Business Development Lead at Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD)

Job Description

• To contribute to CAFOD’s involvement in the Nigeria in line with the agreed strategy, by engaging in programme development; securing institutional funding for CAFOD supported programmes and partnerships; and contract management.
• The post-holder will be responsible for building effective working relationships with peers across the International Programmes Group, and Advocacy Teams.
• This is in order to develop and maintain horizontal links between programmes, learning, innovation, good practice, and fundraising within and between regions or areas of work.
• The role has also several cross-divisional and cross-organisational functions linked to work with CAFOD’s Education, Communities & Supporters, Fundraising, Finance and Media teams.
• The post-holder will be expected to work closely with CAFOD’s Integrated Funding and Business Innovation Unit in London and the work is expected to be aligned with corporate institutional fundraising strategies and the commitments of our Integral Ecology Programme Model.
• This is the Model by which all CAFOD’s programme work is underpinned, where Programme Strategies are developed with partners to focus on addressing the causes and symptoms of poverty, inequality and environmental degradation.
• While the Nigeria portfolio will be allocated to the post holder, a degree of flexibility is expected and therefore the post-holder may be required to support other programmes and colleagues during particularly busy times or emergencies. Furthermore, his/her portfolio of countries/sub-regions may change/evolve over time to meet CAFOD’s and partners’ needs.
• The post-holder will be expected to undertake travel for approximately 3 months a year.
• The post-holder reports to the Country Representative. They are not a budget holder but may carry out some supervision tasks for staff members.

Key Responsibilities
Programme development in line with the direction set by the Core Programme Strategy:

• Work with programme staff and partners in the design, development (and where appropriate, implementation) of high-quality programmes and projects in line with the Nigeria strategy
• Contribute to the development of Nigeria strategy plans, resource development plans, as well as identifying new funding opportunities through donor mapping
• Support regional or joint programme funding opportunities as necessary
• Participate in surge requests from other International Programmes Teams as necessary

 Programme funding and partners’ fundraising capacity:

• In agreement with partners and programme staff, assess existing partner capacities and systems to manage and implement institutionally funded programmes and, jointly develop programme and project funding proposals;
• Lead, co-ordinate or support the preparation of institutional funding applications with donors such as: ECHO, DEC, FCDO, USAID, EC, UN, etc.; in close co-operation with programme colleagues and partners
• Keep up-to-date with donor policy developments and trends, both within the relevant country/sub-region/sector; raise awareness of donor requirements and partner obligations to fulfil these; more generally, and represent CAFOD in funding review groups/networks as appropriate.
• Contribute to investing in partners’ capacities, by jointly identifying funding needs, developing plans to strengthen capacities, e.g. proposal writing, programme development, monitoring & evaluation, etc., or identifying sources of support.
• Support the development of Partner Direct Funding approaches in agreement with the CAFOD Country Representative and CAFOD guidelines.
• Provide training to staff and partners on topics including proposal development, budgeting, report writing and donor compliance requirements.

Contract Management and Quality Control:

• Lead on reporting, monitoring and evaluation of institutionally funded programmes, in line with CAFOD and donor standards.
• Working with colleagues and partners to manage various contracts, including financial and narrative reporting, and monitoring and evaluation of institutionally funded programmes, in line with jointly agreed standards (Programme Cycle Management), donor requirements, and CAFOD’s value of Stewardship;
• Responsible for reporting to donors – including financial reporting
• Support programme staff and partners on the development of plans, accounting frameworks and work plans, etc.
• Responsible for capturing and sharing learning and best practice with colleagues and partners from externally funded programmes.

 Internal and external representation:

• Develop, nurture and manage relationships with donor organisations, and create opportunities to share CAFOD’s programme experiences with donor staff and other INGOs where relevant.
• Communicate with other teams within CAFOD to ensure that the programme is well understood, and that information is available for fundraising and communication needs. This may involve participation in sessions/events with supporters, communities of practice, working groups, etc.
• Where appropriate, liaise with the International Programme colleagues to ensure coherent donor engagement strategies are developed and maintained.
• Work with partners to regularly assess the quality of the relationship, ensuring that effective communication channels are in place, and that funding-related issues are timely addressed.
• In agreement with partners, contribute to raising the profile of partners’ work with relevant donors.

Systems and compliance:

• Effectively use CAFOD’s programme management information systems to ensure programme and project information and documentation is up to date.
• Ensure the effective use of CAFOD’s systems to share knowledge and inform decision regulations and requirements attached to our work and donor contracts; and keep appropriate records.
• Ensure compliance with agreements, regulations and requirements attached to our work.

Supporting the development of new business opportunities for CAFOD:

• In consultation with the CAFOD Country Representative and Funding and Business Innovation teams in London, monitor, identify and map potential new business opportunities and calls for proposals in country, that are aligned with CAFODs strategic direction.
• Regularly monitor local and international donor data bases and websites for new funding opportunities and business intelligence for CAFOD, in country.
• Monitor and advise the Country Representative about new and innovative approaches to funding development and humanitarian programmes.

Safeguarding:

• All CAFOD staff share responsibility to promote and maintain a strong safeguarding culture, including identifying the key actions they should take given their role and responsibilities.
• Your role is responsible for ensuring that the programming work you are accountable for is safe, accessible, dignified and inclusive, providing ongoing support and follow-up to our partners in this area.
• This list of duties and responsibilities is by no means exhaustive, and the post holder may be required to undertake other relevant and appropriate duties as required. This job description is subject to regular review and appropriate modification.

Person Specification
Essential Criteria:

• Understanding our context
• Understanding international development: Understanding and experience of international development and programme management and quality standards within this context

Working together

• Communicating;  Able to communicate with colleagues and partners at a distance.
• Looking outwards; Understanding of effective and values-based partnership work between northern and southern organisations and communities.

Making change happen:

• Managing resources: the ability to prepare and monitor budgets, contribute to assessing the appropriateness of partner financial systems, and ensure compliance with, knowledge and understanding of financial
• Achieving results; experience of developing successful funding applications for institutional donors; experience of participatory project design, and use of analytical tools.
• Managing our performance: experience of developing and implementing monitoring systems to track the effectiveness of programmes.
• Taking the lead

Job-specific competencies:

• Understanding and first-hand experience of institutional funding work/projects, priorities, trends and donor conditions within the international development sector; ideally with first-hand experience of working with the EC, FCDO, USAID, Foundations.
• Experience of using programme cycle management tools effectively to deliver work within an agreed programme framework.
• Able and committed to working with and strengthen or complementing the capacity of partner organisations and colleagues;
• Finance management and budgeting understanding and experience.
• Ability and willingness to travel within Nigeria and/or to the UK (approximately for 3 months per year), sometimes at short notice..
• Thematic experience in one or more of CAFOD areas (Resilient Livelihoods & Food security, Participatory Governance, WASH, and Local leadership, agency & voice).

Desirable Criteria:

• First-hand work experience with a values-based partnership approach (between northern and southern organisations and communities).
• Previous work experience in Nigeria.