Type of employment : Regular, Full time
Workplace : Ouagadougou/Burkina Faso
Note : 10
Reports to: head of programs
About CRS
Catholic Relief Services is the official international humanitarian agency for the Catholic community in the United States. CRS works for saving, protecting and transforming lives in need in more than 100 countries, regardless of race, religion or nationality. CRS’ relief and development work is accomplished through emergency response, HIV, health, agriculture, education, microfinance, and peacebuilding programs.
Summary of work
As a Business Development (BD) Specialist, you will lead the production of high-quality funding applications in support of CRS’ engagement with institutional donors and initiatives involved in international development to serve the poor and the vulnerable. Your knowledge and skills will enable you to provide specialized assistance in all dimensions of the comic book cycle to transdisciplinary and cross-functional teams.
Roles and main responsibilities
- Provide BD expertise in positioning, capture planning, and proposal preparation for specific opportunities with institutional donors (award-issuing governmental and intergovernmental organizations, as well as recipient foundations, corporations, and other non-governmental organizations).
- Coordinate proposal development processes to ensure timely submission of high quality proposals that meet donor requirements, applicable regulations, and CRS technical and cost standards. Lead and support proposal budget processes and provide recommendations to develop a competitive proposal.
- As appropriate, serve as a proposal coordinator or other lead role on the proposal team, and participate in bid analysis and proposal review committees. Serve as lead or support writer for proposals, contributing both technical and non-technical content and integrating staff and partner inputs into a responsive and cohesive proposal with a compelling vision and clear winning themes.
- Train and mentor staff, as needed, to improve their skills in proposal development, representation with donors and partner organizations, intelligence gathering and marketing within their country program or portfolio.
- Support and guide the identification of partners and the negotiation of CRS’ role in proposal consortia, ensuring a competitive position for CRS that adheres to partnership principles and agency strategic directions. Research, track and analyze new opportunities and CRS’ competitive position in the market.
- Support senior management to cultivate and strengthen institutional relationships with institutional donors, partner organizations and other stakeholders.
- Work with appropriate personnel to maintain data on past performance and company capacity, to provide timely information for proposal submissions.
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Qualifications
Basic qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in international development, international relations or related field. Favorite master.
- Minimum of five years of experience in international development and/or humanitarian work, with at least three years of experience in Burkina Faso.
Languages required: Strong English and French skills are required.
Voyage : Must be willing and able to travel up to 10-20% of the time.
Knowledge, skills and abilities
- Strong strategy, analytical, systems thinking and problem solving skills with an ability to see the big picture.
- Strong relationship management skills. Ability to build relationships with people at all levels, internally and externally. Strategic in how you approach each relationship, with strong networking skills.
- Excellent negotiation skills.
- Strong communication and presentation skills.
- Proactive, resourceful, solution-oriented and results-oriented.
Preferred qualifications
- Demonstrated experience leading and producing competitive proposals in programming contexts similar to CRS.
- Demonstrated experience using a variety of proactive strategies to competitively position the organization for new funding and productive institutional relationships.
- Outstanding writer with an expert command of English.
- In-depth knowledge of a wide range of institutional donor technical and cost requirements.
- Experience with USAID RFP and RFA funding mechanisms, as well as non-USG donors, highly desirable.
- Familiarity with relevant institutional donor regulations, policies, procedures and priorities.
- Demonstrated experience coordinating teams and processes, leading teams to produce deliverables under tight deadlines and with exceptional quality.
- Knowledge of CRS programs, the justice program and the principles of Catholic social teaching, an asset.
- Experience using MS Windows and MS Office packages (Excel, Word, PowerPoint), web conferencing applications, information management systems.
Agency-wide competencies (for all CRS staff)
These are anchored in the mission, values and guiding principles of CRS and used by each staff member to fulfill their responsibilities and achieve the desired results.
- Integrity
- Continuous improvement and innovation
- Builds relationships
- Develop talent
- strategic mindset
- Accountability and Stewardship
Supervisory Responsibilities: None
Key Working Relationships:
Internal – Country Representative, Program Manager, Operations Manager, Finance Manager, Procurement Manager, Program Managers and Grants Managers
outer – Regional BD specialist, DRD/PQ, RTA, HQ analysts and technical staff, BD colleagues
***Our Catholic identity is at the heart of our mission and our operations. Catholic Relief Services carries out the commitment of the bishops of the United States to help the poor and vulnerable abroad. We welcome into our staff people of all faiths and secular traditions who share our values and our commitment to serve those in need. CRS processes and policies reflect our commitment to protect children and vulnerable adults from abuse and exploitation. ***
CRS talent acquisition procedures reflect our commitment to protecting children and vulnerable adults from abuse and exploitation. CRS is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
Our strong preference goes to a candidate from Burkina Faso or the West Africa region. Female candidates are encouraged to apply.
Disclaimer: This job description is not an exhaustive list of the skills, efforts, duties and responsibilities associated with the position.
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