Switzerland Philanthropy Lead

About One Acre Fund

Founded in 2006, One Acre Fund equips 5.5 million smallholder farmers to make their farms more productive. Across nine countries that together are home to two-thirds of Africa's farmers, we provide high-quality farm supplies, tree seedlings, accessible credit, modern agronomic training, and a wide range of other agricultural services. On average, this model enables any farmer to increase their income and assets on supported land by more than 35 percent, while permanently improving their resilience. This is all made possible by our team of 9,000+ full-time staff, drawn from diverse backgrounds and professions. To learn more, please see our Why Work Here blog post.

About the Role

One Acre Fund seeks an entrepreneurial executive with a high level of autonomy, to spearhead our strategic expansion in Switzerland. 

As Switzerland Philanthropy Lead , you will have the unique opportunity to build our profile, network, and fundraising capacity from the ground up while being supported by an established, high-performing global team. Working closely with our writing, finance, and program teams, your objective will be to secure new donor relationships and grow our fundraising portfolio in Switzerland. 

The ideal candidate will bring a strong, relevant network in Switzerland and a proven personal track record of originating new relationships and securing substantial funding or comparable commitments. You will enjoy building trusted relationships with donors and advisers, engaging senior decision-makers, and turning new opportunities into lasting partnerships. Working with One Acre Fund’s leadership, you will shape our Swiss fundraising strategy and build towards consistent annual 7–8 figure fundraising results after a realistic ramp-up period. You will agree annual targets and milestones with your manager that reflect the time needed to develop a qualified pipeline, establish new donor relationships, and secure funding, with performance assessed against those goals.

Our social enterprise model, business mindset, and the autonomy to build a significant portfolio are central to this opportunity. We welcome relevant backgrounds in philanthropy, foundations, or wealth advisory, family offices, impact investing, and related fields, with evidence of personally originating new funding opportunities.

If successful, you will help raise the funds to catalyze the next phase of One Acre Fund’s growth, supporting our ambitious 2030 vision to deliver $1B in impact to 10 million smallholder farmers and their families, including 55 million individuals. This role offers a powerful opportunity for personal impact on pressing global challenges. Your skillset and energy will measurably help  and sustainably improve the lives of the world's largest population living in extreme poverty.

Responsibilities

• Fundraising. You will work independently to build a pipeline of donors and high-net-worth individual prospects, converting new leads into high-value relationships for One Acre Fund. Within 6-12 months, you will be expected to independently bring in new relationships incremental to One Acre Fund’s existing network of donors. This early relationship-building expectation is distinct from the longer-term annual revenue ambition.
• Stewardship. You will steward the high-value relationships you secure, with the goal of driving renewals and, where appropriate, increasing giving over time. This may involve activities such as coordinating with program teams to ensure grant milestones are met, preparing formal progress updates for donors (with support from the writing team), and supporting donor visits to our program areas. 
• Market Strategy. You will maintain a laser focus on Switzerland across all sectors and donor types, with particular emphasis on private foundations, high-net-worth individuals, family offices, and their advisers. Regional, language, and cantonal credibility and a visible local presence will support your work.
• Spokesperson for farmers. One Acre Fund contributes to global discussions involving smallholders, including for example resilience building and the agricultural financing gap. You will be a spokesperson for our organization and for farmers, presenting at high-value events and conferences across Europe.
• Entity setup, operationalization and team leadership. Support the exploration and potential setup of a new One Acre Fund legal entity in Switzerland. If approved, help establish and operationalize it by managing key steps such as registration, board formation, and development of governance structure. As the Swiss portfolio grows, you may also build and lead a team, subject to organisational needs and approval.

Overall, we are prioritising an individual with a strong origination mindset and the skills and experience to identify, develop, and secure new funding opportunities, complemented by the ability to steward these relationships over time.

Career Growth and Development

We have a strong culture of constant learning and we invest in developing our people. You’ll have weekly check-ins with your manager, access to mentorship and training programs, and regular feedback on your performance. We hold career reviews every six months, and set aside time to discuss your aspirations and career goals. You’ll have the opportunity to shape a growing organization and build a rewarding long-term career.

Qualifications

Across all roles, these are the general qualifications we look for. For this role specifically, you will have:

• Senior experience, visionary leadership, and market building. 10+ years of relevant experience in fundraising or related origination roles, with steadily increasing scope and complexity, and a clear track record of building fundraising operations or developing new markets.
• Personal fundraising results. Consistent fundraising results in the 7–8 figure range annually over the past five years, with clear evidence of your personal contribution to new funding. For candidates from advisory, wealth, family-office, or investment backgrounds, we will consider comparable origination results and evidence of the ability to translate these into fundraising.
• Independent portfolio growth. Experience independently managing the full fundraising cycle, from prospecting to stewardship, with support from writing and finance teams. Comfort working toward annual fundraising targets, with performance assessed against those goals.
• An incremental network. Strong networks within the philanthropic community in Switzerland, including relevant private foundations, high-net-worth individuals, family offices, or advisers. You can demonstrate access to new opportunities beyond One Acre Fund’s existing relationships and credibility in the regions and communities you serve.

The role also requires:

• Willingness to travel up to 40-60 nights per year. Travel dates are flexible.
• Language proficiency: English required; German and/or French required depending on market base.

The following are strong advantages:

• Experience in the international development sector
• Experience working in Africa
• Experience working in agriculture
• Experience working with a social enterprise model
• Experience working for philanthropic organisations
• Strong networks within other markets (e.g., wider DACH region, the U.K. or Scandinavia).

Preferred Start Date

As soon as possible

Job Location

Switzerland

Benefits

Health insurance, housing, and comprehensive benefits

Contract Duration

1 year and 5 months

Eligibility

This role is only open to citizens or permanent residents of Switzerland.

Application Deadline

17 January 2027. Please note that we hire on a rolling basis which means that applications are reviewed and processed on a continuous basis until a hire is made.

One Acre Fund never asks candidates to pay any money or pay for tests at any stage of the interview process. Official One Acre Fund emails will always arrive from an @oneacrefund.org address. Please report any suspicious communication here ([email protected]), but do not send applications or application materials to this email address.

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (DEI), and anti-racism are deeply connected to our organization’s mission and purpose. One Acre Fund aspires to build a culture where all staff feel consistently valued, represented, and connected – so that our team can thrive as professionals, and achieve exceptional impact for the farmers we serve.

We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability, gender, gender identity or expression. We are proud to be an equal opportunity workplace.