Business Development Specialist

The Organisation

Plan International is an independent development and humanitarian organisation that advances children’s rights and equality for girls.

We believe in the power and potential of every child. But this is often suppressed by poverty, violence, exclusion and discrimination. And it’s girls who are most affected.

Working together with children, young people, our supporters and partners, we strive for a just world, tackling the root causes of the challenges facing girls and all vulnerable children.

We support children’s rights from birth until they reach adulthood. And we enable children to prepare for – and respond to – crises and adversity. We drive changes in practice and policy at local, national and global levels using our reach, experience and knowledge.

We have been building powerful partnerships for children for over 85 years, and are now active in more than 75 countries.

Job Description                                

                            
Position    Business Development Specialist    Grade    D
Department & Location    Business Development Unit    Date    01/07/2022
Reports to (position):    Business Development Manager
Purpose:      Working in 50 developing countries across Africa, Asia and the Americas, Plan aims to reach as many children as possible, particularly those who are excluded or marginalized with high quality programs that deliver long lasting benefits by increasing its income, working in partnership with others and operating effectively.

The Business Development Specialist is part of the Business Development Unit and has the role of coordinating the Grants acquisition and expending the funding portfolio from various sources to support Plan International program in Cameroon

The function exists to supports Plan’s strategy and mission to grow strategically with qualitative programs and to become an organization of choice of donors and other partners.  
 
Further the role of BD specialist is particularly a fundraising focused role rather than compliance, looking to enhance Plans organization to be fit for purpose for the growth target we have.

Dimensions of Role: See Section 7a

    To acts as a resource to support the business development at Plan International Cameroon and support the realization of Plan Cameroon’s CS objectives.
    Lead the development of CN and proposals and the acquisition of Grants
    To ensure the development of the CMR Grants portfolio.
    The holder of this position will be actively seeking and maximizing opportunities for additional funding from a variety of sources.
    Report to the Business Development Manager
    Works closely with Grants team, Program Lead, Program Specialists, projects officers, Program Influencing Area Managers and other focal points
    Ensure good partnership with Nos and Donor is developed and maintained
    Ensure good partnership with local donor missions including bilateral and multilateral is developed and maintained.

Key End Results and typical Responsibilities: See Section 7b
“What” is done and “why”, but not “actions” or “how”; include indicators for success

•    Provide Specialist support in Resource mobilisation

    Support the RM strategy development as well as its implementation
o    Lead on the development of a resource’s mobilisation plan including donor engagement plan to support the CMR’s CS objectives
o    Lead the development of concept notes and proposals and actively identify grants opportunities in line with agreed organizational procedures and in close coordination with technical Specialists, Program/Project Officers, Program Influencing & Impact Area Managers, finance, logistics and other stockholders from relevant departments and units within Plan International Cameroon and National offices.
    Act as point person for the development of CN and proposal in the unit
    Ensure high quality funding submissions are prepared in line with program priorities
    Support the GO/ No Go decision making regarding funding opportunities and to coordinate the development and acquisition of new funding
    Coordinate the accurate and timely submission of grant proposals to donors and National Offices.
    Ensures the portfolio is increased
o    Lead on researching where potential opportunities for grants funding can be found;
o    Ensure to reach the local target funding raising of 100,000 Euro for FY23.
o    Developing and maintaining the pipeline of new projects and turn them into increased portfolio
o    Coordinate the acquisition of grants together with the Business development team and Program team
    Create a system to ensure regular dialog with NO’s on CMR priorities, experience, pipeline, challenges and successes as well as providing CMR with NO intelligence and coordination
    Ensure all concept notes and/or proposals meet donor requirements and funding priorities.
    Review Donor agreements and facilitate submission and approval of the proposal as required.
    Ensure all funding submissions have a strong gender focus, and that all submissions are graded either 2a or 2b against the IASC gender marker. Where possible opportunities should be taken to design gender transformative funding submissions.
    Update the funding tracker ensuring current and potential funding are clearly shown.
    Develop a resource mobilisation plan in support of the Emergency Response strategy.
    Ensure that all categories of program costs are considered at the conceptualization and submission stage of grant preparation.
    Coordinates external inputs into the development of grants
    Develop and conduct capacity building of Grants related and resource mobilisation issues at country Office and Prog Implementing Area level
    Assure that exact templates, formats are used for the proposal development and that experts/specialists are well aware of requirement before proposals are drafted,
    Contribute to the documentation of all grant funded programs and projects including documents archiving
    Assist to the grant monthly meetings

    Local Donor engagement & Partnership

    Ensure, that strategic partnerships with local donor missions, including bilateral and multilaterals are developed, managed and maintained.
    Make sure a strong and professional image of Plan International Cameroon among relevant donors.
    Building successful, proactive relationships which align donors priorities with program needs;
    Produce and regularly update a comprehensive mapping of all donor opportunities (by sector and geography) in Cameroon.
    Support the Business Development manager to introduce a comprehensive tracking and reporting tool for grants and local funding.
    Ensuring successful on-going donor relationship management and ‘ownership’ of relations with donor representatives locally for possible grant funding
    Ensure that all categories of requirements of the local donors, Plan and local authorities are taken into account at the conceptualization and submission stage of grant preparation.
    Assist together with program specialists and the Business Development Manager in the preparation of CN, grant proposal including formatting of text, preparation of budget and required supporting documents.
    Develop in collaboration with the Business Development Manager the Local Donor mapping (by sector and geography) in Cameroon
    Lead on developing and packaging grant proposals to suit the requirements of different donors, including working with the programme communications team to develop separate marketing collateral aimed at different audiences (NOs, Institutional donors, Corporates etc.).
    Organize the startup workshops of acquired grants in collaboration with the Business Development Specialist, the compliance Officer, the program team, the finance team
    Grants monitoring
    Correspond with National Offices and local donors on grant programs and project
    Work with the Finance and Head of Program Operation to ensure the effective utilization of grants monitoring systems in terms of projections and forecasting, the monitoring of expenditure, negotiations with grantors for budget modifications and completion of project reports.  
    Consolidate relevant grant information and disseminate it where relevant within Plan Cameroon.
    Ensure data integrity and consistency of grants in SAP.
    Implement decision in extension, corrections, amendments of grants contracts in the system SAP
    Conduct Project /field visits
    Help in generating report in SAP
    Help in generation of grants update
    Help in the generation and update of grants reporting monitoring tool

Carry out any other activity related to the sphere of work and in the interest of the organization when needed.

Dealing with Problems: See Section 7c
Application of knowledge required for the role, complexity of problems handled & the degree of investigation, analysis, & creative thinking required to solve them.

    Key challenges include dealing with different/conflicting demands from a variety of clients and responding to tight deadlines
    Engaging with donors and representing the organization in a professional manner which reflects positively on Plan as an organization;
    How to match donor opportunities with the Resource Mobilization Strategy.
    Ability to understand and assimilate the complexity of Plan’s grants business development and systems and procedures and  organisational structures decision-making processes;
    Capable of building constructive working relationships with other units
    Managing external relations in dynamic and sometimes unpredictable operating environment
    Adherence to policies and procedures, and promoting a culture for delivery of results, both short and long term.
    The post holder will demonstrate the ability to solve the challenges through innovative and strategic thinking. He should be able to demonstrate high degree of prioritization
    
Communications and Working Relationships: See Section 7d
Working contacts inside and outside the organization; include the purpose and level (high, medium, low) of the contact
    Lead the development and maintenance of partnership with local actors, including bilateral, multilaterals, corporate donors and external networks. Coordinate the link between Program Influencing Areas (PIAs) and corporate donors / external networks.
    Works closely with the Business Development Manager, the Grants Compliance Officer, the Grants Coordinator, the Program technical Specialists, the Grants Accountants, Project managers, PIAMS, Head of Programs, PIM
    Lead exchanges with NO partners during concept notes and proposal writing period
    Excellent working relationships
    Regularly inform the Business Development Manager of strategic funding information and trends to ensure Plan has necessary information to secure funding.
    Networking with peer INGOs, Corporate sector, UN Agencies and Other donors,.

Knowledge, Skills and Behaviours Required to Achieve Role’s Objectives: See Section 7e

Knowledge

    Bachelor’s Degree in sociology, social sciences, economic or related field.
    Preferably with experience in proposal development, fundraising, alliances and partnerships
    Familiarity with financial and administrative requirements of a variety of large grant donors
    Excellent level of English and French, both oral and written
    Public relations and representation skills at an advanced level.
    High Proficiency in computer software particularly Microsoft Outlook, Excel, Access, Word and accounting software packages.
    Professional experience spent in a resource mobilization in the development and humanitarian sector.
    Demonstrated track record of writing project proposals and obtaining grant funding for development projects from institutional donors.
    Experience in identifying and developing fund raising opportunities
    Knowledge of donors such as EU, UN Agencies (UNHCR, UNICEF, PNUD, WFP), USAID, SIDA (Sweden), World bank, ECHO, BMZ, Irish Aid, GFFO (German Federal Fund), AFD (French Development Agency), bilateral funds from 22 countries, such as: USA, Canada, UK, Belgium, Switzerland, Australia, Ireland, Norway, Finland, Spain, Netherland. corporate, foundations, private national institutions & government of Cameroon.  

Skills

    Negotiation skills at an advanced level.
    Conceptual and analytical skills.
    Coaching, training and facilitation skills.
    Marketing skills.
    Ability to work with minimal supervision
    Excellent interpersonal and communication skills and the ability to maintain effective and satisfactory working relationships with people from diverse cultures across all levels of the organization.
    Capacity to work under pressure, prioritize multiple tasks, and meet inflexible deadlines.
    Proficiency in computer software particularly Microsoft Outlook, Excel, Access, Word and accounting software packages.
    Positive attitude, desire to be a part of a diverse team,
    Knowledge of Project management including planning and scheduling, process design, implementation and monitoring and evaluation
    Well-developed written and oral communication skills. Able to communicate clearly with internal and external stakeholders as a representative of Plan, including proven networking skills.
    Understand how to effectively represent the organization;

Behaviours

    Capacity to work under pressure
    Excellent written and oral communication, representation and influencing skills
    Excellent inter-personal skills and good team player
    Flexible to change
    Communicates constructively and humbly in a way that builds credibility to other Plan offices and Plan’s external stakeholders

PLAN INTERNATIONAL’S VALUES IN PRACTICE
We are open and accountable
•    Promotes a culture of openness and transparency, including with sponsors and donors.
•    Holds self and others accountable to achieve the highest standards of integrity.
•    Consistent and fair in the treatment of people.
•    Open about mistakes and keen to learn from them.
•    Accountable for ensuring we are a safe organisation for all children, girls & young people
We strive for lasting impact
•    Articulates a clear purpose for staff and sets high expectations.
•    Creates a climate of continuous improvement, open to challenge and new ideas.
•    Focuses resources to drive change and maximise long-term impact, responsive to changed priorities or crises.
•    Evidence-based and evaluates effectiveness.
We work well together
•    Seeks constructive outcomes, listens to others, willing to compromise when appropriate.
•    Builds constructive relationships across Plan International to support our shared goals.
•    Develops trusting and ‘win-win’ relationships with funders, partners and communities.
•    Engages and works well with others outside the organization to build a better world for girls and all children.

We are inclusive and empowering

•    Seeks constructive outcomes, listens to others, willing to compromise when appropriate.
•    Builds constructive relationships across Plan International to support our shared goals.
•    Develops trusting and ‘win-win’ relationships with funders, partners and communities.
•    Engages and works well with others outside the organization to build a better world for girls and all children.

LEVEL OF CONTACT WITH CHILDREN
Mid contact:     Occasional interaction with children

Physical Environment and Demands: See Section 7f
May be “typical office environment”; note if heavy lifting, climbing, excess travel, etc.

    The holder of this position will be based in Plan International Cameroon’s Country Office with field visits whenever necessary, extensive visit to donor representatives in the country.

Location: Yaounde

Closing Date: 26-07-22

Equality, diversity and inclusion is at the very heart of everything that Plan International stands for.

We want Plan International to reflect the diversity of the communities we work with, offering equal opportunities to everyone regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation.

Plan International is based on a culture of inclusivity and we strive to create a workplace environment that ensures every team, in every office, in every country, is rich in diverse people, thoughts, and ideas.

We foster an organisational culture that embraces our commitment to racial justice, gender equality, girls’ rights and inclusion.

Plan International believes that in a world where children face so many threats of harm, it is our duty to ensure that we, as an organisation, do everything we can to keep children safe. This means that we have particular responsibilities to children that we come into contact with and we must not contribute in any way to harming or placing children at risk.

A range of pre-employment checks will be undertaken in conformity with Plan International’s Safeguarding Children and Young People policy. Plan International also participates in the Inter Agency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme. In line with this scheme we will request information from applicants previous employers about any findings of sexual exploitation, sexual abuse and/or sexual harassment during employment, or incidents under investigation when the applicant left employment. By submitting an application, the job applicant confirms their understanding of these recruitment procedures.

Please note that Plan International will never send unsolicited emails requesting payment from candidates.