With a strong focus on programme quality and support, the Business Development Manager will guide the development and continuous evolution of NRC Ethiopia’s country programme development portfolio and will be the compliance/focal point for all pre-awarding stages.

The Business Development Manager is a senior position within the NRC Ethiopia programmes team, reporting directly to the Head of Programmes and strong collaboration with the Country Director. The Business Development Manager will identify and track donor opportunities, facilitate donor engagement, assist in the development of fundraising strategies, and lead proposal development for all funding opportunities.

The position requires innovative thinking and creativity to package our programme strategies in ways that attract the right donor support and grow our portfolio effectively. She/he will write sections of proposals that speak to our overall capabilities, while coordinating input from technical advisors or support team members into proposals and budgets.

The Business Development Manager must keep closely informed about the progress of all major institutional grants and able to speak to results in NRC’s implementation. The Manager must also be well informed of the humanitarian environment within Ethiopia – major trends in response approaches, government and donor agendas, cluster objectives, and the portfolios of NRC’s peer agencies.

The Business Development Manager will also lead in partnering for new opportunities – whether consortium management / leadership where NRC seeks to lead initiatives, or working with peer organisation leads to ensure NRC’s strategic role and active engagement. This would also include effective engagement in shaping consortium strategies and NRC’s partnership positioning.

General Responsibilities:

• Support in the development of a multi-year funding strategy, programme forecasts and identify funding opportunities, taking particular account of changing donor priorities
• Accountable for compliance in relation to grant management and project cycle management processes, for all pre-awarding stages
•  Manages the development of submissions to donors, including project proposals
• Responsible for quality control of donor applications
• Responsible for the development of any consortia applications
• Ensure a robust M&E system is in place, to be analysed and factored into future programme design and development
• Ensure all programme staff are trained in NRC’s project cycle management ‘Formulation’ and ‘Identification’ stages

Specific Responsibilities: 

• Lead donor engagement meetings in collaboration with the Country Director, Head of Programmes, Area Managers and relevant CC Specialists/Managers.
• Be updated on donor, government and cluster priorities and track and share relevant calls for proposals
• Lead engagement within NRC regional and HO infrastructure for program development (IPAs, Regional Advisors, etc)
• Responsible for drafting fundraising strategy and gap analysis
• Responsible for developing grants proposals in collaboration with Core Competency (CC) Specialists Advisers.
• Lead non-technical writing of concept notes and donor proposal sections
• Coordinate and seek input on generic concept notes, briefing notes, SITREPS and programme factsheets to be used in donor meetings and visits.

Professional Competencies: 

• Higher education certificate in a useful subject relating to the role or the sector
• Minimum 4 years’ experience from a senior grant management position, with responsibility for programme, in a humanitarian/recovery context
• Experience of working on, coordinating or leading consortia or other forms of partnership implementation
• Experience in M&E systems and approaches, and accountability mechanisms and frameworks
• Experience from working in complex and volatile contexts
• Documented results related to the position’s responsibilities
• Knowledge about own leadership skills/profile
• Fluency in English, both written and verbal

For more information, here is the detailed Job Description

Additional Information 

Duty Station: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Type of Contract: 12 months renewable based on funding and performance

Travel: 30%

This role is open to Ethiopian nationals as well as candidates from all nationalities!