Background

The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) has had a presence in Laos since the late 1980s, when it contributed to some of the first biodiversity surveys that established Laos’ protected area system. The office in Laos was officially established in 2001. Today, our main office for WWF-Laos is in Vientiane Capital, with field offices in multiple provinces.

WWF-Laos works with government, civil society, the private sector and other partners to address the drivers of biodiversity loss and to move towards a greener nature-based future where the people of Laos can thrive and live in harmony with nature.

Major Functions

The Programme Development Manager is a critical role within WWF-Laos, responsible for leading the development, implementation and ongoing refinement of WWF-Laos’ fundraising strategy and action plan. The role exists to ensure that WWF-Laos’ ambitious 2026-2030 strategic plan is fully and sustainably resourced.

This Programme Development Manager goes beyond transactional funding relationships to build genuine, long-term partnerships with donors – characterised by mutual information exchange, joint policy engagement and shared strategic planning. The role leads on the development and writing of high-quality project and programme funding proposals, while also cultivating and stewarding the donor relationships needed to ensure WWF-Laos’ continued conservation impact.

Major Duties and Responsibilities

Function Leadership and Management

• Lead and manage WWF-Laos’ Resource Mobilisation unit, providing supervision, guidance and strategic direction to staff and consultants in support of overall project and programme development objectives.
• Develop and maintain a costed resource acquisition strategy for WWF-Laos in line with the 2026-2030 strategic plan, ensuring alignment with organisational priorities and realistic financial targets.
• Track and analyse resource mobilisation performance against agreed targets, and proactively adjust strategies and priorities to improve funding success rates.
• Support the development of local capacity in resource acquisition through regular coaching, mentoring and knowledge-sharing with junior staff.
• Work with the procurement team to establish and maintain a database of consultants engaged for proposal writing and programme development, incorporating performance evaluations to guide future procurement decisions.
• Prepare and provide regular reporting to WWF National Offices on resource mobilisation performance, including pipeline status, number of proposals submitted, success rates and overall progress against fundraising targets.
• Maintain internal tracking systems and processes to monitor the full funding pipeline, ensuring alignment between concept development, proposal submission and fundraising targets.

Proposal Development

• Lead the development of country-level funding proposals, drawing on technical input from project and programme leads and working in coordination with Quality Assurance and Environmental and Social Safeguards focal points to ensure proposals meet WWF’s standards and donor requirements.
• Act as the national focal point for multi-country proposals, coordinating effectively with relevant offices across the WWF Network to ensure WWF-Laos is accurately and compellingly represented.
• Coordinate the review and clearance of contractual arrangements with WWF’s legal and governance function.
• Respond to internal and external requests for fundraising and programme development information related to WWF-Laos’ activities.
• Oversee the management of incoming funding opportunities within WWF’s Grant Management System (GMS), ensuring all proposals are accurately recorded, progress is tracked, and internal processes are completed up to contracting stage.
• Work with the Country Management Team to present organisational development needs and collectively aim to secure support for this from within the WWF network.

Donor Intelligence and Opportunity Assessment

• Continuously analyse donor priorities, funding calls and strategic interests; assess alignment with WWF-Laos’ programmatic priorities; and provide timely, evidence-based advice to the Country Director and Conservation Director on emerging funding opportunities.
• Identify, establish and maintain relationships with current and prospective donors – including bilateral and multilateral aid agencies, private foundations, corporate partners and high net worth individuals – with a deliberate focus on diversifying WWF-Laos’ funding base across donor categories and geographies, reducing over-reliance on any single source, and prioritising partners active in or connected to Laos and the broader Asia-Pacific region.
• Represent WWF-Laos in relevant donor meetings, forums and consultations, providing technical input into donors’ strategies and positioning WWF-Laos as a credible and responsive conservation partner.

Network Coordination and Knowledge Management

• Work closely with resource mobilisation staff in the WWF Asia-Pacific regional office, in WWF national and donor offices, and within the WWF International Secretariat, to ensure WWF-Laos is included in regional and global proposals where relevant.
• Collaborate with the Communications and Advocacy Manager to develop a pipeline of people-centred impact stories that can support resource acquisition efforts across multiple donor audiences.
• Develop a structured handover process to project or programme managers – including templates and facilitated sessions – to ensure effective knowledge transfer and smooth donor relationship management once new funding is secured.

Qualifications Required

• Master’s degree in business management, conservation, development studies, political science or a related field.
• 7-10 years of practical experience in a senior resource acquisition or programme development role, ideally including at least 2 years in Laos or the Greater Mekong region.
• Demonstrated experience in developing and writing competitive project proposals to bilateral and multilateral aid agencies, foundations and other institutional donors.
• Proven track record in successfully securing large-scale, long-term and multi-country funding, including proposals of USD2-3 million or above.
• Experience managing and developing teams, including coaching and capacity-building of junior staff.
• Strong understanding of development partnerships, fundraising strategies, donor systems and international relations.
• Experience of advocacy and negotiating with government counterparts and donors at multiple levels.
• Proven ability to manage inter-institutional relations, preferably in government aid agencies or bilateral donors.
• Familiarity with conservation and natural resource management issues in Laos and the Greater Mekong Region is a strong advantage.
• Experience working on GEF and/or GCF proposals is an advantage.

Required Experience, Skills and Competencies

• Strategic thinking and the ability to translate conservation priorities into compelling, fundable programme narratives.
• Excellent proposal writing skills, with demonstrated ability to produce high-quality submissions under time pressure.
• Strong presentation, communication, public speaking and negotiation skills, with the ability to integrate these into proposals and donor communications.
• Exceptional interpersonal and networking skills, with the ability to build and sustain relationships across diverse stakeholder groups.
• Comfortable with financial targets and the discipline of reporting regularly on progress against agreed fundraising goals.
• Fluency in written and spoken English is required, proficiency in Lao and/or French is an advantage.

What We Offer

• Contract duration of 1 year initially, with possible extension.
• Industry-leading benefits and salary package.
• Ample opportunity for professional development.
• Visa and work permit costs covered for the candidate and their dependents.

How to Apply

Please complete the application form by visiting: https://jobs.dayforcehcm.com/en-GB/wwfint/EXTERNAL/jobs/1633. Please indicate your gross salary expectation (including tax) in your cover letter and/or CV.