Principal, Bilateral Donor Relations

The Principal leads strategic relationships with key bilateral donors, managing a portfolio of funds and partnerships to secure funding for strategic projects and maximize the impact of the Bank’s policy orientations. The role involves donor relationship management, fundraising, portfolio oversight, cross-bank coordination, team leadership, risk management, and strategic positioning within the EBRD’s donor partnerships framework.

Responsibilities

• Lead and manage high-level strategic partnerships with key bilateral donors, ensuring alignment with the Bank’s strategic priorities and donor interests
• Serve as the primary liaison with donor government representatives, embassies, development agencies, and ministries, fostering trust-based and results-oriented relationships
• Drive donor satisfaction and retention by proactively identifying opportunities for collaboration and addressing issues with transparency and responsiveness
• Identify and establish new partnerships alongside effective management of existing relations
• Design and implement donor engagement strategies to secure new funding and guarantees, including replenishments, top-ups, or new bilateral arrangements
• Lead fund mobilisation drives and efforts and coordinate internal efforts to this effect, including the creation of new funding platforms and funding vehicles
• Lead negotiations of funding and guarantee agreements and memoranda of understanding with donors, ensuring compliance with internal policies and donor requirements
• Support thematic or regional initiatives across the Bank by mobilising resources and contribute to effective pipeline planning with key user teams
• Oversee the delivery of donor-funded portfolios supported by assigned bilateral donors, ensuring strategic coherence, impact, and value for money
• Coordinate with sector and country teams to ensure funds are well-aligned with operational priorities and adequately monitored and reported
• Monitor fund performance, provide strategic guidance, and contribute to donor reporting, impact narratives, and portfolio reviews
• Act as the key internal focal point for assigned bilateral donors, providing strategic guidance to sector, country, and policy teams engaging with donor-funded activities
• Represent the Bank in external donor coordination platforms, high-level development dialogues, and fundraising events, as required
• Contribute to internal policy and strategy development from a donor perspective, particularly in shaping thematic or regional priorities
• Manage effective relationships with external donor agencies or other relevant stakeholders, as well as internally by guiding key supporting departments
• Provide leadership and mentoring to junior colleagues working on bilateral donor accounts, ensuring quality control and knowledge transfer
• Promote a collaborative and results-driven team culture aligned with departmental goals
• Support staff development by sharing best practices in donor engagement and partnership management
• Ensure adherence to internal procedures and donor requirements related to funding agreements, use of funds, visibility, and financial integrity
• Identify and manage risks related to donor relationships or funding delivery, escalating issues appropriately and proposing mitigation measures
• Stay informed of donor policy trends, development agendas, and geopolitical priorities, advising senior management and informing EBRD’s positioning
• Provide timely intelligence and analysis to shape EBRD’s outreach and value proposition to each bilateral partner
• Manage ad-hoc qualitative and quantitative inputs into internal reports/policy papers, presentations, external publications including the Annual Donor Report and other donor visibility material

Requirements

• Master’s degree in international development, international relations, economics, finance, social science or related discipline
• Extensive experience of managing donor funds and relations or similar work in a multilateral / international development context
• Substantive experience in building donor relations and networks and in communicating effectively with donors
• Substantive experience in fund mobilisation, including creating fundraising strategies, and identifying and designing compelling funding proposals
• Substantive experience in managing larger donor portfolios
• Excellent understanding of the global development agenda and trends, and emerging policies and practice on development finance
• Excellent understanding of the global development architecture, donor policy priorities and best practice in the use of donor funds
• Excellent understanding of blended finance structures and the use of grants, guarantees and concessional funding instruments for project finance aims
• Good understanding of results-based approaches to management of donor funds programmes and best development practice in the area of aid effectiveness
• Good understanding of EBRD’s business model and its various investment instruments as well as tools for policy reform and advisory support
• Knowledge or experience in the EBRD countries of operations would be an advantage
• Excellent networking and partnership skills
• Proven experience in building networks and relations and engaging effectively in international fora
• Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to influence others using data or analysis to support line of reasoning and collaborate effectively with multiple teams in a multicultural environment
• Excellent communication, pitching and negotiation skills
• Strong operational understanding and ability to turn ideas into projects
• Good managerial skills and strong inter-personal skills with ability to motivate staff and organise colleagues
• Good organisational and problem-solving skills and ability to work on own initiative, as well as in teams
• Good numerical and analytical skills
• Fluency in English, both written and verbal
• Computer literate: Microsoft Office suite

Skills

• Donor Fund Management
• Donor Relations Building
• Fundraising Strategies
• Budget and Funding Proposal Design
• Donor Portfolio Management
• Global development agenda
• Development Finance Policy
• Blended Finance Structuring
• Grants and Guarantees
• Concessional Funding Instruments
• Result-Based Management
• Aid Effectiveness
• EBRD Business Model
• Investment Instruments
• Policy Reform Tools
• Advisory Support
• Networking and Partnership
• International Fora Engagement
• Data-Driven Influence
• Cross-Team Collaboration
• Client Communication and Negotiation
• Project Development
• Staff Motivation
• Microsoft Office Suite

Languages

English