Project Concern International (PCI)’s New Business Development Unit (NBDU) oversees the prospecting and strategic pursuit of federal and private donors to obtain funding for PCI programs as well as in support of broader organizational initiatives. NBDU facilitates the research, planning, prioritization and decision-making for all restricted funding opportunities and leads the coordination process for all proposals, ensuring the highest possible quality. NBDU develops and executes resource development approaches using evidence generated by a set of analytical tools which are part of PCI’s PURSUIT approach.

The New Business Development Officer (NBDO) is a member of NBDU and contributes to and advances the following core resource development functions: (1) development of PCI’s technical, country and initiative-focused resource development strategies; (2) proposal planning, development and submission; (3) prospecting and strategic prioritization; (4) positioning, relationship cultivation and donor stewardship; and (5) knowledge management and information sharing. The NBDO plays an integral role in quality control and coordination of program development functions across all geographic and technical sectors.

Responsibilities 

1. Proposal Planning, Development and Submission (50% LOE) :

• Provides writing and editing support for key public and private funding opportunities, often serving as “Lead Technical Writer” and taking responsibility for translating program designs into winning proposals, including the development of technical narrative sections and multiple attachments.
• Serves as NBDU Lead for public and private funding opportunities. NBDU Leads are responsible for the effective management and overall coordination of the proposal preparation process and the quality and timely submission of the final proposal package
• Facilitates the effective coordination of complex proposal teams, including drafting and managing task lists and provision of clear communication for optimal coordination of overall process.
• In coordination with Technical Officers, Country Directors and others, facilitates partnership cultivation in support of building a consortium where PCI primes or where PCI partners as a sub-grantee, and facilitate the recruitment of staff and technical assistants and consultants in support of proposal submissions.
• Manages issues of document version control and sequencing of reviews, ensuring quality and timely submission.
• Ensures proposals are 100% in compliance with donor guidelines, including timely submission of electronic and hard copy versions, per requirements.
• Effectively presents programmatic information to donors in the form of letters of interest (LOIs), concept notes, capacity statements, past performance information, and other materials.
• Requests feedback on proposal submissions, facilitates debriefs for proposal teams, and works to apply lessons learned to continuously improve the quality of future submissions.

2. Prospecting and Strategic Prioritization (20% LOE) :

• Researches private and public funding mechanisms and identifies opportunities related to international development donor agendas. Specific emphasis placed on private donors.
• Collaborates closely with Development Department on cross-cutting restricted funding opportunities or donors, coordinating with and linking research to ongoing strategic prioritizing and relationship cultivation efforts among technical and field leadership, and other resource development staff.
• Analyzes and summarizes viable funding opportunities for distribution to relevant technical and field staff and others as needed.
• Tracks funding opportunities and advance information on solicitations, and facilitates the decision-making process among various PCI field and International Office (IO) staff to reach consensus on whether or not to pursue an opportunity.

3. Relationship Cultivation and Donor Stewardship (15% LOE) :

• In coordination with technical and country leads, develops strategies for donor cultivation with specific emphasis on private institutional and corporate donors.
• Assists with setting up donor meetings, making contact, preparing relevant materials, etc.
• Captures, tracks and manages key donor information in Salesforce database, contributing to cross departmental efforts to improve the use of information.
• Ensures effective donor stewardship through periodic correspondence, identifying opportunities for donor recognition, and appropriate sharing of program information, etc.
• Works with technical leadership to develop organizational capacity pieces and other materials to share with donors and partners.
• In coordination with Project Managers, Operations, Technical Officers and other staff, contribute to the development of timely and complete donor reports to support PCI’s positioning efforts to secure continued funding from current donors.

4. Development of PCI’s Technical, Country and Initiative-focused Resource Development Strategies (10% LOE) :

• Serves as the NBDU liaison for specific PCI country programs or technical areas as assigned, matching priority needs with viable private and public funding opportunities; coordinating regular resource development communication and information sharing; and working with technical officers, field leadership and others to develop country specific resource development strategies.
• Supports evidence-driven resource development through analyzing past performance, gathering information from reports and proposals, and corresponding with key field and technical services staff to inform decision-making on setting future donor targets and resource development strategies.
• Provides regular follow-up to ensure effective implementation of resource development strategies, including tracking toward targets and scheduling regular check-ins with field and technical staff.

5. Knowledge Management & Information Sharing (5% LOE) :

• Manages input of submission records into Pursuit Module and utilizes system to inform strategic prioritizing and decision-making.
• Manages input of donor records into the Donor Contract Records Module and utilizes the system to inform donor relationship cultivation and stewardship efforts and strategy development.
• Coordinates with the organization’s Development and MarCom Departments to market PCI’s program achievements and technical capacities through the organization’s website and other media and networks.

Special Responsibilities Required:

• Will require occasional international and domestic travel.
• Will require occasional night and weekend work during peak periods.
• Participate in PCI’s innovation efforts and in teams on innovation initiatives
• In addition, the NBDO may perform other duties as assigned.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field, with a strong preference for public health, international development or international relations.
• Minimum of 4 years professional experience, with a minimum of 2 years of demonstrated success in donor relationship cultivation and the development of major proposal submissions in a relevant sector such as public or global health and women’s empowerment.
• Superior writing skills with demonstrated proposal writing experience that resulted in successful (funded) proposals to USG, private institutional and corporate donors.
• Demonstrated experience leading the identification, cultivation and stewardship of relationships with donors – particularly private institutional and corporate foundation donors – that resulted in successful (funded) proposals.
• Superior communication skills.
• Demonstrated experience and ability to effectively research, analyze and disseminate analysis on potential funding opportunities such as open Request for Applications (RFAs), as well as on individual public and private foundation donors.
• Demonstrated experience facilitating “Go / No-Go” decision-making on funding opportunities, including providing analysis and recommendations to inform the process and managing input from several staff members and other possible internal or external stakeholders.
• Demonstrated ability to consistently and effectively work on multiple assignments, including complex proposal submissions and other tasks simultaneously, often under strict time constraints.
• Strong working knowledge of procedures and regulations for submitting U.S. Government grant proposals.
• Ability to serve as an effective representative for the organization at a variety of meetings and forums with donors, foundation representatives, board members, the general public, etc.
• Ability to work effectively both independently and as part of a team.
• Dependable, reliable and possess good judgment in order to work independently on major assignments, sometimes from locations based in foreign countries with limited infrastructure and intermittent Internet service and other challenges often present in developing countries.
• Computer skills including: word processing (Microsoft Word); spreadsheets (Excel); electronic communication systems (Outlook, Instant Messaging, Skype, etc.), and Salesforce or other similar database system.
• Experience developing and implementing strategies and policies designed to improve the success of proposal development and submission processes preferred.
• Bilingual (English-Spanish) preferred.
• A passion for the mission and values of PCI