Legado believes communities should shape their own futures. Over the past 12 years we have worked alongside 11 partners across 3 continents and 4 countries to develop our ‘Thriving Futures’ methodology.

Thriving Futures takes a 360° view of life—recognizing that health, livelihoods, culture, education, governance, and the environment are deeply connected. We call this lens 360° Thriving: a way of seeing and shaping the full picture of community wellbeing, rather than treating community priorities in isolation.

Communities use Thriving Futures to create and activate Legacy Plans that reflect local voices, priorities, and visions for their future. Legacy plans are powerful tools for local communities to guide the decisions that affect them.

For years, organizations and communities around the world have asked how they could use Thriving Futures, and that interest has grown significantly over the past two years. At the same time, too many decisions that shape people’s lives and landscapes are still being made far from the communities most affected. Legado’s direct partnerships have enabled Thriving Futures to grow, deepen, and evolve across diverse communities and contexts. Going forward, we will continue to invest in these partnerships. In addition, we are launching ‘Thriving Futures Everywhere’, creating a new way to respond to growing demand and help the methodology reach further by offering the methodology as open access.

Our next chapter will turn 12 years of practice into tools, resources, and guidance that will eventually equip more organizations and communities to use and adapt Thriving Futures independently.

Learn more at legadoinitiative.org and thrivingfutureseverywhere.org.

There are two major areas of work at Legado over the coming years. The first is about taking the methodology developed over a decade and ensuring that this is accessible for external users (this will include further building, testing, and evaluating alongside key partners). The second is about generating awareness, interest, and excitement amongst potential partners and users. The Senior Director of Partnerships will own the second part of this work.

To date, Legado has worked with umbrella organizations, local NGOs, and community based organizations to adapt, adopt, and integrate Thriving Futures into their existing work.

The Senior Director of Partnerships will own our strategy for engaging with potential partners and users, working closely with the rest of the senior leadership team to ensure that our partnerships provide the necessary pipeline for testing, implementation, evaluation, and fundraising. Your focus is volume and reach. You will build, nurture, and grow a pipeline of 100+ organizations—building networks, picking up the phone, and making the most of every opportunity to connect. You will quickly triage which organizations are best suited to become users of Thriving Futures, and which show the greatest potential for intensive partnership. Prospects that meet our criteria for intensive partnership move to the Director of Partnerships for bespoke stewardship, while you remain closely involved as a senior relationship holder.

This role calls for someone who thrives on building relationships and has the strategic judgment to know which ones matter most. You will weigh the opportunity cost of each partnership, find new routes to the organizations we want to reach, and focus Legado's time and resources where they will make the greatest difference.

Reporting to the CEO, you will be one of Legado's most senior leaders, with a critical role in bringing Thriving Futures Everywhere to life.

Legado has built a methodology with proven impact. From here, its reach depends on partners. We aim to grow from 12 partner organizations today to 19 by 2028 and 33 by 2030. Once Thriving Futures is open access, the number of organizations using it will be limited only by how many know about it and are inspired to try it. Your role is to make sure they do both.

For the right person, this is a rare opportunity to shape how a proven, community-led approach becomes a true public good.

• CEO: You will work closely with the CEO on Legado's strategic direction, organizational culture, and team leadership.
• Senior Director, Product & Programs: Our Senior Director, Product & Programs is your closest peer collaborator. You will work hand in hand across partnerships and product/programs, sharing networks and ideas and supporting each other's work. For example, our Senior Director, Product & Programs can and should step in to network at conferences that you are not at, whilst you can and should be able to drop into support with facilitation.
• Director of Partnerships: Your direct report and closest partner within the team. You lead on volume and reach, building a pipeline of 100+ organizations and triaging those with the greatest potential for intensive partnership against agreed criteria. When a prospect meets those criteria, the Director of Partnerships takes on day-to-day management and stewardship of the relationship, holding a portfolio of around 10 priority prospects at any time, with the aim of securing 2–5 intensive partnerships each year. You stay closely involved, deployed strategically for senior conversations, key negotiations, and moments where your relationships can move things forward.
• Director of Development: Together you will pursue opportunities where funding and partnerships meet, such as funders' grantee networks. You will also play a key role in conversations with funders and representing Thriving Futures externally.
• Head of Impact: You will draw on our evaluation findings and learning gaps to shape which partners and users we prioritise.

1. Set Partnerships Strategy
   • Develop and lead Legado's partnership strategy, defining which partners and users to prioritise and why (NB: due to the urgency of this work we will have a placeholder strategy in place for when you join, which you will use as a starting point and refine further as needed)
   • Own the criteria for intensive partnership (including interest, commitment, funding potential, data potential, and reputational potential), developed with the Director of Partnerships and input from across the senior team
   • Work with the Product team to identify the partners we need to test, refine, and improve Thriving Futures
   • Work with the Head of Impact to identify partners who can help fill gaps in our evidence and learning
   • Work with Development and Communications to identify partners who can strengthen our funding base and profile
   • Make clear, well-reasoned choices about where to invest time and resources—and where not to
     
     
2. Build The Pipeline & Demand
   • Build and own a strong pipeline of 100+ potential partners and users, spanning community-based organizations, local partners, regional organizations, and international NGOs
   • Raise awareness of and enthusiasm for Thriving Futures, articulating its value to organizations of every size
   • Open new routes to partners, including conferences and convenings, funders' grantee networks, open calls for expressions of interest, and direct outreach
   • Develop and test new partnership models that extend Legado's reach
     
     
3. From Prospect to Partnership
   
   • Triage prospects quickly against agreed criteria for intensive partnership
   • Hand qualifying prospects to the Director of Partnerships for bespoke stewardship, and stay engaged as a senior relationship holder where it adds most value
   • Oversee the priority portfolio of around 10 prospects together with the Director of Partnerships, aiming for 2–5 new intensive partnerships each year
   • Continue to grow and support the wider base of users and lighter-touch partners
   • Support the testing of open access materials with early partners
     
     
4. External Representation
   
   • Represent Legado and Thriving Futures at conferences, in meetings, and in broader communications
   • Work with the Director of Development to pursue opportunities that span funding and partnerships
   • Contribute to funder conversations and fundraising strategy where your relationships and insight add value
     
     
5. Senior Leadership
   • Actively contribute and shape Legado’s broader strategy, leadership, and culture
   • Lead and support the growth of the Director of Partnerships
   • Support product and program work where needed, such as co-facilitating partner trainings

You will embody:

• A passion for building new partnerships—for working with people, making connections, and collaborating in innovative ways
• A strategic outlook coupled with a ‘doing’ spirit—able to paint the big picture of where we are going, then work with the team to get there
• Excitement about being in the ‘gray’ with us—being part of a team that is writing the rule book as we go, with the confidence and experience to lead in the unknown

Essential Experience:

• 10+ years of experience, including senior leadership of partnerships in a relevant field such as community-led change, conservation, or multi-sectoral development
• A proven track record of building partnerships with a wide range of organizations—from small community-based organizations to regional organizations and INGOs—from first identifying the opportunity through to an active, successful partnership
• Experience building relationships across multiple countries, cultures, and contexts
• A track record of setting partnership strategy, making difficult trade-offs, and delivering strong results
• Exceptional collaboration skills, with the ability to work across teams toward a shared vision

Desirable Experience:

• Fundraising experience
• Facilitation experience, at community level and with organizations of all sizes, and an enjoyment of designing and leading workshops
• Experience building partnerships across multiple continents
• A theoretical and practical understanding of community-led change
• Experience serving on an executive leadership team

Characteristics Needed for Success:

• You get energy from meeting people and building connections, and can manage many relationships at once
• Strategic, with the discipline to prioritise and the confidence to say no
• Comfortable with ambiguity: energized by building something new where the path isn't yet clear
• Collaborative and low-ego: you contribute ideas generously and build shared ownership
• Humble, with a deep commitment to community-led change and alignment with Legado's values
• Ready to roll up your sleeves across all workstreams—from traveling to and spending time in rural communities and supporting community workshops, to reviewing communications materials and developing budgets

1. A cover letter addressing:
   1. Why this role is the right next step for you, and why Thriving Futures and Legado's mission matter to you
   2. A partnership or network you have built from the ground up, and what it achieved
2. A work sample that demonstrates your partnerships work, such as a partnership strategy, proposal, or pitch
3. A current CV