Overview
Chief Development Officer – (executive role) Location: Cape Town or Johannesburg Jobs in City of Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa at Aperture Recruitment
Title: Chief Development Officer – (executive role) Location: Cape Town or Johannesburg
Company: Aperture Recruitment
Location: City of Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa
Chief Development Officer – (executive role) Location: Cape Town or Johannesburg
**Open to anyone across Africa, role based in SA Please send your CV to [email protected] and cc [email protected] *
A leading Africa-focused development organisation is seeking a Chief Development Officer (CDO) to play a critical leadership role in shaping the organisation’s strategic narrative, funding strategy, and external positioning across the continent.
This is a senior integrator role responsible for ensuring coherence between the organisation’s funding strategy, ecosystem engagement, strategic messaging, and impact credibility. The CDO will work closely with the CEO, Board, and senior leadership to strengthen partnerships, enhance the organisation’s positioning, and support long-term sustainability and impact.
Why This Role Matters
The Chief Development Officer will ensure the organisation’s ambition is coherent, credible, and well capitalised. The role will help the organisation speak with a unified voice, engage the right partners, and build the trust required to deliver meaningful economic impact at scale across Africa.
What skills will suit this role
1. Strong brand and communications experience
2. Deep fundraising and partnership networks across international philanthropy and development institutions, ideally beyond South Africa
3. Ability to deal with senior execs and donors and politicians across the globe
4. Strong understanding of economic development in Sub-Saharan Africa, particularly around job creation, entrepreneurship, and innovation ecosystems
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Key Responsibilities
Fundraising & Capital Strategy
• Provide strategic leadership and oversight of the organisation’s fundraising and capital strategy.
• Strengthen fundraising strategy, prioritisation, and pipeline development.
• Support senior-level funder relationships and negotiations.
• Elevate the quality and coherence of major proposals and strategic partnerships.
• Work with the CEO and Board on top-tier funder engagement, multi-year partnerships, and complex funding structures.
• Coach programme teams to strengthen fundraising capability across the organisation.
• Ensure alignment between fundraising efforts, organisational strategy, and long-term sustainability.
• Secure strategic partnerships with NGOs, government, and private sector organisations to enhance fundraising capability.
Strategic Communications
• Work closely with the Head of Marketing & Fundraising to translate strategy, impact, and differentiation into clear and compelling messaging.
• Ensure the organisation’s external positioning reflects a deep understanding of Africa’s economic development context.
• Drive consistency across fundraising materials, marketing communications, and internal messaging.
• Support thought leadership and strengthen the organisation’s sector influence.
Ecosystem Positioning
• Identify ecosystem gaps and opportunities requiring research, insights, and sector collaboration.
• Support the prioritisation of sectors and regions for platform-based initiatives.
• Secure strategic partnerships with NGOs, governments, and private sector organisations.
• Represent the organisation at key regional and global forums.
Impact & Learning
• Provide executive leadership to strengthen impact measurement and learning (MEL).
• Use impact insights to reinforce strategic narrative, fundraising, and organisational effectiveness.
• Work with programme teams to embed a culture of evidence, learning, and accountability.
• Translate MEL insights into a clear articulation of the organisation’s catalytic impact.
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Experience & Profile
• 10+ years’ experience in senior roles across economic development, international development, or innovation ecosystems, with strong exposure to Sub-Saharan Africa.
• Proven experience engaging with funders, partners, and senior stakeholders in African development contexts.
• Strong understanding of:
o Job creation and inclusive growth
o Innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystems
o The political economy of development in Sub-Saharan Africa
• Credible in senior external engagements, even if not a career fundraiser.
• Experience working across multiple Sub-Saharan African countries.
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Ideal Candidate Background
The successful candidate will have previously held senior roles where they have:
• Shaped organisational strategy and narrative
• Engaged funders or partners at executive level
• Worked across multiple programmes or portfolios
They will have helped organisations to:
• Clarify their positioning and strategic direction
• Improve coherence between impact, story, and funding
• Navigate growth, complexity, and scale
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What This Role Is Not
This position is not suited to candidates who are:
• Pure MEL / evaluation specialists
• A brand or communications lead
• Focused purely on grant writing or fundraising operations
• Dependent on tight line authority to operate effectively
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Personal Attributes
• Strong integrative thinker who sees patterns across functions
• Africa-literate with deep development insight
• Trusted by CEOs, funders, and technical teams alike
• Strategic, credible, and collaborative in complex environments
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📩* To Apply*
Please send your CV to [email protected] and kindly cc [email protected] when submitting your application.
