Business Development Officer at Amref International University (AMIU)

PRINCIPAL RESPONSIBILITIES

Pre-Positioning

• Identify relevant upcoming funding opportunities, track grant forecasts, and using resources for advance intelligence gathering.
• Identify and nurture relationships with strategic partners (CSOs, academic organizations and private sector firms) to increase AmIU’s chances of success in partnering with strong partners for competitive calls for proposals.
• Prepare recommendations based on specific go/no-go decision criteria; identify and reach out to potential partners.
• Manage pre-solicitation proposal preparations and bid planning; participate in pre- design meetings and drafting sections of the proposal in advance of the solicitation; coordinate and facilitate design workshops.
• Support field teams to collect relevant country and technical area information that informs design.

Proposal Preparation and Coordination

• Provide support in the collection and presentation of information on funding opportunities (from specific websites, publications, the press, and other sources) to inform bid decisions.
• Coordinate/provide technical input to AmIU’s finance office to support the completion of the cost application in alignment with the technical program design.
• Manage proposal review process and check for budget alignment, responsiveness and compliance with donor guidelines.
• Build effective working relationships with partners on proposal bids; support the management of consultants recruited to support proposal development.
• Support the recruitment process to ensure identification and inclusion of qualified key personnel in proposals.

Post Submission

• Contribute to collecting and sharing proposal process lessons learned after the submission; coordinate program design hand over to program manager(s).

External Engagement and Networking

• Identify international and local partners for future opportunities; Develop and cultivate strategic partnerships that grow AmIU on the Continent.
• Identify international and local partners for future opportunities and work with the Amref country teams, business units and Europe and North America offices to gather, update and share intelligence on upcoming opportunities, pipelines and donor priorities.
• Conduct client outreach and follow up with subject matter experts for organizing meeting; support technical advisors to develop organizational capability statements in coordination with the communications team.
• Work collaboratively with team members when assigned to work as part of a team.
• Networking with strategic donors, collecting strategic intelligence on opportunities, updating the donor contacts and database, and liaising with key in-country and International donors.
• Arrange client meetings and calls with partners, including the University of Southern California, Amref Country offices, etc.

REQUIREMENTS

Education and Experience

• Master’s degree in, Public health, Social Sciences or Development or a related relevant technical discipline strongly preferred.
• At least five years of experience with an academic Institution of higher learning supporting business development/programme funding position(s) involving proposal development and donor liaison.
• At least three years of experience working on USG/Europen Union/FCDO proposal responses as a prime or sub-partner, including participating in capture efforts, writing relevant sections of proposals, and supporting development of proposal budgets.
• Experience in developing successful proposals and/or tender bids to Institutional donors and Foundation.

Skills and Competencies

• Demonstrated strong writing, editing and communication.
• Keen interest and excitement in business development.
• Detail-oriented, flexible, and able to handle multiple concurrent tasks.
• Able to work independently as well as part of a team.
• Excellent interpersonal, communication and negotiation skills to work effectively in a multi-cultural environment.
• Ability to prioritize own workload and work with minimal supervision.
• Ability to lead complex proposal development teams.
• Results Oriented.
• Quick learner willing to go the extra mile to achieve deadlines.