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Managing Director, Capital Formation & Partnerships

Center on Economics & Foreign Affairs · United States

full timehybridManaging Director

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About the role

Builds and coordinates relationships with banks, institutional investors, foundations, corporations, development-finance organizations, public agencies, and philanthropic funders.

Responsibilities

- Map appropriate philanthropic, public, commercial, and development-finance sources to approved CEFA programs and projects. - Build institutional relationships with funders and capital providers while maintaining accurate contact, mandate, and diligence records. - Develop capital strategies, funding narratives, partnership concepts, and decision materials consistent with CEFA's role and authority. - Coordinate diligence, data requests, meetings, and follow-up across project, finance, legal, and external teams. - Escalate securities, broker-dealer, pay-to-play, lobbying, conflict, and private-benefit questions before outreach or negotiation proceeds. Reporting & working relationships Reports to the relevant chief officer or managing director. Works closely with project development, finance, grants, legal/compliance, executives, funders, lenders, investors, foundations, and public agencies. Authority & limits May lead assigned programs, staff, outreach, negotiations, and approved expenditures within written delegation. Final contracts, capital commitments, securities activity, public positions, and material partnership terms require authorized approval.

Required qualifications

- Senior experience in banking, development finance, philanthropy, public finance, investment, infrastructure, fundraising, or institutional partnerships. - Strong understanding of capital-provider requirements, project risk, diligence, financing structures, and relationship management. - Ability to communicate credibly with both mission-driven and commercial institutions without overstating CEFA's mandate.

Preferred qualifications

What success looks like: - A diversified, well-qualified network of funding and capital relationships. - Clear, realistic funding pathways and readiness requirements for approved initiatives. - High-quality partner materials, disciplined follow-up, and transparent pipeline reporting. - No unauthorized solicitation, transaction compensation, or institutional commitment.

Benefits

Employment classification: Paid senior staff position. Status: Full-time. Term: Ongoing employment, subject to applicable law and CEFA policies. Compensation: Salary and benefits commensurate with experience and CEFA's approved compensation framework. Performance cycle: Annual objectives with regular check-ins and a formal performance review. Work arrangement: Location, travel, schedule, and exempt/nonexempt status determined for the final role and jurisdiction.

Equal opportunity

CEFA is an equal-opportunity employer. All qualified applicants receive consideration without regard to any legally protected characteristic.

About Center on Economics & Foreign Affairs

CEFA is a mission-driven nonprofit institution connecting research, policy, capital, and public- and private-sector partners to advance economic development and foreign-affairs priorities at national scale.

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