YOUR MISSION:
Under the hierarchical supervision of the Technical Head of Program (THOP), and in close collaboration with the Regional Director, Country Managers, Country Directors, country-based business development officers, Operations Managers, shared service managers and other technical Unit members, the Business Development Specialist actively contributes to the development of the East Africa regional program by designing, implementing, and monitoring its fundraising strategy. The role includes identifying funding opportunities and leading the development of concept notes and project proposals through submission to donors, including public institutions, foundations and private sector partners
Responsibility 1: Strategic positioning and planning
Participate in the development and monitoring of the operational strategy (StratOp), with particular focus on the fundraising action plan and internal project documents
Ensure follow up, implementation and monitoring of the fundraising strategy
Observe donor strategies and priorities at country/regional level and monitor opportunities in order to anticipate calls for proposals and identify bidding opportunities
Interact with identified donors to understand their perception of HI's current programming, and identify their areas of interest in order to target fundraising efforts
Draw up a mapping of (regional) humanitarian and development actors (INGOs, UN agencies, government representations) to monitor trends and remain competitive
Analyse fundraising trends and inform the program on transformation rate, project coverage, duration and amounts secured
Coordinate fundraising efforts, especially networking, monitoring of donor opportunities
Liaise and mobilise adequate team members to support fundraising efforts (technical specialist, program directors, country managers, etc).
Organise regular meetings with country directors/country managers/operations managers
Coordinate with other programs/countries to gather and promote best practices, facilitate dialogue with donors (for prospection / replication of activities)
Responsibility 2 : Relationship management
External
Work with the Country Directors, Country Managers & Technical Unit members to strengthen HI's attractiveness and influence, developing key relationships with relevant decision makers in, national and local organizations, donors and major international organizations;
Develop active and quality working relationships with donors and strategic partners in the country identify potential consortium.
Participate in various platforms and meetings on behalf of the Geographical Director, Country directors/country managers to increase HI's visibility and allow for information gathering on funding opportunities
Promote HI's technical positioning, approaches, know-how and skills within the relevant networks with a view to developing consortium agreements with the support of the Technical Unit.
Develop supporting documents, such as "project sheets" and/or "donor sheets"; and develop new tools such as capacity statement
Internal
Share funding opportunities with country teams
Ensure that CRM is updated, if needed send reminders to people in charge
As long as necessary (depending on CRM use) maintain internal BD communication and sharing tools up to date (Teams channel, follow up table of ongoing opportunities…) in order to allow country teams to have access to the latest, up to date documents
Responsibility 3 : Proposal development
Coordinate proposal development, distributing tasks among the key people involved in the writing of the project proposal for submission to the donor, in accordance with HI's proposal writing process and tools (PDM tool, PD-tool, CRM, etc.), including the development of: logical frameworks, MEAL plans, narrative descriptions planning, staffing and budgeting
Ensure the position of primary writer for some complicated, multi country projects.
Ensure coordination and triangulation framing with, IPSO, shared services, operational teams and (global) technical specialists
Proactively coordinate the involvement and input of all relevant technical advisors (HQ and mission staff) for all proposal development
Identify, where appropriate, relevant/competitive arrangements (consortia, multi-country projects, etc.) and facilitate negotiations;
For consortia: ensure coordination and communication, coordinate initial screening, (pre) teaming agreements and manage stakeholder input during project development;
Review the project proposal/final concept note prior to submission for compliance with donor guidelines and expectations, consistency between the budget and the technical description, and overall quality;
Proceed (if necessary) with the final submission of concept notes and project proposals to donors.
Coordinate and collaborate with HI national associations (IPO/IPSO) for all relevant donor proposals
Responsibility 4 : Capacity building
Develop training modules on proposal writing and project cycle management for all programs' staff and local partners when relevant
Provide training on donor rules, regulations and strategies for all programs' staff involved in the writing of proposals
Provide training on the use of CRM to new users, coaching as needed. Support the country teams in the use of new features
Ensure proper transition between Business development and project implementation
Requirements
You have a minimum of 5 years of professional experience in development and/or humanitarian work
You have at least 3 years of business development experience
You have a strong experience in proposal writing, financial planning and budget development (including co-funding principals)
You are able to develop SMART indicators
You have experience in Donor Contract Analysis and negotiation capacities
You have excellent written and verbal communication skills, suitable for high-level external representation and proposal development
You are autonomous, flexible, and can prioritise
English and French mandatory