CRS Malawi seeks an experienced development professional with expertise and interest in resource mobilization to lead a creative and dynamic initiative for growing the country program. This position offers an opportunity to demonstrate initiative and leadership skills, and to help shape the direction of the country program. It is an excellent opportunity for program managers to demonstrate an increasingly sought-after skills set for many senior-management positions, as well as for those interested in a career path within business development to take on a more strategic role. CRS Malawi is a relatively young country program, established in 1997, and administers a varied and diversified portfolio of advocacy, food security, economic growth and livelihoods, health systems strengthening, orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) and HIV and AIDS programs. CRS works primarily through local church partners, but also international and local NGOs. The country program now implements a number of projects in all areas of the country with an annual budget of approximately $22 million, implemented by over 20 local partner organizations, and 100 CRS staff members. Primary funding sources include FFP, PEPFAR, OFDA, and a number of private foundations. Next year, CRS Malawi will begin the process to develop its next five-year strategy as part of the new agency strategic planning process. CRS Malawi has recently started to more intentionally engage private companies in potential or proposed partnerships. The PM Business Development and Strategy Manager will be responsible for meeting CRS Malawi’s annual growth targets by providing strategic direction and leading the resource-mobilization efforts for the country program, which has been identified by the agency as one of twelve countries with the most capacity to secure additional funding in coming years. This includes, providing guidance and leadership for strategic growth planning, maximizing CRS’ competitive position to attract new funding, managing functional teams to identify and capture funding opportunities, incorporating best practices into growth-related business processes and proposals, and building relationships with current and prospective donors. Program and proposal development in Malawi will involve developing and maintaining strategic alliances and/or coalitions with other organizations. Based on the current positive funding environment, funding opportunities are expected to be available for the foreseeable future. Possible donors include USAID, PEPFAR, OFDA, private US-based donors, US-based foundations and corporate organizations as well as UN, national organizations and other European donors. The role will also include leading the continuation and deepening of engagements with the private sector.
Specific Responsibilities:
Specific Responsibilities:
Strategic and Growth Planning
1. Lead and coordinate the process for the successful development and tracking of the CRS Malawi growth plan in coordination with the Country Representative (CR).
2. Coordinate corporate-engagement efforts, including the refinement and management of internal systems and processes, such as relationship tracking.
3. Lead the country planning for the development of the new strategy once agency-level guidance has been provided.
4. Consult with the CR and Head of Programs (HoP) to prepare a comprehensive plan and budget for growth strategy that draws on resource persons from the country program, partners, the CRS Foundation and Corporate Engagement unit (FCE), Major Gift Officers as well as other relevant senior regional representatives.
Pre-positioning
1. Lead the CRS Malawi internal Growth Working Group (GWG).
2. Support the country program to develop appropriate and effective fundraising strategies involving donor research and intelligence, product development, marketing and solicitation. Marketing may include, but is not limited to, development of fact sheets on CRS Malawi sectoral programming initiatives, past performance and corporate capacity in coordination with relevant staff.
3. Maintain an up-to-date opportunities matrix reflecting donor priorities and upcoming opportunities. Develop and implement proactive capture plans for upcoming opportunities.
4. Develop relationships with USAID, DFID, the UN and other public donor organizations in order to ascertain potential for new funding opportunities. Explore opportunities for non-traditional resource acquisition and support the country program to develop new institutional relationships with international non-profit and for-profit organizations and other collaborators in the public funding arena. Provide links to broader interagency and donor communities and coordination fora.
5. Develop/cultivate relationships with for-profit and other organizations to increase CRS’ opportunities for partnering and consortium-building for funding opportunities. Follow up leads on potential public funding from staff as well as own contacts.
6. Stay abreast of trends in new business development and share those with the Malawi team. Strengthen intelligence and market research to identify opportunities for diversified funding. Subscribe to electronic notices for relevant funding opportunities and monitor websites of potential donors for information on priorities, requirements and funding opportunities. Track RFA/Ps as they are published, identify those relevant to CRS programs, and work with the GWG to determine when/whether to respond.
7. Work closely with Southern Africa Regional Office (SARO) Business Development Regional Technical Advisors (RTA) and the SARO Business Development (BD) Community through communication and coordination of all national and international funding opportunities and trends, detailed monthly tracking reports, capture planning and other strategies to track and influence donor strategies. Act as CRS Malawi liaison with FCE unit at HQ keeping them apprised on CRS portfolio, upcoming funding needs, and any contacts made with corporations and foundations.
8. Provide CRS Malawi and partner staff with mentoring and training to improve their skills in growth/fundraising and proposal development for external donors. This may include, but is not limited to, facilitation of Resource Mobilization Workshops.
Pursuing Opportunities
1. Lead and coordinate processes and provide direct technical assistance to staff for timely submission of high quality concept notes and proposals that are responsive to and compliant with donor requirements and with CRS technical application and cost application standards and based on documented best practices around proposal production.
2. Support and guide the identification of local and international partners and negotiation of CRS’ role on proposal consortia, ensuring a competitive position for CRS that adheres to the agency’s partnership principles and strategic directions.
3. Work with proposal team to develop and maintain timelines reflecting respective responsibilities of team members and due dates.
4. Write or edit technical narratives, produce budgets, and produce attachments, as required depending on complementary capacities of proposal development team. Provide specific support to proposed management and staffing plans, resource management plans, cost applications, and proposal appendices/annexes.
5. Provide proposal development information to relevant regional and HQ staff to enable submission and tracking. This includes sharing lessons & resources with the BD community.
6. Identify relevant technical assistance (in-country program staff, partner resources, Resource Acquisition Department (RAD), RTAs, Program Impact and Quality Assurance (PIQA) Unit, and/or consultants) needs to design, write, and package quality proposals as per donor requirements.
Leveraging Results
1. In close collaboration with the program units, establish and maintain a process for the program teams to incorporate lessons learned from programming activities into proposals.
2. Following each proposal development process and fundraising initiative, organize an after action review to capture and document successes, challenges, lessons and recommendations for the future and ensure that they are incorporated into subsequent initiatives.
3. Work with program staff to develop and implement a marketing strategy that coherently targets identified audiences with tailored messages.
4. Coordinate regular donor visits with CR, HoP and/or key technical staff.
Learning
1. When developing proposals, develop a process that ensures the team sources CRS tools and resources as well as industry-wide best practices to be followed in future programming initiatives.
2. Foster a culture of business development within the country program, encouraging involvement of CRS Malawi staff in identifying opportunities for growth and building staff understanding of the value created by corporate partnerships.
3. Identify skills gaps of CRS and partner staff in business development and provide training, coaching and technical assistance as requested/needed.
4. Actively contribute to the SARO BD community of practice and the global BD community in developing and refining tools, piloting new initiatives and promoting learning across country programs.
5. Perform a selection of the above functions for other SARO Country Programs as time permits and the need to respond to funding opportunities arises.
Agency-Wide Competencies (for all CRS Staff):
These are rooted in the mission, values, and principles of CRS and used by each staff member to fulfill his or her responsibilities and to achieve the desired results.
· Serves with Integrity
· Models Stewardship
· Cultivates Constructive Relationships
· Promotes Learning
Program Manager Competencies:
These are rooted in the mission, values, and principles of CRS and used by each program manager to fulfill his or her responsibilities and to achieve the desired results.
· Sets clear goals and manages toward them
· Collaborates effectively with staff and stakeholders
· Manages financial resources with integrity
· Applies program quality standards to project design and organizational learning
Supervisory Responsibilities: N/A
Key Working Relationships:
Internal: Country Program: Head of Programs, Country Representative, Program, Finance and Administration staff; SARO/HQ: Operational Excellence (OPEX) Community, RAD, PIQA, FCE, Web Services, SARO RTAs.
External: Partner organizations, government ministries, UN Agencies, EU missions, local bilateral donors/institutions, other funding agencies and individuals, local/international NGO offices, and corporations.
Personal/Professional Skills:
1. Sound judgment, assertiveness, and commitment to the Agency's mission.
2. Ability to motivate others and coordinate a large amount of activity.
3. Strong organizational and planning skills.
4. Excellent interpersonal, communication and negotiation skills.
5. Excellent writing and editing skills with attention to detail.
6. Enthusiasm for meeting and working with a wide range of individuals and outside organizations including faith-based, government, and corporate institutions.
7. Knowledge of CRS program quality standards, partnership principles and Catholic Social Teaching principles is preferred.
Qualifications:
1. Master's degree in international development, or related field, or equivalent experience
2. Minimum of five years of relevant field-based project management experience preferred.
3. Extensive experience in managing moderately complex projects.
4. Demonstrated successful experience in project design through participatory processes to mobilize public donor resources; USAID proposal development experience a plus.
5. Experience with staff and partner capacity development.
6. Demonstrated experience managing people and processes, leading teams to produce deliverables under tight deadlines and at exceptional quality.
7. Excellent oral and written communication and interpersonal and networking skills required.
8. Two or more years of developing country experience required.
9. Familiarity with policies, procedures, and priorities of USAID, UN agencies and other donors.
10. Strong computer skills (Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint) required, preferably experience with Microsoft Publisher.
Physical Requirements/Environment: Lilongwe-based that requires travel 5-10% of the time.
Foreign Language Required: Fluency in spoken and written English.
Disclaimer Clause: This job description is not an exhaustive list of the skill, effort, duties and responsibilities associated with the position.
