Grants Acquisition Manager Cordaid, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Uganda 382 views0 applications

Cordaid believes in a world without poverty and exclusion. We strive for just and sustainable societies where every person counts. We stand for knowledge and talent sharing between North and South, between farmers and businesses, between activists and policymakers. Where poverty, conflict and exclusion divide societies, we connect people and communities. We stand for professionalism, expertise and solidarity across borders. We aim at maximizing our social impact and contributing to systemic change. We operate where natural disasters strike, where conflicts tear up communities and where lack of opportunities and service delivery keep families in extreme poverty.

Cordaid is one of the leading CSO’s in the Netherlands, working in fragile contexts on Health, Resilience, Economic opportunities, Humanitarian aid and Security & Justice. Apart from our work abroad we also contribute to new forms of job creation and social innovation in The Netherlands.

Cordaid is a member of the international Catholic networks Caritas and CIDSE and we are active in worldwide civil society networks. We work in around 30 countries in Africa, Middle East and Asia.

For the Cordaid Country offices in Ethiopia, South Sudan and Uganda, Cordaid is looking for a Grants Acquisition Manager

Position and responsibility

The Grant Acquisition Manager will support COs to strategically position themselves in the country, creating effective partnerships, analyzing and defining added value/ and transforming opportunities in concrete project proposals linking Cordaid thematic strategies and approaches to institutional donor requirements. Identifying trends and developments and the process of developing and writing high-quality project proposals and publishing materials, highlighting Cordaid’s achievements with Global Office and thematic staff based in the Country Office.

Specific objectives

Business Development & Grant Acquisition South Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda

• Take the lead in identifying and pursuing new funding streams;
• Conduct donor mapping, identify potential allies/partners and competitors for funding opportunities in country;
• Defining added value (USP) and Unique Buying Services;
• Active relationship building with potential donors, and potential allies/partners;
• Organizing attractive/innovative events to position Cordaid;
• Work in liaison with the thematic leads, MEAL officers and Global Office on donor intelligence and community priorities/needs, creating opportunities and positioning of Cordaid funding opportunities;
• Coordinate the process of developing and bid management and writing high-quality project proposals;
• Lead in the research process during the development of new proposals in coordination with related departments to ensure high-quality proposals that meet the requirements of the donors;
• Ensure to follow up and review the entire grant proposal development process, including conceptualization, performing research, producing compelling content, make revisions and submission;
• Monitor the competitive landscape, assess and test new approaches, gather lessons learned and update the countries’ funding strategy;
• Contribute to the development and production of proposals as assigned. May include conducting research for anticipated opportunities, developing draft proposal sections, developing track record references.

Donor engagement

• Develop priority donor account plans in line with the funding strategy and ensure participation of technical and program teams in donor engagement for a;
• Lead the process and provide direction in the development of individual donor relations by periodically inviting donors and potential donors to visit Cordaid program areas to get first-hand information on program activities and to explore new opportunities that can be leveraged with the achievements of existing programs;
• Engage donors at strategic level and create/maintain a link and a strong bond between the donors and Cordaid management;
• Monitor, research and carry out regular in-country donor strategy analysis and share findings with Program Managers;
• Ensure donor reporting and compliance requirements are communicated to relevant thematic leads promptly;
• Ensure that donor queries are communicated to relevant team members and addressed timely;
• In collaboration with the Country Director, engages with donors.

Grant Administration Support

• Participate in and support selected technical bid management teams with relevant information;
• Facilitate the training of senior manager in effective donor engagement;
• Support thematic leads in producing high-quality project report;
• Document lessons learned and report findings during program evaluation meetings. Submit recommendations and suggestions to ensure that the best practices are adapted;
• Keep overview and manage the organizational pipeline opportunity system and account related database for South Sudan;
• Attend to other duties as and when directed by the Country Director;
• These duties and responsibilities listed are representative of the nature and level of work assigned and are not necessarily all-inclusive;
• Provide support to the 3 COs. throughout the proposal development lifecycle, including but not limited to pre-positioning for new opportunities, managing live proposal, coordinating and submitting responses to questions, coordinating after-action internal reviews and gathering feedback from donors on submitted proposals, support the handover to program managers
• Collaborate with program, CDs and other staff to conceptualise and design proposal for new project activities, amendments/extensions to current projects;
• Build a network of professional business contacts within Cordaid’s industry per country;
• Support & facilitate bid decisions conversations;
• Negotiate and coordinate teaming agreements, memorandum of understanding and other relevant institutional agreements with partners.

Qualifications

• Master’s Degree in International Development, Journalism or related Science.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills in English;
• Proven ability to fundraise;
• At least 3 years’ post qualification experience in a similar role.;
• Proven facilitation, marketing, networking, presentation, negotiation and analytical skills;
• Flexibility to travel (travelling at least 70% of time);
• Ability to cultivate and maintain professional relationships with internal colleagues and contacts in donor and peer organisation at country level;
• Ability to represent Cordaid and understanding and explaining various thematic areas;
• Prior proposal development experience, preferably as a proposal manager;
• Strong analytical skills and in depth understanding of strategies (ability to link donor priorities and Cordaid strategy);
• Strong planning and time management skills, multi-task & adapt to frequent changing priorities;
• Good conflict resolution skills;
• Strong inter-personal and teambuilding skills.

Specifics of station

This is a non-accompanied posting

Contract information

The contract period is for 6 months starting as soon as possible, with the intention to extend for a longer period. We offer a competitive, fair and comprehensive salary and benefits package that is justifiable to our donors. A Cordaid contract which includes R&R (if applicable), a comprehensive insurance cover, social security and pension contribution, a holiday allowance, 13^th month, hardship allowance and cost of living allowance (if applicable).