About us
Christian Aid has a vision – an end to poverty – and we believe we can make that a reality by transforming the lives of people who live in poverty and empower them to change their lives for the future. So, if you’re passionate about helping others, and want to help us drive positive change across the world, join us. Christian Aid is now looking to recruit an innovative and dynamic Programme Development and Funding Manager to support our development and humanitarian work in Ethiopia and South Sudan.
About the role
This role is responsible for growing Christian Aid’s institutional funding portfolio in our Horn of Africa region- particularly in Ethiopia and South Sudan, and supporting the country programmes to ensure strong contract management on their funds from institutional donors. The post holder will work closely with Country Managers and programme colleagues to initiate new donor engagements and sustain relationships with current donors; to coordinate development of funding applications; and, to advise and provide support on delivery of on-going contracts ensuring compliance with donors’ and Christian Aid’s regulations.
This is a senior role that is expected to engage at strategic levels both at the country and corporate levels to influence Christian Aid’s business models and the way we deliver our programmes. The role will be critical to supporting the Country Manager in representing the organization to donors and other external stakeholders, and to improving Christian Aid’s in-country visibility.
Key outcomes
• End-to-end quality proposal delivery responding to both published and unsolicited opportunities
• Acquire and retain new donors and funding relationships from a range of donors, with named key donor account responsibilities
• Provide strong leadership on developing funding proposals, including assembling and managing proposal development teams; working with colleagues in the design and development of high quality projects; and taking responsibility for submission of strong proposals that respond to donor criteria and Christian Aid strategic objectives.
• Support Country Programme staff to deliver on existing contracts. The PDFM specifically takes responsibility for enabling compliance with donors and Christian Aid policies and ensuring timely and quality reporting to donors
• Gather intelligence about upcoming opportunities; develop and share opportunity-specific competitive intelligence analysis and support Country Managers in deciding on consortia formulation.
• Carry-out post-bidding debrief and lead post-award negotiations
• Ensure that Christian Aid programmes meet our gender and inclusion quality standards, and incorporate latest thinking around our digital strategy.
• Participate in and/or manage project teams within PIF and across the global partnership, and work across the PIF Hub structures in line with the PIF strategy.
Surge capacity for emergency responses : In order to respond to ever changing demands within the environment, Christian Aid operates within an agile framework (both in workforce and operational) that requires from all employees, a high level of responsiveness and adaptiveness to processes and structures making flexibility and a project based working approach the norm. To sustain this system, managers may/will agree further details of specific tasks and duties as part of the performance agreement. Any reasonable duty may be assigned that is consistent with the nature of the job and its level of responsibility, and employees may be required to change the focus of their role from time to time. Role context The role works within the Programme Innovation and Funding (PIF) Group, which facilitates access to restricted funding across Christian Aid.
The role is located in the Programe Development and Technical Support Hub of PIF, and will work closely with the Southern Afriican Country programmes and in support of their strategic priorities. This will include humanitarian and development work. As such the postholder will be expected to travel regularly to project locations and elsewhere in Africa. The postholder will work closely with other hubs in PIF, namely the Programme Strategy and Innovation hub and the Key Donor Relationship Management hub, to ensure excellence in programme design and delivery, and donor management. The post holder will network and build relationships with both traditional and non-traditional players within the development sector to create new opportunities and ways of working. The postholder will provide expert technical guidance related to design, inception and delivery of large and complex programmes. They will work with staff from across the Global Partnership to plan and execute quality interventions in line with corporate strategy and programme/contractual obligations.
Role requirements Relationships External: Builds and maintains relationships with Donors, INGOs, NNGOs, Private Sector Actors, government agencies
Internal : Works closely with Programme Innovation and Funding colleagues in Africa, HQ and globally. Works directly with Country Programme colleagues in Ethiopia, South Sudan and elsewhere in Africa, in development of proposals and supporting on donor compliance. Draws on expertise from across the organisation, including Finance, HR, and technical advisors.
Decision making Budgetary/savings responsibility Required to provide inputs into decisions in relation to programme development and funding initiatives. Development of strategies in agreement with country teams to maximise income from existing and new donors. Development of proposals and reports for funding and contract management in agreement with relevant stakeholders. Responsible for compliance on a portfolio of institutional grants and contracts. Establishment and strengthening of contacts with new and existing donors at country level in collaboration with programme staff.
Analytical skills Ongoing analysis and interpretation of donor funding strategies, opportunities, and alignment with Christian Aid country strategies and corporate strategy. Analysis of risk and programme logic. Required to bring a strong strategic focus to programme development and management. Expected to question processes and ways of working to identify changes that will improve organisational performance
Person specification
Applied skills/knowledge and expertise Essential
• MA/BA University degree or equivalent in business, economics, international relations, development studies, environmental management, agronomy or a relevant subject.
• Knowledge and expertise in working with institutional donors, which may include DFID, USAID, Global Fund, European Union / ECHO and World Food Programme
• Significant and proven experience of successful bid leadership across development and/or humanitarian grants
• Outstanding communication and networking skills for relationship building and facilitation, including consortium development
• Excellent writing skills.
• Fluency in English
• An in-depth understanding of international development and humanitarian work
• High level of numeracy and understanding of financial controls and procedures.
• Project Cycle Management and monitoring, evaluation and learning methodologies
Desirable Training and facilitation skills
Digital/IT competencies required: Advanced level Word, Excel, PowerPoint
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