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.
CRS programs in the Philippines, Indonesia, Timor-Leste, Micronesia, and the Pacific Outreach constitute a sub-region under the overall leadership of the Sub-Regional Country Representative (CR). The East Asia and Pacific Sub-Region encompasses some of the most disaster-prone countries in the world, with climate change exacerbating the frequency and intensity of many of these disasters. In recent years, CRS has also started to provide outreach support to Caritas Oceania to support organization development and build emergency preparedness capacities across the South Pacific islands.
The sub-region has a robust portfolio of Disaster Risk Reduction, Humanitarian Response, Nutrition-Sensitive Agriculture, and Peacebuilding & Good Governance programs implemented by a diverse team of committed staff and high-capacity local partners. With the launch of the new Agency strategy, the sub-region has a renewed and reinvigorated commitment to expanding the impact of our programs by developing an influential voice with government stakeholders, staking out a position as the Agency leader in Homes & Communities post-disaster recovery, advancing local leadership with strategic government, Church, and civil society partners, and combating the effects of climate change.
Job Summary:
As Business Development (BD) Specialist II you will lead the production of high quality applications for funding in support of CRS’ engagement with institutional donors and initiatives involved in international development to serve the poor and vulnerable. Your knowledge and skills will allow you to provide specialized assistance in all dimensions of the BD cycle to cross-disciplines and cross-functional teams.
Roles and Key Responsibilities:
- 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).
- Coordinate proposal development processes to ensure timely submission of high quality proposals that are responsive to donor requirements, applicable regulations, and CRS’ technical and cost standards. Lead and support proposal budget processes and propose recommendations to develop a competitive proposal.
- As appropriate, serve as proposal coordinator or other lead role in proposal team, and participate in bid analysis and proposal review panels. Serve as a lead or support writer on proposals, contributing both technical and non-technical content and integrating inputs from staff and partners into a responsive, coherent proposal with a compelling vision and clear win themes.
- Advance Country Program, sub regional, and regional strategies through key funding opportunities, including capture and prepositioning phases. This requires familiarity of the strategies, existing initiatives/projects, and CP capacity and sector expertise. Lead proposal teams in successful integration of key donor trends and best practices where appropriate, including private sector engagement and local leadership.
- 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.
- 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. Research, track and analyze new opportunities and CRS’ competitive position within the marketplace.
- Support senior management to cultivate and strengthen institutional relationships with institutional donors, partner organizations and other stakeholders.
- Work with appropriate staff to maintain data on past performance and corporate capacity, in order to provide timely information for proposal submissions.
Required Languages– English fluency required.
Travel – This position requires up to 30% travel.
Supervisory Responsibilities: Supervise BDS1 based in Manila. Supervision of TDYs, consultants, and Fellows may be required on an ad-hoc basis.
Key Working Relationships:
Internal: Sub-regional Country Representative; Country Representative for Philippines, Country Managers and HoPs for Indonesia, Timor-Leste, and Federated States of Micronesia, Philippines; ASIA BD Manager, ASIA DRD-PQ, ASIA regional technical advisors, Program Managers and operations staff.
External: Donor agencies; corporations and other non-traditional donors such as private businesses, universities and research institutes; Local Government agencies, Church leaders, other INGOs, and local partners, including Caritas organizations, diocese organizations, and other local NGOs.
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:
- Strong strategic, analytical, systems thinking, and problem-solving skills, with capacity to see the big picture.
- Strong relations management abilities. Ability to relate to people at all levels internally and externally. Strategic in how you approach each relationship.
- Excellent negotiation skills.
- Strong communications and presentation skills.
- Proactive, resourceful, solutions-oriented and results-oriented.
Basic Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s degree in international development, international relations, or related field. Master’s degree preferred.
- Minimum five years of international development experience, with at least three years’ experience in a developing country.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Demonstrated experience utilizing diverse, proactive strategies to competitively position his/her organization for new funding and productive institutional relationships.
- Exceptional writer with expert command of English grammar and AP style.
- Demonstrated experience leading and producing competitive proposals in programming contexts similar to CRS.
- Comprehensive familiarity with a broad range of institutional donor technical and cost requirements.
- Experience with both USAID RFP and RFA funding mechanisms highly desirable.
- Familiarity with relevant institutional donor regulations, policies, procedures and priorities.
- Demonstrated experience managing teams and processes, leading teams to produce deliverables under tight deadlines and at exceptional quality.
- Knowledge of CRS programs, justice agenda and Catholic Social Teaching principles a plus.
- Experience using MS Windows and MS Office packages (Excel, Word, PowerPoint), Web Conferencing Applications, information management systems.
Agency REDI Competencies (for all CRS Staff):
Agency competencies clarify expected behaviors and attitudes for all staff. When demonstrated, they create an engaging workplace, help staff achieve their best, and help CRS achieve agency goals. These are rooted in the mission, values, and guiding principles of CRS and used by each staff member to fulfill his or her responsibilities and achieve the desired results.
- Personal Accountability – Consistently takes responsibility for one’s own actions.
- Acts with Integrity – Consistently models values aligned with CRS Guiding Principles and mission. Is considered honest.
- Builds and Maintains Trust – Shows consistency between words and actions.
- Collaborates with Others – Works effectively in intercultural and diverse teams.
- Open to Learn – Seeks out experiences that may change perspective or provide an opportunity to learn new things.
Agency Leadership Competencies:
- Lead Change – Continually looks for ways to improve the agency through a culture of agility, openness, and innovation.
- Develops and Recognizes Others – Builds the capacity of staff to reach their full potential and enhance team and agency performance.
- Strategic Mindset – Understands role in translating, communicating, and implementing agency strategy and team priorities.
***Our Catholic identity is at the heart of our mission and operations. Catholic Relief Services carries out the commitment of the Bishops of the United States to assist the poor and vulnerable overseas. We welcome as a part of our staff people of all faiths and secular traditions who share our values and our commitment to serving those in need.
Disclaimer: This job description is not an exhaustive list of the skill, effort, duties, and responsibilities associated with the position.
Note: All positions requiring residence or frequent travel outside their home country must undergo and clear a pre-employment medical examination.
CRS talent acquisition procedures reflect our commitment to safeguarding the rights and dignity of all people – especially children and vulnerable adults – to live free from abuse and harm.
CRS welcomes candidates from the countries and regions in which we work. In the event the successful candidate is an expatriate or global telecommuter, the anticipated duration of the assignment is informed by a term limit, based on the type and level of the job and the needs of the agency.
CRS is an Equal Opportunity Employer