Job Summary:

The Business Planning and Proposal Associate (“BD Associate”) will support the WAMERO (West Africa & Middle East Regional Office) team’s pursuit of new business opportunities under the direction of WAMERO’s Associate Director for Business Development. This will include conducting market research, exploring potential business opportunities, conducting competitor research and landscape analyses, drafting capabilities statements, gathering market data to support the analysis of trends, and supporting proposal development tasks as needed. The BD Associate will also be responsible for entering and updating data in Salesforce and support cross-departmental collaboration and communication. The BD Associate will sometimes manage small bids.

The ideal candidate will be interested in learning about business development in the international development field. They should be a problem-solver, be detail-oriented, able to juggle competing priorities and be eager to contribute proactively to team efforts.

Coordination and communication:

• May provide administrative support to schedule internal and external-facing meetings and conferences for WAMERO & FHI 360 staff

Capture and proposal development support:

• Draft bid justification memos
• Craft and contribute to corporate capabilities statements highlighting FHI 360’s experience in various countries
• Conduct due diligence on potential partners
• Conduct and summarize competitor research
• Pull data from internal systems (i.e., Vine, Connect) to contribute to proposal development
• Support the development of materials for proposals, including CVs, organizational charts, skills charts, etc.
• Occasionally manage proposals of small bids, applying FHI 360 best practice processes, including developing compliance checklists, proposal calendars, coordinating teaming agreements, routing proposals through appropriate reviews, uploading proposal materials to Sharepoint, and submitting proposals in accordance with FHI 360 policies

Business planning, operations, and data quality assurance:

• Monitor and support Salesforce data entry for WAMERO, supporting other licensed users within WAMERO to access, review and properly input information
• Generate routine and ad hoc reports from Salesforce to inform pipeline management, strategic planning, sales targeting, etc.
• Conduct landscape analyses to inform business planning, identify relevant stakeholders in countries (government actors, NGOs, private sector actors, etc.), read and summarize country policies, funder policy/strategy documents (I.e., USAID Country Development Cooperation Strategies).
• Works with Knowledge Exchange and other FHI 360 staff to manage and organize WAMERO information on internal systems/intranet and keeps a catalog of boilerplate language for proposal management sections, resumes, capability statements, and project descriptions.
• Source potential capture or proposal development consultants.

Applied Knowledge & Skills:

• Excellent oral and written communication skills.
• Strong problem-solver attitude and skills, able to identify challenges and offer up solutions.
• Experience with business development in an international and/or large organizational setting.
• Understanding of typical capture and proposal development processes.
• Effective multi-tasking and flexibility, ability to prioritize workload independently to deliver quality work on assigned tasks with little supervision.
• Attention to detail and strong organizational and time-management skills.
• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with co-workers, supervisors, and other staff.
• Must be proficient in or able to quickly learn internal technological platforms, tools, and systems.
• Ability to follow written policies, guidelines, and process instructions.

Education:

• Bachelor’s Degree or it’s International Equivalent in Business Administration, Public Health, Social Sciences or Related Field.

Experience:

• 3-5 years of experience with business development, preferably in a large organization or company.
• Knowledge of capture and proposal management best practices or industry standards (i.e., through the Association of Proposal Management Professionals, Shipley Associates, or others.)
• Articulate, professional, and able to communicate in a clear, positive manner with internal and external stakeholders.
• Must be able to read, write, and speak fluent English.
• The ability to read and/or speak in French/Arabic/Spanish is a bonus.

Source:https://fhi.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/FHI_360_External_Career_Portal/job/Washington-DC/Business-Development-Associate_Requisition-2021202269