Officer, Prospect Research – USA

Job Background / Overview:

Formed in 1933, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises and helps people to survive and rebuild their lives. At work today in over 40 countries and 20 U.S. cities, we restore safety, dignity and hope to millions of refugees who are uprooted and struggling to endure.

The Global Partnerships and Philanthropic Services (GPPS) unit provides technical expertise and operational support to the IRC’s private sector High Value (HV) fundraising teams so that they may focus on forward-facing donor engagement. GPPS is a first-of-its-kind, truly HV ecosystem that provides a single, unified service model and experience that caters to the HV teams’ diverse income streams and partners.

The Officer, Prospect Research – USA sits within GPPS’s Prospect Research & Management team, supporting the IRC’s sustainability by finding opportunities for funding, focusing our resources, and protecting our reputation through due diligence. They are responsible for rigorously synthesizing data and information sources, providing senior staff and frontline fundraisers with high-quality research on US-based donors, as well as strategic feedback for board meetings, donor meetings, and events. The right candidate will build positive relationships across internal teams and external vendors, while delivering superior research and reporting services that ultimately increase philanthropic support for our clients.

Major Responsibilities:

• Create confidential biographical, financial, and due diligence research profiles on US-based HNWI donors and prospects, applying different online and electronic sources;
• Build robust pipelines for fundraisers focused on US market by identifying, rating, and qualifying HNWI donors capable of significant financial support;
• Implement and improve tools and methods to support comprehensive prospect research and portfolio management, including relationship mapping, analytics, predictive modeling, and other appropriate metrics;
• Integrate data-driven and qualitative analyses of specific client and broader trends into tactics and strategies for client management, opportunity development, and maximized revenue;
• Promote research support services to colleagues through presentations and reports, and establish benchmarking to evaluate efficiency of research recommendations and products;
• Collaborate with frontline fundraising colleagues in the US to develop strategic recommendations for donors and prospects, with the broader goal to increase support for the IRC’s clients;
• Manage a suite of resources (e.g. CRM database, subscription databases and media tools) to understand and respond to market-led and client-specific opportunities;
• Conceptualize special projects (e.g. electronic screening by vendors, data mining analyses, ad hoc reports, etc.) and conduct proactive research projects in partnership with colleagues across the organization.

Essential Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree – Master’s degree preferred
• Knowledge of quantitative and qualitative analysis and business intelligence work in support of non-profit fundraising, with familiarity of US markets;
• High proficiency in internet search engines and sophisticated search techniques, fundraising software, data retrieval services (e.g. LexisNexis, iWave, Foundation Directory, etc.), MS Office (Word, Outlook and Excel, in particular).
• Experience working with a relational database a necessity, preferably Salesforce;

Demonstrated Skills and Competencies:

• Research/database management (Salesforce);
• Analyzing, interpreting, and synthesizing data;
• Ability to develop proactive prospecting methodologies to support organizational goals, including data mining, sophisticated constituent database queries, etc;
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills as well as, an overall ability to be clear and concise in all communications.

Desired Qualifications:

• Keen understanding of philanthropic trends, in particular the impacts on humanitarian aid sector
• Knowledge and curiosity about emerging concepts and practices in the field of strategic philanthropy, corporate social responsibility, Public Private Partnerships, and impact investing, particularly as it relates to U.S. entities;
• Strong interpersonal and time-management skills; confirmed ability to prioritize and deliver on time;
• Ability to act with sensitivity and discretion while working with highly confidential information;
• Prior experience working at an international organization outside the US.

Working Environment:

This role may require working remotely full- or part-time (i.e., telecommuting). Applicants must have a home or alternate workspace they can effectively complete their work from during regularly scheduled hours.

At the IRC, we seek to build a welcoming, inclusive environment not only for our refugee clients, but for all of our employees. As an equal opportunity employer, we value the strength found in the diversity of voices, experiences, and backgrounds who join us in our work. Fostering an inclusive culture with equitable practices is everyone’s responsibility, and we regularly offer trainings and opportunities to learn more and find ways to do better. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, socioeconomic status, or disability status. We are dedicated to ensuring that disabled individuals are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation. In your application, please feel free to indicate your preferred pronouns.

We recognize that few applicants may “check all the boxes,” but that each person has their own unique strengths that they would bring to the table. In our commitment to building a diverse and authentic work culture, we invite you to apply anyway. You belong here.

The IRC and IRC workers must adhere to the values and principles outlined in IRC Way – Standards for Professional Conduct. These are Integrity, Equality, Service, and Accountability. In accordance with these values, the IRC operates and enforces policies on Beneficiary Protection from Exploitation and Abuse, Child Safeguarding, Anti Workplace Harassment, Fiscal Integrity, and Anti-Retaliation.

U.S. Benefits:

We offer a comprehensive and highly competitive set of benefits. In the US, these include: 10 sick days, 10 US holidays, 20-25 paid time off days (depending on role and tenure), medical insurance starting at $145 per month, dental starting at $7 per month, and vision starting at $5 per month, FSA for healthcare, childcare, and commuter costs, a 403b retirement savings plans with up to 4.5% immediately vested matching contribution, plus a 3-7% base IRC contribution (3 year vesting), disability & life insurance, and an Employee Assistance Program which is available to our staff and their families to support counseling and care in times of crisis and mental health struggles.

Posted pay ranges apply to U.S.-based candidates. Ranges are based on various factors including the labor market, job type, internal equity, and budget. Exact offers are calibrated by work location, individual candidate experience and skills relative to the defined job requirements.