Business Development Specialist (Maternity cover – 1 year contract) At Plan International Belgium

Plan International Belgium

For more than 40 years, Plan International Belgium is working towards a world that is fair and safe for all children. All children are entitled to education and opportunities. This begins with equal opportunities for girls and boys. Girls are still too often disadvantaged and discriminated against, sometimes even threatened and abused.

Plan International Belgium is part of an ambitious international federation with projects in almost 80 countries (including Belgium). With our projects, we generate impact, via policy advocacy, awareness-raising and projects with and for children and young people.

Plan International Belgium is a strongly growing organisation. During the last 5 years, our income has increased from € 14 million to 20 million and we have grown from 50 to about 65 highly motivated colleagues.

To translate Plan International Belgium’s bold ambitions even more strongly into a better future for children and young people, we are looking for an experienced Business Development Specialist with a strong background in gender-transformative programming (child protection, GBV, youth empowerment, education) to support the growth of its grants portfolio and to strengthen our Strategy & Innovation Department as a maternity cover.

Objective of the function:

The Business Development Specialist is responsible for the design of projects that fulfil Plan International Belgium’s International Programmes strategy.

• You will implement Plan Belgium’s resource mobilization strategy, that is acquiring funding from identified donors for gender-transformative, impactful, innovative projects that change the lives of girls, adolescent girls, young women and their communities.
• As such, you will design projects and programmes in the fields of child protection and gender-based violence (including in emergencies), inclusive quality education (including in emergencies), skills and opportunities for youth employment and entrepreneurship, with a cross-cutting attention to gender equality, youth empowerment, youth participation, climate change adaptation, innovation.
• Coordination of teams (technical advisors, finance specialists, programme managers, both in Belgium and in partner Country Officers, liaising with Plan International Global Hub) is central to the profile.
• The donors’ landscape is mainly institutional donors, but a component of the role is to contribute to designing innovative fundraising products as well.
• In this position, you may supervise consultants in the scope of your tasks.

Main Result Areas Of the function:

Business Development Management

• Identify and analyse business development opportunities aligned with Plan’s mandate, Plan International Belgium’s Strategy, and the best way to respond (leading go / no-go sessions, setting-up workplans)
• Lead the development of high-end project proposals from the needs assessment initial steps to the final submission, jointly with technical advisors, finance teams.
• Proposal writing: actively contribute to the writing of the proposals (contextual analyses, logic of intervention, logical frameworks, joint review of budget, annexes)
• Coordinate the project proposal development process with Plan International Belgium, Country Offices teams and relevant colleagues (e.g. including Plan International Global Hub), and with consortium partners if relevant (INGOs or civil society organisations)
• Update and lead strategic updates of the resource mobilization strategy of Plan International Belgium

Institutional Partnership management

• Contribute to building or maintaining fruitful professional relationships with Plan International Belgium key donors: DGD, DGD Humanitaire, Enabel, DG INTPA and DG ECHO
• Support the donors’ engagement efforts of Priority Country Offices, for locally-based donors and field-based focal points (e.g. EU Delegations, Embassies).
• Support the influencing efforts towards a more systematic integration of gender in the agenda of institutional donors.

Innovative fundraising

• Contribute to the long-term reflection on innovative fundraising – mobilizing new fundraising products that links private and institutional fundraising;
• Initiate partnership with other key stakeholders (private sector and Foundation jointly with Plan International Belgium’s Corporate and Major Donors department, academia, think-tank).

Networking and Coordination

• Build and maintain relationships within Plan International Federation (other National Organisations, Country Offices, Global Hub, Sectorial focal points), as well as other international and national NGOs
• Contribute to strategic analyses of Plan International Belgium positioning regarding key donors and partners’ Global Account Management

Required Profile:

The candidate must already be in possession of a Belgian national registration number and a work permit for Belgium. This function is carried out from Belgium.

Education, experience, knowledge and talents

Level of education/experience

• Master’s degree or equivalent in development, international relations, social sciences, social work
• Minimum 5 years of work experience in proposal writing, leading programme design processes, resource mobilisation and funding acquisition
• Experience in managing relations with institutional donors; experience with UN, INTPA and ECHO is a plus
• Experience designing gender-transformative programmes is a strong plus
• Significant working experience within development and/or humanitarian sector including experience abroad, close to the point of impact of programmes
• Proven track record in project design and grants acquisition

Knowledge/Expertise

• Track record in resource mobilisation and funding acquisition
• Outstanding writing and analytical skills
• Strong assessment, communication skills: well-developed conceptual, critical and analytical thinking with the ability to convey complex information in a simple and interesting way
• Excellent negotiation and representation skills and the ability to work comfortably with an ethnically diverse staff in a multicultural environment
• Excellent coordination, planning and organizational skills with the ability to manage complex tasks within agreed deadlines
• Significant knowledge of at least one of the key areas of Plan Belgium: child protection, gender-based violence, inclusive quality education or youth employment and entrepreneurship
• Significant experience in project planning, design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation
• Demonstrated ability to produce clear, concise reports, concept notes and other documentation
• Language skills: Bilingual English and French; proficient in Spanish and Dutch is an asset

Personal profile and skills

• Core competencies
• To know the rights of the child, the rights of girls and the theme of gender equality
• Achieving objectives
• Team-player
• Get involved in the organisation
• Demonstrate a digital mindset
• Behave according to the basic values of Plan International Belgium
• Competencies related to the function
• Innovate
• Organise
• Motivate colleagues and inspire members of temporary task force for project design
• Establish relationships

What do we offer you?

• A stimulating working environment within both a Belgian and an international context at a prominent international NGO
• The chance to make a difference for children and young people in our partner countries and in Belgium
• Space for personal professional development, together with competent, passionate and socially committed colleagues
• A contract of one year for maternity cover, preferably starting in April 2024
• A competitive remuneration within the Belgian NGO sector with extra-legal benefits (group insurance, hospitalisation insurance, meal vouchers, free public transport between home and work, telework allowance). The Business Development Specialist position salary is comprised between 3236,68€ and 3979,5€ (function group 4a to 4c).

Plan International Belgium is located in the heart of Brussels, right next to the Brussels-Central railway station. We are partly working via telework.