Your purpose: This is an exciting opportunity to work with an international NGO focused on supporting extremely poor and vulnerable communities to achieve greater resilience and lasting improvements to their lives.

The Business Development and Knowledge Capitalisation Manager is an important new position within the Concern Worldwide in Sierra Leone team. S/he will identify and track donor opportunities, create connections with new in-country donors particularly trusts, foundations, and private sector, assist in the development and update of the Sierra Leone funding strategy, and play a leading role in proposal development for all funding opportunities including unsolicited expressions of interest, concept notes and proposals. S/he will work to network with other agencies on potential collaborations and consortia. S/he will also lead on creating communication materials and knowledge capitalisation products, building on the impact, learning and knowledge from programme work in coordination with the MEAL lead (Programme Development & Quality Coordinator) and lead in effectively utilising this to advance the aims and objectives of Concern with key external stakeholders.

Concern currently operates Health, Education, WASH and Livelihoods programmes and humanitarian response work in four districts of Sierra Leone – Freetown and its hinterland (Western Area Urban & Rural Districts), Port Loko and Tonkolili Districts – with a smaller presence in five other districts.

About the role: This is a 1 year (with potential to renew), new role with unaccompanied terms based in Freetown, Sierra Leone, with a salary of Grade 3 (€41,108 – 50,243). You will be required to travel frequently to the other districts of Sierra Leone where Concern works.

We would like you to start by June 2024 (but date negotiable with the right candidate).

Reports To: Programme Director (PD), with significant engagement with the Country Director (CD).

Direct line reports: Currently none, but this may change depending on evolution of funding landscape and Concern programming in Sierra Leone.

Liaises With:

• Concern in Sierra Leone: Members of Country Management Team (CMT) especially the CD, Systems Director (SD), Snr. HR Coordinator, Country Financial Controller (CFC), Programme Coordinators, Programme Development & Quality (PDQ) Coordinator, Grants & Information Manager, Partnership Manager and Advocacy & Communications Manager.
• Concern in Liberia: its CD, PD and other senior staff as relevant.
• Concern Head Office and global offices: Concern Regional Director (RD), Desk Officer (DO), International Funding Support Unit (IFSU) Manager & Staff, SAL (Strategy, Advocacy & Learning Directorate) Technical Advisors, Concern UK and Concern USA business development and fundraising staff.
• External Stakeholders: Donor institutions, UN Agencies, international & national partners (NGOs, private sector, etc.) and relevant National and District level Government institutions.

You will be responsible for:

Funding Strategy Development and Implementation:

• Lead the regular updating of the Sierra Leone funding strategy, analysing funding gaps and proposing means of addressing these. With the support of the IFSU and other Concern colleagues in business development and fundraising in Ireland, UK and USA, identify prospective donors, with a particular emphasis on building effective relationships with ‘non-traditional’ donors including banks, trusts, foundations and private sector.
• Lead on actions identified in the funding strategy, and create networks and potential collaborations or consortia, including regional programming, in close coordination with the PD, CD and RD.
• Research and analyse funding opportunities and constantly monitor donor, government, UN agency, etc. changing priorities. With the Grants & Information Manager, track and share relevant calls for proposals and ensure they are up on the Concern Worldwide Grants Management System (GMS).
• Working closely with the Advocacy & Communications Manager, actively support in the planning of donor engagement initiatives and processes.
• Support in the development of Concern’s wider Country Strategic Plan (CSP) for Sierra Leone and its ongoing implementation and review.

Donor Engagement:

• Organise and participate in donor engagement meetings in collaboration with the CD, PD, and other relevant managers/staff in Sierra Leone, head office and Liberia colleagues.
• Provide expertise in effective positioning of Concern and preparation for specific opportunities with institutional donors (government and inter-governmental award issuing organizations, as well as foundations, corporations and other awarding non-governmental organizations).
• Working with the relevant Programme Coordinators, the Programme Development and Quality Coordinator and the Advocacy & Communications Manager, coordinate and seek input on generic expressions of interest, concept notes, briefing notes, and programme factsheets to be used in donor meetings and visits.
• Support senior management to cultivate and strengthen institutional relationships with donors, partner organizations, non-traditional donors and other stakeholders.

Proposal and Bid Development:

• Reporting to the PD, ensure the effective coordination of the development of concept notes, proposals, contract bids, and other submissions to donors – ensuring the effective engagement of key programme and other staff in Sierra Leone and drawing on technical support from head office. (As appropriate, this may mean the Business Development & Knowledge Capitalisation Manager acts as overall coordinator or plays another supportive lead role in the submission development team).
• If requested, coordinate medium to large and multi-country proposal development processes to ensure timely submission of high-quality proposals that are responsive to donor rules & requirements and Concern’s policies, strategies, technical and other standards.
• With the CFC (or other senior finance team colleagues), lead and support proposal budget processes and propose recommendations to ensure competitive proposals are put forward.
• Lead in the development of consortia applications (where Concern is the lead agency) and in developing Concern’s portion of and contribution to such applications (where Concern is a member).
• Serve as a lead or support writer on proposals and bids, contributing technical and non-technical input as appropriate/necessary. Integrate inputs from Concern staff and partners into a clear, responsive, high quality and coherent proposal/bid, which demonstrates a compelling vision/purpose and competitive content and presentation.
• Lead in developing Expressions of Interest, Concept Notes and unsolicited proposals based on solid programme approaches and identified development/humanitarian and funding gaps.
• Support in ensuring that proposals & contract bids etc. are developed in a participatory manner and that the design process adheres to Concern’s commitments under the Core Humanitarian Standard (CHS). Support in ensuring this adherence to the CHS throughout the other stages of the project cycle management process.
• Prior to submission to the PD for final review, participate in the review of drafts of proposals and other types of donor submission documents and ensure incorporation of feedback and responses to reviewers with the aim of achieving as high a standard of quality as possible.
• Keep abreast of changes in Concern’s policies, strategies etc. and the evolving national and international context to ensure that proposal and bid development incorporate and reflect up to date best practice and approaches.

Knowledge Capitalisation:

• In close collaboration with the PDQC, lead on the generation of high quality communications materials for sharing with donors using our M&E data that demonstrate the impact of Concern’s work and learning, including briefing sheets, audio/visual material, learning papers etc.
• Collaborate with communications and fundraising teams in Ireland, US and UK to develop materials for donors.
• Support in updating Concern’s new Digital Workplace, as well as the Knowledge Exchange and importantly the outward facing Knowledge Hub with Concern Sierra Leone’s work.

Internal Engagement:

• Train and mentor relevant staff in proposal development, external representation to donor and partner organizations, government institutions, UN agencies, etc., intelligence-gathering, and promotion of Concern’s work within their roles – as may be required, or support others leading such training.
• Play a supporting role in the maintenance of an effective knowledge management system to capture and share lessons learned within Concern and further afield – including contributing to the development and effective use of Concern Worldwide’s new Digital Workplace, the Grants Management System (GMS), and other knowledge exchange and management initiatives.

External Engagement:

• Promote and protect the reputation of Concern in external settings, contributing to the effective communication and consistent presentation of the organisation’s experience and expertise, and that we are looked upon as a professional organisation, guided by policies and our Code of Conduct & Associated Policies.
• Support the development and implementation of Concern’s Advocacy & Communications Strategy in Sierra Leone within your role.
• Support and guide identification of partners and negotiation of Concern’s role in proposal consortia, ensuring a competitive position that adheres to the Concern’s values, policies and strategic direction.
• Working with the CMT and PDQ Coordinator, support the Advocacy & Communications Manager in the development of high quality communications materials and the organisation of visibility events to support Concern’s advocacy and public communications work in Sierra Leone.

Other:

• Within your role, and supporting CMT and other relevant management staff, adhere fully to and promote Concern’s Code of Conduct & Associated Policies and other key Concern policies (including Equality, How Concern Understands Extreme Poverty (HCUEP), Approach to Emergencies, Anti-Fraud policies) within the organisation.
• As a humanitarian organisation, all staff are required to engage in / support emergency response work as needed (training and other support to be provided as appropriate). Actively participate in the periodic updating of Concern’s Preparing for Effective Emergency Response plan in Sierra Leone.
• Contribute to the ongoing reviews and updating of Concern in Sierra Leone’s Security Management Plan (SMP), the country strategic plan, and other cross-organisational Concern initiatives.
• Any other tasks as may be mutually agreed with the Programmes Director and /or the CD.

Your skills and experience will include:

Essential:

• Bachelor’s degree in international development, humanitarian studies, international relations, or a related field. A Master’s degree in a relevant subject is desirable.
• Minimum three years of relevant international development experience, with at least two years’ experience in a developing country.
• Experience of leading and producing competitive proposals in programming contexts similar to that faced by Concern in Sierra Leone.
• Demonstrated experience of effectively positioning his/her organization for new funding and productive institutional relationships with donors, UN, government, non-traditional donors and a range of partner organisations, etc.
• Demonstrated experience of coordinating multi-disciplinary proposal development teams and processes to produce very high-quality concept notes, proposals, bids, etc. under tight deadlines.
• Comprehensive familiarity with a broad range of institutional donor priorities/strategies, rules, and requirements (familiarity with EU, FCDO and USAID regulations, policies, procedures and priorities is advantageous).
• Experience of working in, coordinating/leading consortia or other forms of partnership implementation.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills and fluency in English – both written and verbal.
• Demonstrated ease and familiarity with relevant computer software packages – MS Office (Excel, Word, PowerPoint, etc.), information management systems, communications software, and graphic design software etc.
• Strong facilitation and training skills.
• Able to work on own initiative, a high level of critical thinking with strong problem-solving abilities.
• Good team player, flexible and culturally sensitive.
• Proven ability to work calmly in a high-pressure environment.

Desirable:

• Experience of working with partner organisations and building organisational & individual capacities.
• Direct experience knowledge capitalisation and communications work.
• Knowledge of the Core Humanitarian Standards (CHS), Sphere and other relevant global standards.
• Experience in M&E systems and approaches, and accountability mechanisms and frameworks.
• Clear understanding and knowledge of equality issues related to development / humanitarian work and a demonstrable commitment to the ethos and values of Concern in relation to ending inequality and extreme poverty.
• Experience of working in complex and volatile contexts.
• Experience of working in Concern and/or knowledge of Concern Worldwide policies, strategies, programme approaches.
• Candidates with experience working in Sierra Leone or the West Africa region.