Program Development Advisor, East Africa

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world's worst humanitarian crises, helping to restore health, safety, education, economic wellbeing, and power to people devastated by conflict and disaster. Founded in 1933 at the call of Albert Einstein, the IRC is one of the world's largest international humanitarian non-governmental organizations (INGO), at work in more than 40 countries and 29 U.S. cities helping people to survive, reclaim control of their future and strengthen their communities. A force for humanity, IRC employees deliver lasting impact by restoring safety, dignity and hope to millions. If you're a solutions-driven, passionate change-maker, come join us in positively impacting the lives of millions of people world-wide for a better future.

The Purpose of the Role

The Program Development Advisor for East Africa (PDA EA) will support country programs to pursue funding opportunities in line with IRC’s Business Development Strategy. Support will include all phases of the business development process, from opportunity identification to award signature, including donor engagement, pre-positioning, proposal development, due diligence and award negotiation. The successful candidate will have a strong track record of working on humanitarian and development funding opportunities for a range of multilateral and bilateral donors (BMZ, CDCS, DG ECHO, DG INTPA, FCDO, GFFO, Irish Aid, Sida, World Bank, USG etc.), as well as experience collaborating with local partner organizations.

The PDA will support business development for institutional donors in the IRC’s East Africa region, which includes Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda. Candidates who are from these countries and/or have significant experience in the region are strongly encouraged to apply.

Scope and Authority

This position does not have any line management responsibilities.
 

Key Working Relationships

Reports to the Head of Business Development, EA. Works closely with all Regional Program and Award Support team members, Global Business Development, and across all other teams within Awards Management Unit, Crisis Response Recovery and Development Department, Global Partnerships and Philanthropy, Global Supply Chain, Finance, Office of General Counsel, Technical Excellence, and other key departments within IRC. Donor and partner point of contact as applicable per region.

Key Accountabilities:

Planning and Strategic Leadership (15%)

• Collaborate with country teams to proactively identify and address their priorities and support needs in BD

• Collaborate with Global BD to gather donor intel through desk research, to identify funding leads, and analyze resource mobilization trends in the region.

• Support country offices with donor engagement and intel sharing for positioning; prepare for and participate in donor calls as needed.

• Collaborate with country offices to successfully position for new funding opportunities by leading or assisting in the identification, tracking, and updating of new business opportunities across a variety of technical sectors and donors.

• Lead or support pre-positioning for specific opportunities, including facilitating technical brainstorming, partner and competitor landscape analysis and win theme sessions with technical and country staff

End-to-End Program/Proposal Development (60%)

• Support the full proposal lifecycle including sharing initial assessment of new opportunities, supporting Go/No Go processes, preparing, and sharing templates and timelines, ensuring adherence to deadlines, supporting recruitment, assisting in reviewing budgets, ensuring document completion, organizing meetings, and compiling notes, and drafting and proofreading proposal sections.

• Facilitate the identification of consultants, partners and other proposal development support as needed in collaboration with the country team.

• Collaborate with technical units, country offices, and other colleagues to support conceptualization of winning proposal and bid designs for new project activities and/or amendments to current projects.

• Provide quality assurance and quality compliance support on proposals. Ensure responsiveness to and compliance with solicitation documents and with IRC’s requirements.

• Support coordination, communication, and inputs from consortium partners in accordance with donor and IRC processes.

• Coordinate and support regional reviews and approvals of proposal packages depending on country and regional needs.

• Review agreements to ensure accurateness and highlight key compliance requirements, in coordination with post-award, compliance and country grants teams and support in award negotiation as required.

• Maintain complete and accurate electronic files, including final submission packages and internal trackers.

• Deploy to country offices to lead on proposal development as needed

Donor and Partner Engagement (10%)

• In line with IRC’s Partnership Ambition, and in collaboration with regional Partnerships teams, contribute to increasing the volume and equity of IRC's work with local and regional partners (with a focus on women-led national organizations) by coordinating support to country offices in identifying partnership opportunities, identifying strong partners, and finalizing teaming arrangements.

• Coordinate regional and country-level inputs to donor meetings, conferences and communications as needed.

• Represent IRC externally to donors, peers, and partners.

Capacity Building and Training: (10%)

• Contribute to developing, updating, and delivering business development related training for the region.

• Facilitate internal post-submission debrief sessions, (i.e., After Action Reviews) with country teams, technical units, regional team, and other relevant stakeholders to collect lessons learned.

• Collaborate with PDAs and other stakeholders to ensure internal knowledge management, share lessons learned and ensure they are incorporated into future proposals

• Support in recruiting, onboarding, and training of new grants and partnerships team members.

Other Responsibilities (5%)

• Contribute to AMU and regional strategic priorities and initiatives.

• Support with translation to regional or donor languages when necessary

• Participate in special projects as needed and other tasks as assigned.

Person specifications:

Essential Skills, Knowledge, and Qualifications:

• Experience developing and supporting humanitarian and development proposals for NGOs

• Experience with strategies and proposal processes of key government/statutory donors including UK, EU, German, French, Scandinavian, US, etc.

• Experience in collaborating with and supporting national and community-based partners

• Experience in proposal budgeting

• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, including the ability to effectively collaborate across a variety of relationships in a multicultural environment

• Demonstrated ability to collaborate equally effectively with colleagues in remote and diverse teams, including as a team leader for proposals

• Clear, compelling English writing skills

• Ability to multi-task and prioritize effectively

• Ability to travel internationally

• Fluency in English

Recruitment Process

The process for this role will be as follows:

• Screening Call online

• Panel interview online (with assessment)

• Second round panel interview online (if needed)
   

This is a remote position open to candidates located in and with the right to work in the United Kingdom, Germany, or Kenya.
 

Compensation: (£52,000 - £58,736 annually). Ranges are based on various factors including the labor market, job type, internal equity, and budget.  Exact offers are calibrated by work location, individual candidate experience and skills relative to the defined job requirements

PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS

All International Rescue Committee workers must adhere to the core values and principles outlined in IRC Way - Standards for Professional Conduct. Our Standards are Integrity, Service, Equality and Accountability. In accordance with these values, the IRC operates and enforces policies on Safeguarding, Conflicts of Interest, Fiscal Integrity, and Reporting Wrongdoing and Protection from Retaliation. IRC is committed to take all necessary preventive measures and create an environment where people feel safe, and to take all necessary actions and corrective measures when harm occurs. IRC builds teams of professionals who promote critical reflection, power sharing, debate, and objectivity to deliver the best possible services to our clients.

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Why Choose the IRC?

Work that has meaning: Every day at the IRC is a chance to make a difference through a purpose-driven career. Whether you're working directly with communities or providing support behind the scenes, you will be part of a dynamic team that is always innovating, scaling, and testing new and better solutions to ensure the best possible outcomes for the people we serve.

Global scale, dynamic workplace: At the IRC, we believe that the dynamic, global make-up of our team is our strength. When you join us, you're not just starting a job—you will be part of a global organization positively impacting millions of lives in over 40 get to work with colleagues from all around the world—working across time zones and regularly exchanging different ideas, perspectives and insights. You’ll join a team that is dedicated to fostering a supportive environment to create a workplace where everyone feels valued, respected, and heard.  

Challenging work, innovative solutions: We’re committed to excellence and innovation, and pride ourselves in setting industry-leading standards while practicing evidence and data-lead strategies. Come challenge norms, shatter conventions, and pioneer change while working on real, nuanced and complex issues we face in the world today.  

Community centered: We’re an empathetic community that truly cares for one another. Our comprehensive safety and security initiatives ensure a safe work environment, while our continuous learning and development programs provide ongoing opportunities for personal and career advancement.

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Our Typical Recruitment Process

The interview process typically includes three rounds, though the number may vary depending on the role and level of seniority. It usually begins with a conversation with our recruiting team to learn more about you and your goals. This is followed by an interview with a hiring manager or business stakeholder to explore your background and provide more insight into the role. The final round focuses on assessing your role-specific expertise and may be conducted as a panel interview to evaluate your cross-functional strengths. Before extending an offer, we generally conduct reference checks, and after an offer is made, a standard background check is completed. While we strive for consistency, the process may differ based on the role, business unit, location, job type, legal requirements, and other factors.

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