Institutional Relations Manager

The Final date to receive applications is 18 October 2026, 23:59 (Europe/Amsterdam)

ZOA , as an international NGO, supports people who have lost everything due to armed conflict or natural disaster. Together, we can come to their aid in emergencies and remain faithful to communities as they recover – providing new opportunities for them to help themselves again. The work of ZOA is coordinated from our office in Apeldoorn , the Netherlands. We are active in Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Ukraine.

We work with approximately 900 employees worldwide and with (local) partners.

Do you have a proven track record with institutional donors and are you ready to make a significant impact by joining our mission? We invite you to join our team of committed colleagues as our new

Are you passionate about our mission and experienced in working with institutional donors? We invite you to join our dedicated team as Institutional Relations Manager.

The Institutional Relations (IR) team is crucial to ZOA’s mission, as around 70% of our funding comes from institutional donors such as ECHO, the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, INTPA, and UN agencies. It is essential for ZOA to nurture and enhance positive relationships with these donors. Our focus is on consistently submitting strategic proposals that highlight ZOA’s expertise and unique approach in each country and context, which is vital for sustaining and expanding our global impact.

In these challenging times, with humanitarian and development aid budgets under pressure, we seek an experienced colleague who excels in proposal development, coordinating complex processes, and donor relations management. In collaboration with the other IR managers, you will hold a strategic position within the organization, responsible for supporting ZOA’s country offices in developing strong funding proposals, identifying and creating funding opportunities and further developing ZOA’s Institutional Relations strategy.

Collaboration with colleagues in country and HQ (programmatic, finance, and communications) is key, as is coordinating the proposal development process.

• Initiate and Foster Donor Relationships: Manage relations with a group of institutional donors, ensuring frequent communication on behalf of ZOA HQ and/or country teams. Expand our donor portfolio through research, networking, and presenting ZOA to potential and existing donors. Serve as a sparring partner and internal info desk for colleagues worldwide.
• Ensure Strong and Compelling Donor proposals
  . Coordinate complex proposal processes. Support and empower country teams in designing and writing strong and compelling proposals for donors. Provide strategic advice to improve proposal development processes, and to use AI efficiently and in ethically responsible ways.
• Support countries
  . Actively share information about donors, opportunities, network contacts with the ZOA countries. Support the development of country specific donor strategies. Train colleagues in countries in initiating and fostering donor relations, in representing ZOA, enhance ZOA's visibility and credibility. Facilitate learning and coaching initiatives to strengthen institutional fundraising capacities.
• Ensure Donor Compliance: Contribute to ensuring donor compliance of proposals and reporting. Assist in the internal system of quality control and improvement related to donor requirements and procedures.
• Strategic development of IR. Contribute to the continuous development and implementation of ZOA’s Institutional Relations strategy in an increasingly complex funding environment.

• Fully support the vision, mission, and Christian identity of ZOA;
• Be…