Business Development Specialist II, Generalist/ Proposal Writer

About CRS

Catholic Relief Services is the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. CRS works to save, protect, and transform lives in need in more than 100 countries, without regard to race, religion or nationality. CRS' relief and development work is accomplished through programs of emergency response, HIV, health, agriculture, education, microfinance and peacebuilding.

 

Background

CRS’ Institutional Donor Engagement and Advancement (IDEA) department advances the agency’s strategic position by engaging new and existing institutional donors to acquire and steward resources that deliver excellent programs to advance CRS’ mission and agency strategy (Vision 2030). Teams within IDEA focus on three main functional areas: engaging donors, prospects, and strategic partners; delivering on outcomes as outlined in the institutional award agreements, in compliance with donor requirements; and acquiring new resources through business development activities.

 

Job Summary

The Business Development (BD) Specialist is part of IDEA’s Growth Strategy and Support Unit (GSSU). The GSSU supports the department’s acquiring new resources functional area by providing high-quality business development surge support to CRS country programs, regions and global teams on strategic funding opportunities. The GSSU also provides BD subject matter expertise in the development of new CRS business development resources, such as guidelines, trainings and orientations. Reporting directly to the GSSU BD Manager, the position will be expected to provide specialized assistance across all dimensions of the BD cycle to cross-discipline and cross-functional teams, though a particular focus will be placed on capture and proposal coordination. When needed, the position will also provide proposal writing surge support and will work closely with the GSSU’s Proposal Writing team during those assignments.

 

Roles and Key Responsibilities

Providing Business Development Surge Support:

• Provide BD expertise in positioning, capture planning and proposal 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). Emphasis will be on US government donor agencies (including USAID, USDA and Department of State) across both assistance and acquisition mechanisms. 
• Serve as a capture/proposal coordinator or other lead role on a proposal team, ensuring the timely submission of high-quality proposals that are responsive to donor requirements, applicable regulations, and CRS' technical and cost standards.
• Support and guide identification of partners and negotiation of CRS' role on proposal consortia, ensuring a competitive position for CRS that adheres to the agency's partnership principles and strategic directions. 
• Serve as a lead writer or supporting writer, working closely with the proposal coordinator, technical design lead and sector leads, other proposal team members and stakeholders, including partners, to develop well-written, well-organized and cohesive concept notes, expressions of interest and proposals aligned with donor requirements and CRS standards.
• When needed, provide temporary BD Specialist coverage at the country program or regional level, managing the relevant funding pipeline, serving as capture/proposal coordinator or lead/supporting writer of specific funding opportunities, and working with the regional/country leadership team to ensure resources are committed to complete necessary capture and proposal deliverables. 

 

Supporting the CRS Business Development Community of Practice:

• Lead and/or support development of CRS BD tools, resources and guidance on BD best practices and CRS approaches across the BD cycle.
• Train and mentor staff, as needed, to improve their skills in proposal development, representation to donor and partner organizations, intelligence gathering, and marketing within their country program or portfolio.
• As appropriate, support senior management to cultivate and strengthen institutional relationships with institutional donors, partner organizations and other stakeholders. 
• As appropriate, contribute to internal and external data gathering and analysis to support internal BD reporting and decision-making.
• Actively contribute to CRS' Business Development Community of Practice and advance CRS' Business Development practices through contributions to strategic initiatives and annual summits.

 

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