Fundraising Specialist (High-Value Legacies)

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Position Title: Fundraising Specialist (High-Value Legacies)
Location: Geneva
Country: Switzerland
Deadline Date:

Job Details

Job Posting Organization:
UNICEF, established in 1946, operates in over 190 countries and territories with a mission to save children's lives, defend their rights, and help them fulfill their potential. The organization is committed to promoting the rights of every child and offers diverse opportunities for personal and professional development. UNICEF prides itself on a culture that supports staff growth and provides an attractive compensation and benefits package.

Job Overview:
The Fundraising Specialist (High-Value Legacies) will play a crucial role in bridging UNICEF’s Legacy fundraising and Global Philanthropy strategies. This temporary appointment focuses on discovering opportunities for high-value legacy giving, integrating legacies into philanthropic donor journeys, and ensuring mutual benefits for both legacy and philanthropy programs. The position is time-limited and exploratory, aimed at identifying best practices, creating actionable plans, and piloting legacy integration models that can be institutionalized across UNICEF’s global fundraising ecosystem. Legacy giving is essential for enabling donors to extend their impact beyond their lifetime, making it a critical component of UNICEF’s long-term resource mobilization strategy.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Conduct a comprehensive review of existing practices, analyzing the integration of legacy giving into high-value donor strategies in fundraising markets. Benchmark against external trends and successful models in peer organizations to identify gaps and opportunities.
• Collaborate with the PFP Global Philanthropy team and Legacy Specialists to co-create a high-value legacy strategy with measurable goals and KPIs.
• Pilot innovative approaches to high-value legacy integration in priority markets, including donor engagement initiatives and cross-team collaboration models.
• Produce detailed evaluations and share learnings to guide future scaling efforts.
• Develop a strategy framework that reflects the two-way nature of legacy-philanthropy integration, including measurable goals and KPIs for securing legacy commitments and converting pipeline donors into lifetime contributors.
• Create practical resources and training materials for legacy integration, and deliver capacity-building sessions for key internal teams.

Required Qualifications:
An advanced university degree in Marketing, Communications, or a related field is required. Alternatively, a first-level university degree combined with two years of additional work experience may be accepted in lieu of an advanced degree. A minimum of 5 years of relevant professional work experience in fundraising is required, with experience in major donor fundraising and legacy/planned giving fundraising being essential. Knowledge of legacy/planned giving administration, expertise in stakeholder engagement, strong analytical skills, and proven project management experience are also required. Excellent written and verbal communication skills are necessary, along with strong networking and influencing skills.

Educational Background:
Candidates must possess an advanced university degree in Marketing, Communications, or a related field. A first-level university degree combined with two years of additional work experience may be accepted in lieu of an advanced degree.

Experience:
The position requires a minimum of 5 years of relevant professional work experience in fundraising, with specific experience in major donor fundraising and legacy/planned giving fundraising. Experience in strategy development, pilot implementation, and capacity building is considered an asset. Familiarity with UN/UNICEF operations and developing country work experience is also beneficial.

Languages:
Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, or Russian) is considered an asset.

Additional Notes:
The position is time-limited with an estimated duration of 364 days. The official duty station is Geneva, Switzerland, with flexible work arrangements available if needed. UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion and encourages all candidates to apply, regardless of gender, nationality, religious or ethnic background, or disabilities. The organization offers paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks, and reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities. UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct incompatible with the aims of the United Nations and UNICEF, including discrimination and abuse. Background checks will be conducted for selected candidates.