Pula is seeking an experienced Grant Writer to join
the partnerships team to increase our outreach to and engagement with
philanthropic funders, corporate foundations and development agencies. S/he
must have a love for building partnerships across the commercial and public
sector, including for-profits and nonprofits, identifying potential partners
that align strategically to the business needs, tailoring our value proposition
to each partner, pitching to each and, where successful, guiding subsequent
grant negotiations, contracting and fundraising processes.
The Grant Writer is expected to:
Build new, and execute on existing fundraising
networks
Contribute to shaping our narrative around risk
financing and insurance
Lead on proposal and tender development for suitable
opportunities.
Tasks will be related to liaising with development
agency partners and philanthropic entities on funding risk finance mechanisms
and insurance premiums, as well as working with the partnerships team to close
on identified contracts.
The Grant Writer will report to the Head of Partnerships, where performance
will be assessed against annually agreed fundraising and proposal development
targets, at both individual and team levels.
Qualifications
You have at least 5 years of experience in
fundraising and grant writing for the nonprofit and/or social enterprise
sector, and are familiar with development themes in agriculture, climate change
or credit and insurance. You have a strong professional network in the
development sector, for example with private/corporate foundations, UN and
other development aid agencies, intergovernmental and regional cooperation
organizations etc.
You have designed complex projects from start to
finish, including developing detailed narrative proposals, as well as
multi-stakeholder work plans and budgets, and have secured at least one grant
from an agency such as USAID, GIZ, AfDB or BII. Overall, you have successfully
fundraised and written grants worth a total of at least $1 million, with at
least one grant worth $500,000 or more.
What you need to have to be successful:
Hard skills
Writing and editing – You are at ease reading and
drafting technical documents or proposals written by or aimed at development
sector actors. You are an excellent writer and creator of presentations.
Speaking and communication – You are a persuasive and
confident speaker who canlead and bring focus to a meeting or discussion with
several partners. You know how to approach and deal with partners respecting
protocol.
Data and financial – You have strong quantitative and
data analytics skills for financial planning (budget development) and number
crunching.
Organizational – You have exceptional time management
skills and work ethic, and are not daunted by a heavy workload, time pressure
or looming deadlines.
Tools – You are fully comfortable with Google
applications such as Sheets, Docs, Slides,Meet, Drive etc.
Soft skills
Relationships – Can build relationships with stakeholders rapidly and can
expand into new networks quickly. Passionate about building and maintaining
relationships.
Resilient and Intense – Can navigate deal complexity and will not
give up until the deal is signed. You are tenacious and a self starter. You
recover quickly from tough situations. Eager to build new partnerships, has a
point to prove and looks to prove that point at Pula.
Builds their profile and therefore reputation around
Pula and the Pula products. They
do not want to fail and therefore will do what it takes for Pula to succeed.
Coachable –
Adaptable: Is eager to learn and grow in their skills and ability. Is
resourceful to close any skills and knowledge gap. Openly receives and shares
feedback. A consummate learner.
Gravitas yet Street Smart – Charming. Has a confident, comfortable
presence. Can sit across from the UN Secretary General, Bill Gates or the
Minister of Agriculture of Kenya and hold their own and pitch without
assistance. Can understand and map the stakeholders in a new partnership,
identify and test champions, structure the partnership, problem solve and find
another way when a proposed partnership gets stuck.
Communication –
Can confidently convert information internally and externally adjusting quickly
between written and verbal communication as situations call for it. Follows
through on action points from conversations and can succinctly summarize the
progress required to progress a partnership
How To Apply
