness

Teamwork & Collaboration

Commitment to Continuous Learning

Client & Result Orientation

Managerial Competencies

Managing Performance

Judgement and Decision Making

Managing Resources

Cross-Functional Competencies

Planning and Organizing

Political Awareness

Analytical Thinking

All UNHCR workforce members must individually and collectively, contribute towards a working environment where each person feels safe, and empowered to perform their duties. This includes by demonstrating no tolerance for sexual exploitation and abuse, harassment including sexual harassment, sexism, gender inequality, discrimination, and abuse of power.

As individuals and as managers, all must be proactive in preventing and responding to inappropriate conduct, support ongoing dialogue on these matters and speaking up and seeking guidance and support from relevant UNHCR resources when these issues arise.

This is a Standard Job Description for all UNHCR jobs with this job title and grade level. The Operational Context may contain additional essential and/or desirable qualifications relating to the specific operation and/or position. Any such requirements are incorporated by reference in this Job Description and will be considered for the screening, shortlisting and selection of candidates.

Desired Candidate Profile

Applicants must be legally eligible to work in Canada at the time of application. This includes individuals with one of the following statuses:
• Canadian citizen
• Permanent Resident of Canada (with valid documentation)
• Holder of a valid work permit or other written authorization under the federal Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.

As part of UNHCR Canada’s Private Sector Partnerships team, the Senior Individual Giving Associate, Acquisition will lead the strategic planning, execution, and optimization of a multi-channel donor acquisition program that spans digital, direct mail, DRTV, telemarketing, and emerging platforms. Reporting to the Head of Individual Giving, this role is central to driving individual giving growth through the acquisition of high-quality one-time and recurring donors, with a focus on integrated, data-informed, and test-driven approaches. The Senior Individual Giving Associate, Acquisition will oversee channel performance, agency management, creative strategy, and investment planning, ensuring acquisition efforts align with long-term retention goals and donor lifetime value targets. Working closely with colleagues across donor development, digital, communications, and HQ teams, the role will play a critical part in shaping UNHCR Canada’s supporter base, scaling impact through innovation, segmentation, and multi-channel coordination.

Duties
• Lead the strategic planning and execution of UNHCR Canada’s Individual Giving acquisition program across digital, DRTV, direct mail, and multi-channel campaigns.
• Set and manage annual acquisition budgets and forecasts, ensuring accountability for revenue, cost efficiency, donor volume, and return on investment.
• Serve as the lead point of contact for external agencies and consultants; oversee performance, negotiate contracts, and ensure delivery against KPIs.
• Provide strategic oversight and performance leadership across all acquisition channels, ensuring a data-driven, test-and-learn approach to audience growth.
• Manage and coach direct reports, providing clear objectives and professional development aligned with team goals.
• Collaborate closely with colleagues in Donor Development, Communications, Data, and HQ to ensure alignment, channel integration, and strong donor journeys.
• Lead quarterly acquisition reporting and contribute to PSP Canada’s annual strategic and operational planning processes.
• Own digital acquisition strategy across paid media (SEM, social, display, CTV, native, programmatic), content performance, and lead generation; manage media agencies and internal teams to launch and optimize campaigns.
• Lead creative testing, landing page optimization, and input on user journey improvements to boost conversion and reduce CPA; oversee performance monitoring, attribution setup, tracking infrastructure, and post-campaign reporting.
• Lead DRTV campaigns from briefing through to optimization, managing agency relationships, media buying, and campaign scheduling; integrate DRTV with digital channels (e.g. retargeting, landing page alignment) to maximize cross-channel impact.
• Oversee response infrastructure (phone, SMS, landing pages) and attribution models with relevant teams; monitor key metrics (CPL, conversion to monthly, LTV) to sustain channel performance.
• Manage direct mail acquisition strategy and execution, including segmentation, testing, vendor management, production, and response tracking.
• Optimize timing, targeting, and creative based on testing results and historical trends; align with digital efforts to improve efficiency and conversion.
• Drive cross-channel acquisition strategies leveraging all channels (email, SMS, TM, lead gen, etc.); ensure new donors enter appropriate onboarding and retention journeys.
• Support emergency response readiness through pre-built frameworks; contribute to broader Individual Giving strategy via integrated planning, unified reporting, and shared KPIs.

Functional Clearance

This position doesn”t require a functional clearance

Required languages (expected Overall ability is at least B2 level)

English

,

,

Desired languages

French

,

,

Additional Qualifications

Skills

CO-Cross-cultural communication, CO-Drafting and Documentation, PS-Direct Marketing and Direct Response Fundraising, PS-Fundraising-face to face, mass appeal, digital, emergency, DRTV, etc., PS-Private sector fundraising and partnerships

Education

Bachelor”s, High school diploma (Required)

Certifications

Business Administration – Other, Economics – Other, Public Administration – Other

Work Experience

UNHCR Salary Calculator

https://icsc.un.org/Home/SalaryScales

Other information

Level of Education: Bachelor Degree

Work Hours: 8

Experience in Months: No requirements