Job Summary:
- The Regional Business Development Manager provides leadership
for resource mobilization efforts to meet long-term goals and annual
growth targets. S/he supports the diversification of revenue from
institutional donors and non-traditional funding sources to achieve CRS’
strategic objectives. S/he operates as a member of CRS’ East Africa
Regional Office (EARO) team providing direct support to strategic growth
opportunities as well as helping to strengthen BD-related systems,
processes, relationships and staff capacities.
- As Budget Development (BD) Specialist II, you will lead the
production of high-quality applications and proposals for the CRS East
Africa Region, with a specific focus on cost proposals, in support of CRS’
engagement with institutional donors and initiatives. Your knowledge and
skills will allow you to provide specialized assistance in all dimensions
of the BD cycle to cross-disciplines and cross-functional teams. This
position requires strategic thinking on high-level pricing strategies,
solid hands-on experience building proposal budgets, and the ability to
transfer skills and knowledge via training and other capacity
strengthening approaches. Options for the position to be based in CRS’
Baltimore headquarters (once permitted), Nairobi, Kenya as well as for the
position to be telecommuting will be considered.
Roles and Key Responsibilities
- With a particular focus on pricing strategy and cost inputs,
provide BD expertise in positioning, capture planning and proposal
preparation for specific opportunities with institutional donors
(government and inter-governmental award issuing organizations, as well as
foundations, corporations and other awarding non-governmental
organizations).
- Coordinate cost proposal development processes to ensure
timely submission of high quality cost proposals that are responsive to
donor requirements, applicable regulations, and CRS’ technical and cost
standards. Lead and support proposal budget processes and propose
recommendations to develop a competitive proposal.
- Serve as budget lead on proposal teams, working with technical
staff, management, local finance staff, and partner staff to integrate
inputs into a responsive, cost competitive detailed budget and budget
narrative. Collaborate with proposal teams to ensure an understanding of
the proposal requirements and to establish competitive and reasonable cost
and pricing data for the development of cost proposals in accordance and
alignment with relevant proposal specifications. Create or modify budget
spreadsheet templates in accordance with client requirements.
- In close collaboration with proposal coordinators and
technical leads, lead or contribute to the writing of competitive cost
proposal narratives.
- Support to proposal budget processes, including compliance
reviews and cost competitive analyses, to ensure adherence to the
solicitation, donor rules and regulations and internal CRS policies and
cost standards.
- Manage partners as a part of the proposal process and perform
activities including developing budget templates, providing budget
assumptions, negotiating budgets, reviewing budgets and notes, and
ensuring final submissions comply with donor requirements.
- Lead proposal teams in collecting, preparing, and analyzing
historical cost data for use in budgeting.
- Support senior management to cultivate and strengthen
institutional relationships with institutional donors, partner
organizations and other stakeholders.
- As appropriate and time permitting, serve in other lead or
supporting role on a proposal team, working with proposal teams to ensure
the timely submission of high-quality proposals that are responsive to
donor requirements, applicable regulations, and CRS’ technical and cost
standards.
- Train and mentor staff, as needed, to improve their skills in
cost proposal and pricing strategy development across a variety of donors.
- Support and guide identification of partners and negotiation
of CRS’ role on proposal consortia, ensuring a competitive position for
CRS that adheres to the agency’s partnership principles and strategic
directions.
- Lead in developing and/or updating of relevant cost proposal
tools, resources and training modules. Develop templates and tools for
efficient and effective cost proposal preparation according to donor and
industry best practices (e.g. Excel budget templates and cost notes).
- Actively contribute to CRS and EARO Business Development
Communities of Practice and advance CRS’ Business Development practices
through contributions to strategic initiatives and annual summits.
Cultivate collaborative relationships with other key stakeholders,
including HQ and regional finance staff.
- Required Languages – Fluency in English required
- Travel – Willingness to travel up to 50% a plus.
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities
- Strong Microsoft Excel skills and experience preparing
complicated spreadsheets and budgets.
- Ability to manage multiple ongoing responsibilities and strong
organization and prioritization skills.
- Strong strategic, analytical, systems thinking, and
problem-solving skills, with capacity to see the big picture.
- Strong relations management abilities. Ability to relate to
people at all levels internally and externally. Strategic in how you
approach each relationship.
- Excellent negotiation skills.
- Strong communications and presentation skills.
- Proactive, resourceful, solutions-oriented, detail-oriented
and results-oriented.
- Supervisory Responsibilities: None
Key Working Relationships:
- Internal: EARO Business Development Team, Regional Finance
Officer and regional finance staff, Country Program Finance Managers and
other finance and operations staff, Heads of Programs and other program
quality staff, Deputy Regional Director for Program Quality, Institutional
Donor Engagement & Advancement unit.
- External: Business development and finance staff of
collaborating partner organizations; select donor representatives as
appropriate.
Basic Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in international development, international
relations, finance, economics, or related field. Master’s degree
preferred.
- Minimum five years of international development experience,
with at least three years’ experience in a developing country.
- Five years of proposal development budgeting experience, with
familiarity with USAID.
Preferred Qualifications
- Demonstrated experience utilizing diverse, proactive
strategies to competitively position his/her organization for new funding
and productive institutional relationships.
- Demonstrated experience leading and producing competitive cost
applications and proposals in programming contexts similar to CRS. Strong
preference for experience leading complex US government contract proposal
processes.
- Proficient in the application of relevant cost principles,
budgeting methodologies, and cost presentations of US government donor
agencies (USAID, CDC, Department of State). Preference for similar
knowledge with other non-US government donors (e.g. FCDO, EU, and World
Bank).
- Possesses working knowledge of all US government contract
types, including CPFF, CPAF, FFP, T&M, and IDIQ
- Familiarity with relevant institutional donor regulations,
policies, procedures and priorities. Must understand Federal Acquisition
Regulation (FAR), AIDAR, USAID Standard Provisions, 2 CFR 200 and 700, and
other relevant federal regulations.
- Demonstrated experience developing complete cost proposals
(including detailed budgets, budget narratives and other supporting cost
information) for a variety of donors, including USAID; experience with
both cooperative agreement/grant and contract mechanisms strongly
preferred.
- Demonstrated experience managing teams and processes, leading
teams to produce deliverables under tight deadlines and at exceptional
quality. Experience providing remote support to diverse teams strongly
preferred.
- Experience in developing content for and facilitating
trainings related to key business development practices. Knowledge of
adult learning approaches desired.
- Knowledge of CRS programs, justice agenda and Catholic Social
Teaching principles a plus
- Experience using MS Windows and MS Office packages (Excel,
Word, PowerPoint), Web Conferencing Applications, information management
systems.
- Agency REDI Competencies (for all CRS Staff):
- Agency competencies clarify expected behaviors and attitudes
for all staff. When demonstrated, they create an engaging workplace, help
staff achieve their best, and help CRS achieve agency goals. These are
rooted in the mission, values, and guiding principles of CRS and used by
each staff member to fulfill his or her responsibilities and achieve the
desired results.
- Personal Accountability – Consistently takes responsibility
for one’s own actions.
- Acts with Integrity – Consistently models values aligned with
CRS Guiding Principles and mission. Is considered honest.
- Builds and Maintains Trust – Shows consistency between words
and actions.
- Collaborates with Others – Works effectively in intercultural
and diverse teams.
- Open to Learn – Seeks out experiences that may change
perspective or provide an opportunity to learn new things.
- Agency Leadership Competencies:
- Lead Change – Continually looks for ways to improve the agency
through a culture of agility, openness, and innovation.
- Develops and Recognizes Others – Builds the capacity of staff
to reach their full potential and enhance team and agency performance.
- Strategic Mindset – Understands role in translating,
communicating, and implementing agency strategy and team priorities.
- Our Catholic identity is at the heart of our mission and
operations. Catholic Relief Services carries out the commitment of the
Bishops of the United States to assist the poor and vulnerable overseas.
We welcome as a part of our staff people of all faiths and secular
traditions who share our values and our commitment to serving those in
need. CRS’ processes and policies reflect our commitment to protecting
children and vulnerable adults from abuse and exploitation.
- Disclaimer: This job description is not an exhaustive
list of the skill, effort, duties, and responsibilities associated with
the position.
How To Apply
