Job Summary
Lead the production of high-quality funding applications in support of CRSโ engagement with institutional donors and initiatives involved in international development to serve the poor and vulnerable.ย Utilize knowledge and skills to provide specialized assistance in all dimensions of the Business Development (BD) cycle across disciplines and functional teams.ย As part of the global Institutional Funding Team, provide high-quality surge support on strategic funding opportunities focused in countries in East and Southern Africa.ย
Roles and Key Responsibilities
Provide BD expertise to country leadership and programming teams in positioning, capture planning and proposal preparation for specific opportunities with institutional donors (government, multilateral, foundations, corporations and other awarding non-governmental organizations). Manage pre-positioning, capture and proposal development processes to ensure timely execution and submission of high-quality proposals that are responsive to donor requirements, applicable regulations, and CRSโ technical and cost standards.ย Deploy as proposal coordinator, and advise on opportunity analysis, lead go/no-go decisions, capture planning, and coordinate partner inputs and proposal review panels. Deploy as a lead or support writer on proposals, contributing both technical and non-technical content and integrating inputs from staff and partners into a responsive, coherent proposal with a compelling vision and clear win themes. Deploy as budget lead or to support the lead in developing proposal budgets. Provide recommendations to develop a competitive proposal, as required. Serve as proposal design lead, guiding technical strategy, structuring the design process, and coordinating inputs across regional, country, and global teams to ensure coherent, donorโaligned proposals. Strengthen design quality and competitiveness of projects by ensuring evidenceโbased approaches, integration of crossโcutting priorities (e.g., MEAL, partnerships, gender, climate), and timely delivery of highโquality concept notes and proposals. Guide and advise on partner identification and negotiating CRSโ role in proposal consortia. Ensure a competitive position for CRS that adheres to the agencyโs partnership principles and strategic directions.ย Liaise with senior management and donor engagement focal points to develop a resource mobilization strategy for a specific region, country, sector, or donor. Support senior management in cultivating and strengthening relationships with institutional donors, partner organizations and other stakeholders. Research, track and analyze new opportunities and CRSโ competitive position within the marketplace. Lead and/or support donor mapping exercises for a specific country or sector. Lead and/or support development of CRS BD tools, resources and guidance on BD best practices and CRS approaches across the BD cycle. Train and mentor staff, as needed, to improve their skills across the CRS BD Cycle, including in proposal development, representation to donor and partner organizations, intelligence-gathering, and marketing within their country program or portfolio. Work with appropriate staff to maintain data on past performance and corporate capacity, to provide timely information for proposal submissions. Support KML and Gateway maintenance. Actively contribute to CRS' Business Development and Donor Engagement Community of Practice and advance CRS' Business Development practices through contributions to strategic initiatives.Required Languages: Fluency in English required; working ability in French, Arabic and/or Portuguese preferred.
Travel: Must be willing and able to travel up to 35%.
Location:ย Cross border or in CRS country office; prefer candidate located in East or Southern Africa; must be within 3 hours of East Africa time zone (GMT +3).
Supervisory Responsibilities: None
Basic Qualifications
Bachelor's degree in international development, international relations, or related field.ย Minimum eight years of international development experience.Preferred Qualifications
Master's degree in international development, international relations, or related field.ย At least three years' experience in a developing country. Demonstrated experience utilizing diverse, proactive strategies to competitively position an organization for new funding and productive institutional relationships. Demonstrated experience leading and producing competitive proposals in programming contexts similar to CRS.ย Experience with both grants and contract funding mechanisms. Demonstrated experience leading project teams and processes to produce deliverables under tight deadlines and at exceptional quality. Experience providing remote support to diverse teams. Experience in developing content for and facilitating trainings related to key business development practices. Knowledge of adult learning approaches. Knowledge of CRS programs, justice agenda and Catholic Social Teaching principles a plus.ยย Knowledge, Skills and Abilities
Strong strategic, analytical, systems thinking, and problem-solving skills, with capacity to see the big picture. Familiarity with relevant institutional donor regulations, policies, procedures and priorities. Comprehensive familiarity with a broad range of institutional donor technical and cost requirements.ย Experience with pursuing funding with donors including World Bank, FDCO, EU, USG, foundations and corporations preferred. Strong relationship management skills. Ability to relate to people at all levels internally and externally. Ability to strategically approach each relationship. Excellent negotiation skills. Exceptional writing skills with expert command of English grammar and AP style. Ability to write proposals in Spanish, French, or another common institutional donor language a plus. Strong communications and presentation skills. Proactive, resourceful, solutions-oriented and results-oriented mindset. Knowledge of MS Windows and MS Office packages, information management systems, and artificial intelligence (AI) tools.ยAgency Competencies (for all CRS Staff):
Personal Accountability โ Consistently takes responsibility for oneโs own actions.ย Acts with Integrity - Consistently models values aligned with CRS Guiding Principles and mission.ย Is considered honest. Builds and Maintains Trust - Shows consistency between words and actions. Collaborates with Others โ Works effectively in intercultural and diverse teams. Open to Learn โ Seeks out experiences that may change perspective or provide an opportunity to learn new things.Agency Leadership Competencies:
What we offer
CRS offers U.S. based staff a comprehensive benefits package, including medical, dental, life insurance, vision, and a generous retirement savings plan.ย Benefits packages for successful candidates employed outside the U.S. are based on the country of employment/in-country office where the candidate will perform the role.ย CRSยด work culture is a collaborative, mission-driven culture committed to improving the lives of the poor throughout the world.
Catholic Relief Services is the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States.ย Catholic Relief Servicesย works to save, protect, and transform lives in need in more than 100 countries, without regard to race, religion or nationality. ย Catholic Relief Servicesโย relief and development work is accomplished through programs of emergency response, HIV, health, agriculture, education, microfinance, and peacebuilding.ย We welcome as a part of our staff people of all faiths and secular traditions who share our values and our commitment to serving those in need. CRSโ processes and policies reflect our commitment to safeguarding children and vulnerable adults from abuse and exploitation.
CRS welcomes candidates from the countries and regions in which we work. In the event the successful candidate is an expatriate, the anticipated duration of the assignment is informed by a term limit, based on the type and level of the job and the needs of the agency.
CRS is committed to safeguarding program participants, community members, staff and volunteers from all forms of exploitation and abuse.ย The successful candidate is expected to sign and adhere to CRSยด Code of Conduct.
CRS talent acquisition procedures reflect our commitment to safeguarding the rights and dignity of all people - especially children and vulnerable adults - to live free from abuse and harm.
Disclaimer:ย This job description is not an exhaustive list of the skill, effort, duties, and responsibilities associated with the position.ย
CRS is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
General Requirements
CRS offers are contingent on the selected candidateโs ability to legally work where the position is to be performed. Every government has a unique set of work permit eligibility requirements.ย ย All positions requiring residence or frequent travel outside a home country must undergo and clear a pre-employment medical clearance; some work permit processes require clearing a separate government administered medical examination.
CRS prioritizes candidates who are citizens/ permanent residents of the countries where we have CRS offices.