Associate Director for Business Development (ADBD) At Action Against Hunger USA

Position: Associate Director for Business Development (ADBD)

Directly reports to: Programme Director

Contract Duration: 12 months

Level: Level 9

Start date: 01 January 2024

Location: Juba, South Sudan

Action Against Hunger leads the global movement to end hunger. We innovate solutions, advocate for change, and reach 28 million people every year with proven hunger prevention and treatment programs. As a nonprofit that works across 55 countries, our 8,990 dedicated staff members partner with communities to address the root causes of hunger, including climate change, conflict, inequity, and emergencies. We strive to create a world free from hunger, for everyone, for good.

Action Against Hunger USA is part of the Action Against Hunger International network. As an independent NGO, Action Against Hunger USA currently manages operations in 8 countries: Kenya, South Sudan, Somalia, Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia, Zambia and Haiti. Action Against Hunger-USA has over $100 million in programs, and approximately 1,800 permanent staff based in New York City, Washington D.C, Nairobi, and country offices. Additional growth is anticipated.

SUMMARY OF POSITION

The Associate Director for Business Development (ADBD) will be responsible for the overall program portfolio growth of South Sudan Mission through the effective coordination and development of high quality concept notes and proposals for major institutional donors, bilateral agencies and private/corporate foundations. The ADBD will regularly undertake donor landscape mapping to identify funding/donor opportunities/trends, lead on the implementation and regular revision of the Country Funding Strategy, facilitate structured donor engagement, intelligence gathering, donor scoping, track and identify donor opportunities, and coordinate proposal writing for large, competitive funding opportunities. The ADBD will work under the supervision of the Program Director with support from Action Against Hunger’s South Sudan and Regional technical, financial, and cross-functional teams. The position requires a strong sense of teamwork, networking skills, innovative thinking and creativity to pursue innovative opportunities and support strategic and sustainable growth.

PURPOSE

Business Development & Grant Acquisition: Coordinate responsibility for the fundraising strategy, regular checks on open tenders and other potential opportunities in country, works with Programme Director and Sector Leads in identifying funding opportunities and preparing high quality winning concept notes and proposals.
Donor Engagement: Identifies, creates and maintains strategic and productive relationships with Institutions and other organizations (local & international) working in the same sectors as Action Against Hunger.
Reporting and Communication: manages project-reporting deadlines, ensures high-quality reports and ensures an effective communication strategy that assures Action Against Hunger’s visibility in South Sudan.
Donor Compliance Assurance: Ensure donor guidelines and regulations are strictly followed in line with Action Against Hunger standards and procedures.

ENGAGEMENT

The ADBD will work closely with Technical/Sector Leads, Operations, HR & Finance teams, and Field Coordinators to coordinate the materialization of funding opportunities, including strengthening capacities of program leads to contribute efficiently to project design and preparation of proposals and reports. In addition, the position will collaborate with Regional Office, HQ & Network members Grants/Awards team for pre & post award managements. S/he will also liaise with regional program teams to ensure Action Against Hunger South Sudan program remains aligned with global strategic priorities and receive ongoing technical support.

DELIVERY

The key deliverables will include:

New Business Development
Grant Acquisition and Management
Donor Engagement
Grant Reporting and Communication
Donor Compliance Assurance

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS

New Business Development

Develop and review the Funding Strategy for the Country Office to support the achievement of the goals set in the South Sudan Country Strategy.
Participate in key donor meetings and pro-actively seek donor intelligence on prospective new opportunities or partnership.
Cultivate business relationships with external stakeholders and potential partners for large scale or strategic funding opportunities, either as a prime or sub-recipient
Review and update the Donor Landscape Analysis and tracker at regular intervals
Lead the development of high quality, complex proposals or bids, building on network, regional, and local expertise, and ensuring the highest quality submission.
Responsible for ensuring that Action Against Hunger South Sudan effectively prepositions for significant donor opportunities (donor identification and engagement), including selection of potential partners in collaboration with Programme Director
Produce a clear capture plan in advance for the expected funding opportunities in collaboration with the Programme Director.
Work closely with staff at Regional Office and Country Office to develop country-wide intelligence on key donors and actors, as well as portfolio analysis.
Coordinate collaborative, data-driven Go/No-Go (bid review forms) decisions, undertake pre-proposal activities including analyzing the funding opportunity; gathering intel on the donor and other actors; contributing to the development of complementary needs assessment when needed
Keep the mission-funding tracker updated and regularly share information and charts with country office SMT members and regional office grants team. Manage and implement a proposal development plan ensuring that all necessary activities are clearly defined, assigned, and completed to the necessary timescales, communicating progress to all staff involved in producing the proposals and escalating bottlenecks to relevant decision makers.
Support the organization and facilitation of project design workshops, developing concept papers, proposal narratives and log frames, ensuring that high quality standards are met and that proposals meet donor and Action Against Hunger requirements.
Identify and tailor any available pre-written content relevant to the proposal opportunity
Take information provided by the individual contributors (program technical leads, humanitarian, operations, and MEAL, among others) to build a quality proposal and lead the proposal writing process.
Liaise with finance, programs and operations on the development of the proposal budget, HR and procurement plans.
Secure all approvals for assigned new proposals prior to submission to the donor.
Lead in formulation of teaming agreements for consortium formation, coordinate grant revisions/modifications/extensions and other changes as required.
Liaise with Action Against Hunger International Networks award units in order to ensure proposals meet internal standards and are donor compliant.
Lead the post-submission follow-up process and carry out learning and feedback exercises after submission and in-depth review of unsuccessful proposals to identify reasons and any lessons learned. Document, share and develop plans to address identified weaknesses.
Work with HQ and Network Members to explore the potential for private sector partnerships and other innovative ways for fundraising.
Maintain and update the country score card on quarterly basis in coordination with the HEARO grants team
Develop a bank of unsolicited proposals on different themes with support from the Technical leads to have ready narratives for timely submission for short duration Call for Proposals

Grant Reporting

Track and circulate monthly reporting schedules; ensuring field teams’ adherence to the reporting schedules; compiling, editing and reviewing reports; disseminating to regional office and, network members
Lead on reporting for program impact and progress including all donor-funded projects, ensuring that reporting requirements are met and all reports are subjected to rigorous quality assurance. Liaise with the regional, HQ and other Action Against Hunger networks for tracking of submitted donor reports.
Secure all approvals for grant reports prior to submission to the donor.

Grants Monitoring:

Lead project cycle management meetings (e.g. kick off, reviews and closeout meetings), as well as monthly/regular grants management meetings which include representation from each unit (finance, programs, logistics) and ensure proper follow up of issues raised.
Monitor and support the use of management tools such as BFUs for the proper monitoring and the successful implementation of programs and early warning in case of obstacles or challenges.

Donor Compliance Assurance

Research donor guidelines and compliance issues for new opportunities or existing grants, as needed, within the assigned portfolio of Action Against Hunger South Sudan.
Review donor agreements and coordinate their review with the relevant Action Against Hunger regional or network offices.
Ensure that grants are implemented in compliance with Action Against Hunger and relevant donor regulations.
Develop grant guidelines, processes, and procedures, training staff members on these procedures, and addressing all grant related questions.
Ensure that key staff (including partners) have a clear understanding of donor compliance requirements including any regulatory or contractual changes throughout the project management cycle.

Communication and Information Management

Share all relevant documentation (grant proposals, reports, budget, etc.) to all staff related to their specific grants.
Keep an updated inventory of all communications related to programs/donors
Ensure information management and timely electronic filing of all proposal documents and reports on the SharePoint No Hunger Forum.

Capacity building

Strengthen country capacities in new business and proposal development, reporting and compliance.
Ensure staffs’ familiarity with the requirements and formats and templates of each donor opportunity.
Coordinate in the preparation and roll out of local partners’ capacity assessment and strengthening plans in coordination with relevant departments.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES

Will be determined as the department grows.

FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY

Ensure adequate budgeting of program activities/interventions during proposal development and the implementation of these activities within budget, scope and time.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is required to sit for long periods and to concentrate on work, including typing, and turn out heavy volumes of work accurately, within short timeline under stressful situations in the context of a moderately noisy office with many interruptions. Must be able to proofread own work accurately so that only minor corrections are needed on an infrequent basis.
The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

WORKING CONDITIONS, TRAVEL AND ENVIRONMENT

The duties of the job require regular job attendance at least five days per week. Employee must be available to work outside normal office hours, or on the weekends, as required by contact with the missions, mission security, or other obligations to meet deadlines.
The duties of the job require to travel with frequent travels to the Nairobi office, as well as to other Action Against Hunger HQs and country offices. The Employee must be able to travel as required for standard domestic and international business travel, as well as to the country offices. While visiting the field, the employee may be exposed to precarious settings under high security risks and/or very basic living conditions and outside weather conditions, as well as to infectious diseases.

GENDER EQUALITY COMMITMENTS & ZERO TOLERANCE TO ABUSE

Foster an environment that reinforces values of women and men, and equal access to information.
Provide a work environment where women and men must be evaluated and promoted based on their skills and performance.
Promote a safe, secure, and respectful environment for all stakeholders, particularly for children, beneficiaries, and members of staff.
Help to prevent any type of abuse including workplace harassment and sexual abuse and exploitation.
Respect beneficiaries’ women, men, children (boys and girls) regardless of gender, sex orientation,
disability, religion, race, color, ancestry, national origin, age, or marital status.
Value and respect all cultures.

REQUIRED QUALITIFICATIONS

Degree in International development, Humanitarian assistance, Project Management, Social Sciences, Public Health or any other relevant field. Postgraduate qualification will be an added advantage.
10 years of demonstrable experience in-country grant portfolio management, fundraising, external engagement/networking.
Extensive experience in fundraising and meeting revenue targets
Experience working with diverse donors i.e., ECHO, SIDA, WFP, UNICEF, OCHA, USAID, GFFO, GAC etc.
Demonstrated skills in organizing teams to produce high-quality proposals on a tight deadline.
Strong experience in strategic planning, program development, project management, monitoring and evaluation.
Advanced English language proficiency
Experience in mainstreaming nutrition-sensitive programming (Health and nutrition, WASH, food security and Livelihoods);
Technical knowledge of nutrition, health systems, food security, and/or WASH programming is a plus.
Ability to sustain interpersonal and professional relationships with internal colleagues and donor and peer organizations contacts.
Excellent planning and resource management skills.
Excellent written and oral communication skills, including effectively presenting complex ideas to diverse audiences.
Ability to multitask easily and gracefully, balancing and adapting to frequently changing priorities.
Advanced negotiating and conflict resolution skills.
High proficiency in working with the finance team to support budget development.
Strong computer skills, including proficiency in Microsoft Office Programs (especially Word, Excel, and PowerPoint).
Willingness and ability to travel domestically and internationally as needed.