Job Title: Business Development Specialist II, Central Africa
Job Location: Telecommuting
Job Type: Regular, Full-Time
Reports To: Regional Technical Advisor, BD- CARO
About CRS:
Catholic Relief Services carries out the commitment of the Bishops of the United States to assist the poor and vulnerable overseas. Our Catholic identity is at the heart of our mission and operations. We welcome as a part of our staff and as partners people of all faiths and secular traditions who share our values and our commitment to serving those in need.
Job Summary:
The Regional Business Development Specialist II (BDS II), in conjunction with regional and country program leadership will provide leadership for resource mobilization efforts to meet long-term goals and an nual growth targets. S/he will also support the diversification of revenue from institutional donors and non-traditional funding sources to achieve CRS’ strategic objectives. He/she will operate as a member of CRS’ Central Africa Regional Office (CARO) team, providing direct support to strategic growth opportunities as well as helping to strengthen BD-related systems, processes, relationships and staff capacities. CARO has 10 countries: Benin, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Nigeria, Rwanda, Republic of the Congo and Togo. Working as one of five BD staff in the region and country programs, the BDS will have the opportunity to provide support in a variety of countries and program areas, and particularly in the areas of health (including malaria, nutrition, and health system strengthening), which makes up a large portion of CARO’s portfolio. CRS CARO’s program portfolio also includes orphans and vuln erable children, food security, agriculture recovery, livelihoods/cash assistance, shelter, community-based early warning systems, peacebuilding, and social cohesion and reconciliation.
With a core function of leading the production of high quality applications for donor funding, particularly for development donors and specialized health donors, including both for grant/cooperative agreement and contract funding, this position will also provide specialized assistance in other dimensions of the BD cycle.
This position offers an opportunity to demonstrate initiative to help support the direction and growth of CARO country programs. The Regional BD Specialist will maintain CRS’ competitive positioning for and pursuit of institutional donor resources, with an emphasis on competitive funding mechanisms. He/she will support country programs to define, monitor and update the bus iness pipeline and ensure that CRS is best positioned to pursue relevant opportunities.
* providing guidance and leadership for strategic growth planning
* leveraging CRS’ competitive position and program results to attract new funding
* managing functional teams to identify and capture funding opportunities
* incorporating best practices into growth-related business processes and proposals
The BDS will train and mentor staff to improve their skills in proposal development, representation to donor and partner organizations, intelligence-gathering, and marketing. S/he will strengthen BD systems and use of CRS tools and resources within the country program in partnership with CARO’s Regional Technical Advisor in BD (RTA/BD).
Specific Responsibilities:
Identify Funding Opportunities and Prepositioning
* Research, analyze and plan for new funding opportunities, competitive intelligence, and CRS’ competitive positioning on a continuous basis. Support effective internal communication and information management processes to ensure access and use of BD information by relevant stakeholders within the agency to better position the country programs to success fully compete.
* Lead the country program’s functional teams to develop appropriate and effective fundraising and positioning strategies involving donor research and intelligence, product development, marketing, cultivation, solicitation and stewardship, as needed.
Proposal and Concept Note Development
* Lead country teams to manage proposal processes, often as the Proposal Coordinator, to ensure timely submission of high quality concept notes and proposals that are responsive to and compliant with donor requirements and with CRS technical application and cost application standards. This includes leading design workshops, coordinating review timelines with Regional and Headquarters’-based staff, support personnel recruitment, proposal timeline development, budget development, non-technical proposal writing, teaming agreement negotiations, and/or editing/packaging as part of pro posal team.
* Collaborate with Head of Operations and Finance Manager to align management /cost components of the proposal with CRS standards; donor regulation and guidelines.
Qualifications
* Master's degree in business management, international development, or related field.
* Minimum three years international development experience, including at least one year of work in a developing country and a minimum of two years in a resource mobilization role.
* Understanding of relevant U.S Government funding strategies and guidelines, including proposal formats and requirements; similar experience with Global Fund, PMI, PEPFAR and other development donors (such as DFID, GIZ, EU) and major foundation donors highly desired.
* Experience with pursuing contracts, such as USAID’s Request for Proposals (RFPs), is preferred, but not required.
* Proven experience and track rec ord of developing successful project proposals in similar funding and operational contexts to those of CRS CARO country programs.
Required Foreign Language:
Native fluency in oral and written English, with proficient communication skills in French and intermediate writing skills in French.
Required Travel: Approximately 50% travel to country programs.
Physical Requirements/Environment:
Required travel to remote, rural villages in addition to working in provincial and national capital cities.
Catholic Relief Services carries out the commitment of the Bishops of the United States to assist the poor and vulnerable overseas. Our Catholic identity is at the heart of our mission and operations. We welcome as a part of our staff and as partners people of all faiths and secular traditions who share our values and our commitment to serving those in need.
This vacancy is archived.