Assistant Director, Fundraising & Partnerships

Why This Role Matters

If you know how to build trust, open doors, grow a strong pipeline and turn relationships into long-term support — without the hard sell— we should talk.

At Breast Cancer Foundation (BCF), fundraising is not simply about asking for money. It is about building belief, earning trust and creating meaningful partnerships that support early detection and the breast cancer community in Singapore.

As our Assistant Director, Fundraising & Partnerships, you will lead BCF’s fundraising and partnerships portfolio end-to-end.

You will be responsible for growing income, developing strategic relationships, building and managing a healthy prospect pipeline, strengthening donor stewardship, and leading the people and systems behind the work.

This is a role for someone who can be commercially sharp without becoming transactional — someone who can identify opportunities, move relationships forward and make the ask, while protecting BCF’s mission, reputation and long-term relationships.

You do not necessarily need to have spent your whole career in charity fundraising. Relevant experience may come from fundraising, philanthropy, private banking, wealth management, relationship management, sponsorship, partnerships, key account management or consultative business development.

What matters most is your ability to build trusted relationships, originate opportunities, convert them into meaningful support and lead the function with integrity and discipline.

What You’ll Be Doing

Grow Fundraising Income & Strategic Partnerships

• Develop and drive an integrated fundraising and partnerships strategy aligned with BCF’s mission, priorities and long-term sustainability.
• Build and grow a diversified pipeline across corporate partnerships, major donors, individual supporters, foundations, grants, campaigns, events and community fundraising.
• Identify, qualify and pursue new prospects and opportunities that can strengthen income, reach and long-term strategic value.
• Re-engage past donors, historic partners and lapsed supporters through structured cultivation and stewardship.
• Balance immediate fundraising opportunities with relationships that may take longer to mature.
• Monitor fundraising performance and pipeline health and take action when momentum, conversion or renewal is not where it needs to be.

Build & Sustain High-Value Relationships

• Cultivate trusted, long-term relationships with corporates, donors, foundations, high-capacity individuals, community organisations, connectors and ecosystem partners.
• Understand donor and partner motivations and identify opportunities that create meaningful value for both BCF and the relationship.
• Represent BCF confidently and professionally at donor meetings, pitches, events, networking engagements and partnership discussions.
• Manage key relationships with clear ownership, next steps, deliverables, reporting and stewardship.
• Build relationships beyond the first gift or partnership and develop opportunities for renewal, deeper engagement and advocacy.

Originate, Cultivate & Convert

A strong pipeline is useful only if opportunities move.

You will:

• maintain discipline across the full relationship journey — prospecting, qualification, cultivation, proposal development, ask, conversion, stewardship and renewal;
• develop appropriate cultivation strategies for significant prospects and relationships;
• know when to involve the CEO, EXCO members, sub-committee members or other senior stakeholders to strengthen an opportunity;
• prepare internal stakeholders properly before donor or partner engagements and ensure clear follow-through afterwards; and
• be comfortable making, supporting or preparing appropriate fundraising asks.

Work Effectively with EXCO, Sub-Committees & Leadership

EXCO and sub-committee members can play an important role in fundraising by opening doors, making introductions, lending credibility and supporting senior-level relationships.

You will:

• work closely with the CEO, leadership and relevant EXCO and sub-committee members on priority prospects, cultivation and relationship strategies;
• help translate EXCO, sub-committee and leadership networks into well-coordinated fundraising opportunities;
• establish clear relationship ownership, responsibilities, next steps and follow-through;
• provide relevant briefings before donor and partner engagements;
• maintain appropriate records of material donor and partnership discussions and commitments;
• provide clear, evidence-based updates and recommendations to leadership, EXCO and relevant sub-committees; and
• operate within BCF’s approved governance arrangements, delegated authority and decision-making processes.

This requires someone who can engage governance stakeholders constructively and confidently, while maintaining a clear distinction between governance oversight and management execution.

Shape Compelling Proposals & Partnerships

• Lead the development of proposals, sponsorship decks, grant applications, donor materials and cases for support.
• Work with programme and other internal teams to translate BCF’s needs, priorities and impact into credible and compelling propositions.
• Ensure commitments to donors and partners are realistic, deliverable and appropriately approved.
• Ensure fundraising communications are accurate, evidence-based, mission-aligned and ethically framed.
• Support leadership with donor briefings, pitches, proposals and follow-up communications.

Lead the Team & Cross-Functional Delivery

• Lead, coach and develop the Fundraising & Partnerships team with clear priorities, expectations and accountability.
• Build capability in relationship management, fundraising writing, stewardship, pipeline management, reporting and effective use of systems.
• Delegate appropriately and build a function that does not depend on one person remembering or doing everything.
• Work closely with Programmes & Services, Advocacy & Communications, Finance and other teams to align fundraising opportunities with what BCF can genuinely deliver.
• Surface dependencies, trade-offs and problems early rather than allowing them to become last-minute crises.
• Foster a culture of shared ownership, respectful communication and reliable follow-through.

Turn Pipeline & Data Into Decisions

A healthy fundraising function needs more than a long prospect list.

You will:

• maintain disciplined use of CRM and donor-management systems;
• track prospect stages, pipeline value, next steps, conversion, retention, renewal and other useful fundraising indicators;
• review pipeline health regularly and identify opportunities that are progressing, stalled or unlikely to convert;
• use data to prioritise time and resources rather than treating every opportunity as equally promising;
• provide clear forecasts, dashboards and recommendations to management, EXCO and relevant sub-committees; and
• use what we learn from donor behaviour, campaigns and partnerships to improve future strategy.

The point of a dashboard is not to admire the dashboard. Itis to make a better decision.

Strengthen Governance, Systems & Stewardship

• Ensure fundraising and partnership activities are carried out in accordance with BCF policies, governance requirements and relevant regulatory obligations.
• Maintain strong documentation across donor records, commitments, proposals, stewardship and reporting.
• Protect donor, partner and organisational information and maintain appropriate confidentiality and privacy.
• Manage fundraising resources and expenditure responsibly within approved authority.
• Identify potential reputational, relationship, delivery or governance issues early and escalate material matters appropriately.
• Improve SOPs, templates and workflows so that the function becomes increasingly scalable and reliable.

Use AI & Digital Tools Responsibly

• Use CRM, digital platforms and AI-enabled tools to improve prospect research, preparation, analysis, proposals, reporting and workflow efficiency.
• Identify practical opportunities to reduce repetitive work and improve fundraising effectiveness through better systems and automation.
• Check AI-generated content and research before relying on or sharing it.
• Apply human judgement to donor communications, relationship strategy and decision-making.
• Protect confidential donor, partner and organisational information and use technology in accordance with BCF’s applicable policies and practices.

AI can help us work faster. Trust, judgement and relationships still belong to people.

What Success Looks Like

You are succeeding when:

• BCF has a healthy and increasingly diversified fundraising and partnerships pipeline;
• promising opportunities are actively cultivated and moved forward rather than allowed to drift;
• donor and partner relationships are well stewarded and strengthened beyond the first contribution;
• fundraising performance is monitored with realistic forecasting and clear action when gaps emerge;
• EXCO, sub-committee and leadership involvement in fundraising is purposeful, coordinated and well supported;
• commitments made to donors and partners are properly documented, appropriately approved and deliverable;
• the Fundraising & Partnerships team has clear priorities, growing capability and reliable follow-through;
• internal teams experience fundraising as collaborative rather than as promises made on their behalf;
• data and CRM information help shape priorities and decisions;
• fundraising risks and issues are surfaced early; and
• BCF’s fundraising systems and relationships become stronger and more sustainable over time.

The Kind of Person Who Will Thrive Here

You lead with integrity

You build trust honestly.

You do not over-promise, oversell or cut corners for a quick win.

You know how to build relationships

You listen, read the room, follow through and stay connected over time.

You are persistent without becoming pushy.

You can open doors — and close

You enjoy developing new opportunities, but you also have the discipline to move promising relationships towards an appropriate ask and decision.

You bring accountability

You keep momentum moving and make sure opportunities, commitments and actions do not disappear because everyone assumes somebody else is handling them.

You work collaboratively

You understand that fundraising is not a solo act.

You involve colleagues early and make sure what is promised externally reflects what BCF can genuinely deliver internally.

You have drive and judgement

You want to grow support for BCF, but you know when to push, when to listen, when to negotiate and, occasionally, when to walk away.

You keep learning

You are curious about what works, open to feedback and willing to use better tools and approaches as the fundraising environment changes.

Essential Requirements

We are looking for someone who can demonstrate:

• Strong experience building and managing a portfolio or pipeline of donors, clients, partners or strategic accounts.
• A track record of originating opportunities, nurturing relationships and moving them towards conversion and longer-term retention.
• Strong relationship-management and stakeholder-engagement skills, including confidence engaging senior decision-makers.
• Good commercial instinct combined with sound judgement and integrity.
• Experience developing or supporting proposals, pitches, sponsorships, cases for support or strategic presentations.
• Comfort working with targets, forecasts, CRM systems, pipeline reports and fundraising or commercial data.
• Experience leading a significant portfolio, function, workstream or team.
• Ability to work credibly with senior leadership, EXCO, sub-committees or equivalent senior stakeholders.
• Strong communication, negotiation and presentation capability.
• Experience leading, coaching or developing others.
• Confidence using digital and AI-enabled tools responsibly.
• Sound judgement when managing confidential information, commitments and reputational considerations.

Good to Have

Useful, but not essential:

• Experience in the charity, healthcare or social-impact sector.
• Exposure to philanthropy, major donors, sponsorship, grants or partnership fundraising.
• Experience engaging high-capacity individuals, senior business leaders, foundations or family offices.
• Familiarity with Singapore’s charity governance and fundraising environment.
• Experience with CRM optimisation, dashboarding, digital fundraising or workflow automation.
• A relevant degree or professional qualification.

We are not fixed on one sector, one title or one conventional career path.

If you can demonstrate the relationship-building, commercial judgement, leadership and discipline the role requires, we encourage you to apply.

Why Join Us

This is an opportunity to do work that is both commercially sharp and deeply meaningful.

You will have the opportunity to shape how BCF develops its fundraising pipeline, builds lasting relationships and strengthens the systems and team behind the work.

You will work closely with leadership, colleagues, donors, partners and supporters who can help BCF extend its impact.

If you can build relationships, create opportunities, grow a pipeline and turn trust into sustainable support for a mission that matters, we would like to hear from you.

Working Arrangements

BCF’s official office hours are 9.00am to 6.00pm.

As relationship-building does not always happen neatly within office hours, the role may occasionally require evening or weekend commitments for donor cultivation, partner meetings, events or other relevant engagements.

Flexible work arrangements may be considered where operationally feasible and in accordance with BCF’s applicable policies.

Our Approach to Hiring

BCF is committed to fair and merit-based recruitment.

We assess applicants based on the skills, experience, capabilities and job-related behaviours relevant to the role and welcome applicants from diverse backgrounds who can contribute to our mission.

Please submit only information relevant to your application and do not include NRIC/FIN details at the initial application stage. Personal data submitted will be used for recruitment purposes and handled in accordance with applicable data-protection requirements.