Business Development Manager – Central African Region

Position Title: Business Development Manager I- Central Africa Regional Office (CARO)

Location: Position location is flexible, with frequent travel to the Central Africa region

Reports To: Deputy Regional Director for Program Quality, Central Africa Region

About CRS

Catholic Relief Services is the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. CRS works to save, protect, and transform lives in need in more than 100 countries, without regard to race, religion or nationality. CRS’ relief and development work is accomplished through programs of emergency response, HIV, health, agriculture, education, microfinance and peacebuilding.

Job Summary

The CARO Regional Business Development Manager (BDM) will support the expansion and diversification of revenue from institutional donors, foundations, the private sector, and other funding sources to a chieve CARO’s strategic objectives. S/he is a member of the CARO BD team and CRS’ global BD community. The BDM will lead a team of Business Development (BD) Specialists based in the region and select country programs to ensure strategic mobilization of resources for programming in the region. The Central Africa Regional Office (CARO) covers ten countries: Benin, Burundi, Cameroon, Chad, Central Africa Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, Republic of Congo Rwanda and Togo. In line with Agency strategy, primary programming sectors in CARO are agriculture and livelihoods, health (malaria, nutrition, and health systems strengthening), orphans and vulnerable children, and emergency preparedness and response, and most programs use a peacebuilding and social cohesion approach to meeting objectives in these sectors.

The BDM will ensure high-quality support to CARO country programs, coordinate closely with regional team members and liaise with headquarters-based do nor-focused teams as the region pursues funding opportunities with a range of donors to advance CRS’ mission to serve the poor and vulnerable. The BDM will provide support in the areas of BD strategy, positioning, capture planning, and proposal development, and will use her/his knowledge and skills to provide specialized assistance in all dimensions of the CRS Business Development Cycle. In addition to displaying a high level of competency in business development and team leadership, the BDM will also demonstrate an aptitude for strategic thinking, data and trend analysis, process improvement, collaboration and relationship management, training and capacity building, and BD knowledge management.

S/he will strengthen CRS’ BD-related systems, processes, relationships, and staff capacities. The BD Manager will help country programs to ensure sound project design and proposals; develop and maintain a roster of CRS staff and consultants to serve on proposal teams; lead tec hnical and compliance reviews of all proposals; and monitoring progress to ensure learning is integrated into our work. The BDM reports to the CARO Deputy Regional Director for Program Quality (DRD PQ).

Roles and Key Responsibilities

• Mentor and coach regional and country program-based staff involved in BD and project design in the pursuit of strategic funding opportunities in the areas of positioning, capture planning, proposal coordination, proposal writing, budgeting, and compliance with donor requirements.
• Work with headquarters-based teams, regional technical advisors, the regional SMT, consultants and others to ensure coordinated support for funding opportunities. Provide direct support, including as proposal coordinator or lead writer, to priority bids.
• Lead all areas of the CARO business development processes including supporting proposal review panels and returning timely, consolidated feedback to proposal teams. Manage CRS’ contracts bid review process, as well as other special bid review processes.
• Guide partner identification, negotiation of consortia roles, and review of teaming agreements.
• Support the cultivation and strengthening of institutional relationships with donors, partner organizations, and other collaborators.
• Participate in industry conferences and working groups to represent CRS with peer organizations as appropriate.
• Research and analyze intelligence about overall funding trends and new business opportunities; contribute to efforts to leverage this data to enhance CRS’ competitive position.
• Maintain accurate business pipeline and performance data through CRS’ online systems to inform senior management decisions.
• Lead initiatives to advance CRS’ business development processes, promote learning and sharing of best practices, and build the capacity of CRS staff in business development.
• Actively contribute to CRS’ Global Business Development Community of Practice, including playing a leadership role at global BD Summit and growth and strategy meetings of regional BD leaders, and promoting BD knowledge management.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Demonstrated experience leading and producing competitive proposals in programming contexts similar to CRS.
• Familiarity with relevant institutional donor regulations, policies, procedures and priorities.
• Experience with both USAID RFP and RFA funding mechanisms highly desirable.
• Comprehensive familiarity with a broad range of institutional donor technical and cost requirements a plus. This could include US Government (USG) agencies (USAID, USDOS, USDA, etc.), non USG entities (DFID, Global Fund, EU, UN, etc), and foundations and corporations.
• Strong budgeting skills and experience with leading the development of strategic and competitive cost proposals highly desirable.
• Demonstrated experience managing teams and processes to produce deliverables under tight deadlines and of exceptional quality.

Language Requirement: Fluency in written and spoken English required; strong oral French language skills essential.

Travel Requirement: This position requires the ability to travel up to 50% of time within the Central African Region

Key Working Relationships:

Supervisory Responsibilities: CARO BD Specialists (3), CARO BD Writer (1)

Internal: CARO Regional Director, CARO Deputy Regional Directors for Program Quality and Management Quality, CARO BD Specialists, Regional Finance Officer, Regional Technical Advisors from CARO and other regions, CARO Country Representatives, CARO Heads of Programming, Country Program technical staff and program managers, IDEA, HQ Program Impact and Quality Assurance (PIQA) Technical Advisors.

External: Potential partners, collaborators and contractors (local and international), consultants

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.