Business Development Specialist at mothers2mothers

The role of the Business Development Specialist includes: 

• Managing and coordinating the proposal development process to ensure the successful completion and responsiveness of solicited and unsolicited competitive proposals, concepts, and pitches for a variety of funders, including institutional, multilateral & bilateral, trust & foundation, and corporate donors.  
• Leading on the writing and compiling of proposals, concept notes, and pitches for a variety of funders.  
• Leading on the identification of- tracking of- and preparing for- upcoming long-term strategic funding opportunities for a variety of funders.  
• Providing Business Development and proposal leadership and support to m2m Head Office, country, and Resource Mobilisation teams. 

Key Performance Areas:

Lead Technical Writing: 

• Leads the conceptualization, writing, and/or compiling of proposals, concept notes, and pitches, for a variety of funders, including: PEPFAR/USG, bilateral/multilaterals, trusts & foundations, and corporations. 
• Leads the technical writing for and review of proposals across a broad range of programme activities, including PMTCT, HIV, health systems strengthening, adolescent health, orphans and vulnerable children, early childhood development, reproductive and maternal and child health 
• Provides technical support required for proposal development, including formative research and program design rationale, budgets, log frames, work plans, and other programmatic components. 
• Produces content quickly and juggles several writing/editing projects concurrently 
• Creates, reviews and contributes to proposal outlines and compliance matrices as part of the above 
• Coordinates inputs from subject matter experts (internal team members and external stakeholders) to prepare material for proposals, including interviewing technical experts and/or reviewing and revising text prepared by technical experts; 
• Works collaboratively with field-based, Head Office, and US/UK -based m2m staff, providing leadership to conceptualize and write and/or compile proposals, concept notes, including technical and management sections. 

Proposal Management and Coordination :

• Leads proposal process with Country Directors and senior m2m staff (US, UK, HO) to deliver compliant, competitive proposals to the client on time. Oversees the entire proposal process—from capture through development and submission—in close collaboration with proposal design leads and proposal teams. 
• Manages every aspect of the proposal development process, including ensuring the use of business development systems, processes and best practices to develop the most responsive and competitive proposals. 
• Responsible for the successful submission of the proposal. 
• Works on multiple proposals at varying stages of development simultaneously and largely independently. 
• Creates the proposal calendar, tracks technical and cost proposal progress to ensure milestones are met, and ensures that every member of the proposal team, including sub- and prime partners, knows what is expected of him/her and when tasks are due. 
• Provides detailed and strategic analyses of solicitations, develops requirements list and submission information according to solicitation instructions. 
• Distributes essential material and updates to the proposal team (Country Directors, Director of Department of Program and Technical Services, Country Management Unit, International Operations, etc.) and sends follow-up emails to the team with the details of the proposal and timeline for completion. 
• Contributes to partnering decisions/negotiations; assists in securing resources, such as external consultants and writers. 
• Coordinates with in country and HQ Finance teams to develop best-value cost strategies and ensure a unified strategy in both technical and cost proposals. 
• Oversees the collection of all required proposal forms, materials, etc. as stipulated in the funders’ requests for proposals (solicited and unsolicited concept papers/LOIs, full proposals, etc.). 
• Quality-controls proposal components to ensure compliance with donor requirements and m2m standards and competitiveness prior to submission. 
• Assembles and submits complete proposals, including technical and cost elements. 
• Leads and contributes to organizational learning, through analysis of proposal successes and failures, analysis of m2m competitiveness and the funding environment, and active participation in shared learning across all entities and country offices; 
• Ensures relevant tracking systems and proposal files are kept up-to-date, including SalesForce and SharePoint. 
• Builds strong relationships with colleagues across multiple departments to facilitate collaborative proposal development and to continually improve proposal and business development processes. 
• Coordinates with in-country and HQ Finance teams to develop best-value cost strategies and ensure a unified strategy in both technical and cost proposals.  

Planning for Upcoming Funding Opportunities: 

• Identifies high priority opportunities in collaboration with HO, UK, US and the Country Directors 
• Identifies prime and sub role opportunities for m2m and develop outreach plans to potential primes and subs 
• Develops partnership and competitor analyses for strategic upcoming funding opportunities. 
• Holds external partner calls to facilitate preparation for upcoming proposals. 

Department and Country Support:   

• Provides BD support for assigned countries – being the “go to” person for that country’s BD information and provide tailored and informed direct support to assigned Country Teams. 
• Assists in maintaining relationships with sponsors, relevant government agencies, universities, multinational, and other non-governmental organizations. 
• Performs other duties as assigned. 

Job Requirements

Qualifications and Experience: 

• Bachelor’s degree, plus 5 years of relevant experience OR M.A., or equivalent experience in public health, international relations, development, journalism, or a related field plus 3 years of relevant experience.  
• Minimum of 7 years of work experience in the international development/public health field. 
• Minimum 5 years of proposal development experience for USG Agencies (USAID, CDC, PEPFAR) and other bilateral/multilaterals, foundations, and corporates. 
• Demonstrated success in writing proposals, technical briefs/concept notes, capability statements.  
• Excellent writing and editing skills; and 
• In-depth knowledge of public health-related topics. 

Competencies: 

• Demonstrated success writing proposals, specifically with institutional donors, such as USAID, FCDO, PEPFAR, UNICEF, EU, corporates, and trusts & foundations. 
• Extensive experience in developing technical proposals, budgets, log frames, work plans, and other proposal sections. 
• Ability to convey complex ideas effectively and in a compelling manner to internal and external audiences. 
• Demonstrated knowledge of international development, in particular, global health issues. 
• Demonstrated ability to work efficiently in teams under tight deadlines.  
• Exceptional organization, analytical, strategic planning, and research skills. 
• Proven ability to successfully work across departments and countries under an international NGO structure; preferably experience in living and/or working in Sub-Sahara Africa 
• Prior success coordinating proposals for institutional donors, trusts & foundations, and corporate donors.  
• Excellent and proven ability to initiate and organize work, establish priorities in a time-sensitive environment, and meet deadlines with attention to detail and quality. 
• Provides resolution to an assortment of problems of differing and complex scope amongst senior staff. 
• Flawlessly attends to details and pursues quality in accomplishing tasks. 
• Makes timely informed decisions that take into account the facts, goals, constraints, and risks. 
• Passionate about the region with a deep knowledge of m2m’s mission, messages, and key funding priorities. 
• The ability to multi-task and meet deadlines in a demanding, fast-paced and rapidly changing environment. 
• Excellent inter-personal ability. 
• Ability and willingness to travel domestically and internationally as necessary.