Regional Business Development Specialist, Asia – UK, NL or US

Location: Edinburgh, London, UK, or NL,

**Position Status: Full-Time, open term

Salary range: London: circa 47K – 55K; Edinburgh : circa 41K- 47K, NL: circa 47K – 54K

Apply with CV and Cover Letter by October 23rd.

The applicant must have the independent right to live and work at the location of assignment (ie., not require visa sponsorship)**

About Mercy Corps

Mercy Corps is a leading global organization powered by the belief that a better world is possible. In disaster, in hardship, in more than 40 countries around the world, we partner to put bold solutions into action — helping people triumph over adversity and build stronger communities from within. Now, and for the future.

Program / Department Summary

Mercy Corps currently works in the following countries in the Asia region: Afghanistan, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Indonesia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Thailand, Timor Leste, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. These are countries undergoing dramatic transitions that have the potential to create significant opportunity for development and change. The region is at the nexus of poverty and development, of disaster and resilience.

General Position Summary

The Regional Business Development Specialist will be a member of the regional management team and, as such, will work particularly closely with the Deputy Regional Director (DRD). Their primary focus will be on program development including: (i) tracking the pipeline of potential new business opportunities for the region and supporting country teams in prioritizing and preparing for them; (ii) supporting program development efforts throughout the region; (iii) helping to enhance the overall state of practice vis-à-vis proposal development within the region; and (iv) enhancing partner relations, with a particular emphasis on helping to diversify the agency’s partnerships in the region. In addition, they will be responsible for helping implement various other activities within the Asia region that are part of the New Initiatives work plan.

Essential Job Responsibilities

PROGRAM/PROPOSAL DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT

• Support the application of the agency’s best practices in proposal development efforts.
• Support the development of competitive proposals for large (USD 5mil – 20mil) opportunities that require resources and capacity beyond what is available at the country level following Mercy Corps’ best practices in proposal development, team management, and the relevant sectoral area.

STRATEGIC PRE-POSITIONING

• Track donor trends for potential opportunities that busy country teams might not be able to monitor or respond to at the time.
• Work closely with field leaders to influence their engagement and support of program pre-positioning, development and implementation.
• Support targeted assessments that will help create funding opportunities or increase the competitiveness of Mercy Corps in future bids.
• Facilitate strategic planning and capacity building sessions with country programs.
• Identify and nurture strategic partnerships with other relevant organizations, universities and research institutions that result in stronger and more impactful program development efforts.
• Coordinate between country teams, TSU, and other HQ teams as needed.

DONOR ENGAGEMENT

• Keep up to date on relevant donor strategies being developed or applied by significant governmental, academic, and non-profit groups.
• Cultivate and nurture donor relationships that positively impact Mercy Corps ability to grow its climate programming,
• Lead and support efforts to influence donor planning and help Mercy Corps access funding, including the presentation of concepts and ideas.

BUILD REGIONAL CAPACITY

• Contribute to and maintain regional Business Development Tracker to learn and improve on proposal success rates, trends for donor funding, and lessons learned from the proposal process to better support the teams in prepositioning for future calls.
• Build capacity of Mercy Corps’ staff within the region to work on proposals and run strong proposal and program development processes through mentoring or tailored training activities,
• Contribute to activities that raise overall agency state of practice (e.g. developing improved reference materials for proposal writers, capture learnings and results from our programs, and/or assisting with networking activities).
• Provide a link for flow of important information and idea-exchange between the Asia region and the agency overall.

Supervisory Responsibility

None

Accountability

Reports Directly To: Deputy Regional Director

Works Directly With: Regional Director, Country Directors, Deputy Country Directors,

Directors of Programs, Technical Support Unit, Desk team and New Initiatives team.

Knowledge and Experience

• BA or MA in social science, international development or other relevant field;
• 5-7 years’ experience in program design and proposal development in a wide variety of sectors and geographic locations.
• At least 2-3 years’ experience in field-based program and staff management, with regional knowledge of Asia region.
• Experience with emergency response.
• Proven ability to work productively with a wide variety of stakeholders to run both participatory process and meet tight deadlines with an emphasis on producing quality products.
• Experience with a wide range of donors including USAID and European institutional donors.
• Familiarity with other donors, including corporate donors, a plus.
• Experience developing and strong understanding of budget and cost proposal submissions, and personnel and staffing requirements for USAID, OFDA, EU (ECHO and DEVCO) FCDO, and other institutional donor proposals.
• Strong representation and relationship-building skills including professional representation (e.g. donors, partner agencies, host governments, etc.)
• Strong negotiation skills and experience developing multiple-partnership arrangements for proposal development.
• Ability to lead teams, handle negotiations and facilitate planning processes.
• Ability to work effectively under tight deadlines and in sparse working environments.
• Exceptional written and interpersonal communication skills an absolute must.
• Native-level spoken and written English.

Success Factors

This position requires exceptional writing skills and the ability to multitask, set priorities, pay attention to detail, and work under tight deadlines within complex global team environments. It also requires an ability to see connections, work across a range of technical areas related to climate change, and lead cross-team efforts in developing ambitious strategies and programs.

The successful candidate will have a love of writing, strong interpersonal skills, and a healthy competitive spirit. They demonstrate a strong ability to develop new business strategies through analysis, donor engagement, and concept development. Importantly, the individual must demonstrate an ability to work across teams and institutions, building effective internal and external partnerships.

Living Conditions / Environmental Conditions

This position will be located in a MC HQ location. The position requires travel at least 30% time to the field where living conditions may be exceptionally rugged or be in volatile environments where security protocols will need to be followed. When in the field the team member must able to work in remote settings, over weekends and/or evening as required by the schedule, and in settings with limited infrastructure, food options, and living conditions.

Mercy Corps team members represent the agency both during and outside work hours when deployed in a field posting or on a visit/TDY to a field posting. Team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner and respect local laws, customs and MC’s policies, procedures, and values at all times and in all in-country venues.

Fostering a diverse and open workplace is an important part of Mercy Corps’ vision. Mercy Corps is an Equal Opportunity Employer regardless of background. We are committed to creating an inclusive environment.

Ongoing Learning

In support of our belief that learning organizations are more effective, efficient and relevant to the communities we serve, we empower all team members to dedicate 5% of their time to learning activities that further their personal and/or professional growth and development.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Achieving our mission begins with how we build our team and work together. Through our commitment to enriching our organization with people of different origins, beliefs, backgrounds, and ways of thinking, we are better able to leverage the collective power of our teams and solve the world’s most complex challenges. We strive for a culture of trust and respect, where everyone contributes their perspectives and authentic selves, reaches their potential as individuals and teams, and collaborates to do the best work of their lives.

We recognize that diversity and inclusion is a journey, and we are committed to learning, listening and evolving to become more diverse, equitable and inclusive than we are today.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Mercy Corps is an equal opportunity employer that does not tolerate discrimination on any basis. We actively seek out diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and skills so that we can be collectively stronger and have sustained global impact.

We are committed to providing an environment of respect and psychological safety where equal employment opportunities are available to all. We do not engage in or tolerate discrimination on the basis of race, color, gender identity, gender expression, religion, age, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin, disability (including HIV/AIDS status), marital status, military veteran status or any other protected group in the locations where we work.

Safeguarding & Ethics

Mercy Corps is committed to ensuring that all individuals we come into contact with through our work, whether team members, community members, program participants or others, are treated with respect and dignity. We are committed to the core principles regarding prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse laid out by the UN Secretary General and IASC and have signed on to the Interagency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme. We will not tolerate child abuse, sexual exploitation, abuse, or harassment by or of our team members. As part of our commitment to a safe and inclusive work environment, team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner, respect local laws and customs, and to adhere to Mercy Corps Code of Conduct Policies and values at all times. Team members are required to complete mandatory Code of Conduct e-learning courses upon hire and on an annual basis.