Country: India
Closing date: 31 Jul 2015
Position Title: Specialist II-Business Development
Region/Country: East and South Asia (ESA) Region-India
Location: India
Band: D
FLSA: Exempt
Reports To: ESA Regional Technical Advisor – Growth
About CRS: Catholic Relief Services carries out the commitment of the Bishops of the United States to assist the poor and vulnerable overseas. Our Catholic identity is at the heart of our mission and operations. We welcome as a part of our staff and as partners people of all faiths and secular traditions who share our values and our commitment to serving those in need.
Background: CRS programs in India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka constitute a South Asia sub-regional hub with overall leadership from the Sub-regional Country Representative based in New Delhi, India supported by a Country Representative in Nepal and a Country Manager in Bangladesh, as well as by a Sub-regional Head of Programming and a Sub-regional Head of Operations. CRS has managed emergency and development programs across India since 1946. Currently, CRS supports a variety of programs in multiple Indian states on disaster management, health, agricultural livelihoods, and women and child protection. In Nepal CRS has significantly increased its presence and support to Caritas Nepal since the April 2015 earthquake. CRS works with Caritas Nepal to implement immediate relief, recovery and reconstruction programming. In Bangladesh CRS supports Caritas Bangladesh in implementing agriculture livelihoods and disaster risk reduction projects. In Sri Lanka, CRS works in collaboration with the national Caritas organization to support communities affected by the recent war and to implement programs in a range of sectors.
Primary Function: The Business Development Specialist will support the agency’s positioning for and pursuit of institutional donor resources, with an emphasis on competitive funding mechanisms. S/he will provide business development expertise and leadership to cross-discipline and cross-functional teams in the development of proposals to ensure the highest quality standards and competitiveness. S/he will contribute to and support internal learning processes that improve CRS’ business development practice, enhance the agency’s value propositions, and leverage innovative, evidence-based results into new revenue and programming.
Job Responsibilities:
• Research, track and analyze new business opportunities, competitive intelligence, and CRS’ competitive positioning within the marketplace.
• Maintain accurate business pipeline and performance data through CRS’ online system to inform executive and senior management decisions.
• Support senior management’s cultivation and strengthening of institutional relationships with donors, partner organizations, and other collaborators in the international relief/development arena.
• Provide BD expertise in positioning, capture planning and proposal preparation for specific opportunities. As appropriate, serve as proposal coordinator or other lead role in proposal team, and participate in bid analysis and proposal review panels.
• Coordinate processes and mentor staff to ensure timely submission of high quality proposals that are responsive to donor requirements, applicable regulations, and CRS’ technical and cost standards.
• Support and guide the 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.
• Work with senior managers and advisors to develop effective fundraising strategies involving donor research and intelligence, product development, marketing, cultivation, solicitation and stewardship.
• Work with appropriate staff to maintain data on past performance and corporate capacity, in order to provide timely information for proposal submissions worldwide.
• Contribute to, disseminate, and model the use of standardized business development processes and resources (training/capacity-building materials, guidelines, tools and templates, and online information).
• Contribute to agency learning, through analysis of proposal successes and failures, analysis of CRS competitiveness and the funding environment, and active participation in CRS’ global BD community of practice.
• Coordinate with the RTA/Growth for the formal regional review of theories of change, results frameworks, proframes, concept notes and proposals.
• Coordinate with the Country Managers, Heads of Programming and Heads of Operations for an after action review if a proposal is not awarded to identify and learn from areas of needed improvement on proposal intelligence, preparations, or writing.
• Strengthen the capacity of country program staff within the subregion on their application of proposal development cycle skills through staff mentorship, modelling of good practices, and skills training of country teams.
• Contribute to the development and adoption of standardized business development materials (learning resources, guidelines, tools and templates, and online information) for the region.
• Provide guidance on donor compliance for proposal development templates, forms and RFA interpretation.
Agency-wide Competencies (for all CRS Staff):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.• Serves with Integrity
• Models Stewardship
• Cultivates Constructive Relationships
• Promotes Learning
Position Competencies:These are rooted in the mission, values, and principles of CRS and used to fulfill his or her responsibilities and to achieve the desired results.
• Sets clear goals and manages toward them
• Collaborates effectively with staff and stakeholders
• Manages financial resources with integrity
• Applies program quality standards to project design and organizational learning
Supervisory Responsibility:None.
Key Working Relationships:
INTERNAL: Country Program staff; regional office staff; relevant HQ departments, and global BD community.
EXTERNAL: Business development officials of collaborating partner organizations; select donor representatives as appropriate;,Local Government agencies, Church leaders, other INGOs, and local partners, including Caritas organizations, diocese organizations, and other local NGOs.
Qualifications:• Masters Degree in Development, International Relations, or relevant field preferred; equivalent experience acceptable.
• Minimum 5 years of international development experience, including at least 2 years in a developing country.
• Demonstrated experience leading and producing competitive proposals in programming contexts similar to CRS required. Comprehensive familiarity with technical and cost application requirements of USAID RFAs required. Experience with USAID RFPs and with non-USAID and non-USG donors and funding mechanisms highly desirable.
• Familiarity with relevant federal regulations and with the agency-specific policies, procedures and priorities of USAID and the United Nations.
• Excellent interpersonal, oral and written communication and negotiation skills.
• Demonstrated experience managing people and processes, leading teams to produce deliverables under tight deadlines and at exceptional quality.
• Exceptional writing ability.
• Strong analytical skills.
• Knowledge of CRS programs, justice agenda and Catholic Social Teaching principles, a plus.
• Knowledge of Microsoft Office software (Word, Excel, Outlook, and Internet) required, experience with Access or other data base programs is a plus.
• Ability to work with and through partners as well as linking to a range of stakeholders, including civil authorities, community group leaders, donors and other international NGOs on initiatives.
• Excellent knowledge of project design principles and best practices.
• Strong knowledge of major donor proposal development guidelines and compliance requirements.
• Direct experience in initiating and winning unsolicited funding opportunities.
Disclaimer Clause:This job description is not an exhaustive list of the skills, effort, duties, and responsibilities associated with the position.
CRS' talent acquisition procedures reflect our commitment to protecting children and vulnerable adults from abuse and exploitation.
EOE/M/F/D/V
How to apply: