Team Summary

The Program Development team creates new and repeat business for the organization in line with the Program Development Strategy. The Program Development team works closely with in-country Directors and Managers to ensure funding for programming that directly responds to the needs in Search’s conflict geographies. This function commences with scoping and pre-positioning for opportunities and completes with the signing of an award. This involves building program development strategies for conflict geographies, capturing opportunities, and leading Search’s engagement with institutional donors and partners. To develop successful bids the team works in close collaboration with other departments, including Finance, the Institutional Learning Team, Communications, and Human Resources. The Program Development team will build and strengthen the program development capacity within the organization.

Responsibilities

• Leads the pursuit of specific funding opportunities.
• Leads the program design process.
• Leads capture planning efforts.

Contributions

• Strategy development: Prepares analysis and provides substantive inputs into strategy processes.
• Business intelligence: Actively researches and monitors funding opportunities. Analyzes current and upstream funding opportunities. Provides high-quality inputs into internal knowledge management systems.
• Positioning and donor relations: Builds partnerships and donor relations in line with strategy. Represents the organization in relevant forums.
• Partnerships: Prepares analysis for partnership decision-making. Stewards peer relationships with prospective partners.
• Go/No-Go decisions: Prepares and presents analysis for go/no-go-process.
• Capture planning: Leads capture planning efforts.
• Program design: Leads design process. Facilitates design calls.
• Proposal development: Leads proposal and concept note processes.
• Proposal reviews: Ensures reviews take place.
• Contracting process: Leads donor communications and follow-up.
• Knowledge management and training: Provides capacity development in specific areas.
• After Action Reviews: Leads AARs for individual proposals and adapts future processes.
• Recruitment: Oversees recruitment of interns and serves on recruitment panels as requested.
• On-Boarding: Provides on-boarding and orientation of mid-level program staff.
• Other duties that are broadly in line with the above key contributions as assigned.

Competency Behavior Indicators (Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities)

• Initiates brainstorming or problem-solving meetings. With time in job, develops skills for analyzing and communicating program successes and failures; reports lessons learned to the team and other members.
• Represents Search at local and international events and meetings for professional organizations, vendors, partners, and funders. Develops skills to independently initiate and maintain relations with vendors, partners, and funders. Articulates Search program/project goals and objectives within Search and to external audiences.
• Demonstrates appreciation for diversity of thought. Builds cross-functional relationships with other functional departments.
• Demonstrates ability to be adaptable and willing to confront and change own ideas and preconceptions with the resiliency and flexibility to make changes based on hearing a diversity of thoughts.
• Drafts team documents, briefing materials, and presentations. Articulates program/project objectives and how they fit into a team’s goals and/or Search’s mission and adapts to the communications setting.
• Applies standards, identifies areas for standardization, and coordinates across functions from a multicultural perspective that reflects consideration of other cultures, other viewpoints, and other ways of doing things.
• Takes into account the environmental landscape, assesses one’s own and others’ viewpoints in their environment, and proposes solutions from an ethical perspective.
• Recognizes the options available for solving problems, conducts analyses, and calculates metrics and other technical tools to support informed decision making.
• Conducts Quality Control of team documents, briefing materials, presentations, and systems data. Carefully reviews and checks the accuracy of information in work reports, management information systems, or with other individuals and groups. Checks the accuracy of one’s own and others’ work. Proactively informs management of potential risks and concerns; suggests resolutions.
• Independently prioritizes time to reach deadlines and reaches end results of assignments with ability to accomplish multiple steps with limited to no supervision.

Type and Nature of Contacts

• Routinely coordinates with colleagues and consultants on-site and in the field and resolves problem situations with tact.
• Represents, as assigned, selected programs or projects and other organizations, including donors, vendors, and international and local partners.
• Interacts with the country office and regional staff.

Education and Experience

Typically BS/BA with minimum 6 years’ experience.

Working Conditions and Physical Requirements

Usual office environment conditions; ability to travel internationally at least 20%.

Supervisory and Budget Responsibility

May supervise one or more employees including interns, fractional staff members; has authority over activity budgets and analysis of wider budget exercises.