Partnership & Community Growth Lead
Makuma Connection Games · Cluj-Napoca, Romania · Full-time employment
About us
We believe meaningful human connection is a fundamental need in an increasingly divided and distracted world. Makuma creates structured social experiences where we practise authentic conversation, facilitated digitally and guided by our five core values: curiosity, compassion, consent, presence and courage. We create spaces where people can be genuinely seen, and build communities that reduce loneliness and increase intercultural understanding.
Is this you?
You've sold something before (even if “sales” wasn't your job title), and love the process of getting to know the customers' needs and how we can help them.
You're patient in the process of building relationships and you fully accept that this process requires persistence and consistent follow-up.
This is your jam: you love diving into a crowd, compassionately connecting with people and then consistently following up so that fun meetings turn into fruitful collaborations. You love to work in a team, but you don't need anyone looking over your shoulder to feel motivated.
The challenge of launching a community from scratch in a new city (finding the right organisations, building trust, following up and watching it grow) genuinely excites you. You love the idea of becoming a nomad who leaves a blossoming community behind in each city you visit.
The role
You'll spend your days calling like-minded organisations, attending networking events and business conferences, listening carefully to people's needs, keeping track of everyone you met and following up persistently. Sometimes you'll be figuring out a collaboration with a grassroots NGO, other times schmoozing a potential sponsor, or being the smiling face greeting people at a Connection Games evening or in our social media videos.
You will support our colleagues in creating thoughtful and fun marketing materials for Facebook and Instagram, mostly by shooting video: customer interviews and stories, short promotional reels to camera, video presentations of the Connection Games for organisations and business partners, and more.
As we expand into new European cities, you'll be a key part of each launch: identifying key community organisations, securing local media coverage, and rapidly building the partnership network that takes a new city from zero to a thriving community in 1–2 months.
What we need from you
Essential
- Energised by people: social situations fuel you, not drain you. A day of calls and meetings is a good day.
- Comfortable in the spotlight: on stage or online, you enjoy publicly representing Makuma.
- Mission-aligned: you care about reducing loneliness and building intercultural understanding.
- Self-directed: you see what needs doing and make it happen.
- Culturally adaptive: you read rooms instinctively (business executives, NGO activists, student organisers) and build rapport across contexts.
- Fluent in English, as we work internationally.
- Sales experience: you've done this before and you're good at it. Cold calling feels like a creative challenge.
Bonus
- Experience in social entrepreneurship, NGO work or community organising.
- Existing connections in Cluj's international, student, business or personal development communities.
- You've lived the international or expat experience yourself.
- Romanian fluency, and any other languages.
What we offer
Flexible schedule and hybrid work. In the first 2–3 months of onboarding you'll work mostly in our casual, friendly office in central Cluj. After that you can choose to work hybrid (office and remote). The schedule is flexible: we are strong advocates of work-life balance. As long as you deliver results and can schedule calls and meetings when potential clients and collaborators are available, you don't need a rigid schedule if that doesn't suit you.
Meaningful. Your success means fewer people feeling lonely. Watch communities form, people bloom, friendships cross cultural boundaries. Be part of increasing social cohesion through authentic human connection. Work with a tight-knit team that values clarity, deep focus, authenticity and regular check-ins that are also about how we feel, not just what we did.
Fun. Be part of something new and innovative, meeting loads of lovely new people while exploring new places.
You'll be a permanent full-time employee, earning 2,699 RON/month net, plus negotiable commission and benefits: meal tickets (45 RON/day) and a holiday allowance of up to 1,200 RON/year.
Funding requirements
Makuma Connection Games is a social enterprise funded partly through EU funds. As this position is funded by these grants, the funding requirements include:
- Every employee must have their residence (domiciliu) in a city in the North-West, North-East or Central Regions of Romania.
- Every employee must be in at least one of the following categories:
- Persons without an active employment contract (including students who are not working)
- Persons looking for employment (registered at AJOFM)
- Unemployed (șomer, registered at AJOFM)
- Single parent (părinte singur sau unic întreținător al familiei)
- Disabled persons
- Post-institutionalised youth
PS: If you'd love to contribute to the mission of Makuma and you're a strong match for this role, but the requirements confuse you or you feel you don't “fit” them, we still encourage you to apply or to drop us a message. We'd love to guide you through the whole process.
Our team & culture
We're growing a small team of friendly and enthusiastic humans. We value deep focus over multitasking, clarity over chaos, and regular check-ins over assumptions. We're non-hierarchical, but you own your domain, take full responsibility for your work and can ask for guidance whenever you need it. We practise curiosity, compassion and courage, not just for players but also in how we work together.
If that all sounds good to you, we're looking forward to meeting you 💛
Applying starts with a short form (it needs a Google login).
