Senior Business Development Specialist

International Republican Institute

Job Summary

Every employee of IRI is responsible for carrying out the Mission of IRI and demonstrating the Core Values in their day-to-day operations. The Core Values, which are IRI’s foundational building blocks include:

Excellence– We believe in quality results delivered by investing in people. Freedom– We believe in exploration and experimentation to be agile and responsive. Respect- We believe in trust, empathy and empowering people. Teamwork- We believe in diversity, inclusion and the power of global collaboration. Transparency– We believe in open communication and clear decision-making. Accountability- We believe in personal responsibility as the foundation of success.

The Senior Business Development Specialist, as part of the Business Development team, will provide support to identify new funding opportunities and help develop and prepare donor specific proposal packages. The Senior Business Development Specialist will also assume various roles on individual proposal teams. This position is based in Washington, DC and reports to the Business Development Director.

Position Requirements

  • Undergraduate/graduate degree in political/social science, international relations or related field.
  • Minimum five years of professional experience in the international development sector.
  • Demonstrated understanding of business and proposal development processes.
  • Strong organizational skills, execution of tasks, and attention to detail required.
  • Ability to manage diverse activities and to meet deadlines required.
  • Ability to work independently and as a member of a team, coordinate and effectively meet program goals.
  • Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English.
  • High proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite.
  • Experience working on competitive U.S. Government and/or foreign funding opportunities preferred.
  • Experience working on democracy and governance proposal development and implementation of grants preferred.
  • Experience leading technical writing and design of competitive proposals.

Primary Functions & Responsibilities

  • Work closely with the Director for Business Development to lead the development and implementation of an institute-wide capture strategy; provide technical direction to teams to capture new funding opportunities.
  • In collaboration with the Director of Business Development, lead roll-out and training for select Regional Divisions on how to use capture tools.
  • Provide input and assist in coordinating strategic initiatives in key technical teams
  • Serve as a proposal manager, leading a proposal team and facilitating the entire proposal process including the capture efforts, implementing proposal schedules, overseeing the development of both technical approach, and ensuring a proposal’s successful and compliant on-time submission.
  • Develop strategy, technical approach, and proposed results for specific proposals; this will include engaging with other IRI technical experts as needed to draw on as much relevant knowledge and experience as possible to put together a winning offer.
  • Facilitate and lead the brainstorming of responsive yet innovative programmatic design concepts, and ensure they are meaningfully translated into written content.
  • Build capacity of Business Development staff on leading program design sessions.
  • Collaborate closely with Cost & Pricing team to ensure cost proposals are responsive to the solicitation and to make sure all technical components are captured.
  • Participate in the identification and selection of partners for specific proposals.
  • Serve as a master editor for assigned proposal packages.
  • Serve as technical gate reviewer as needed.
  • Coach program and proposal teams to incorporate Institute-level new business priorities into regional new business decisions.
  • Assist in coordinating and producing external affairs promotional material with business development priorities.
  • Produce and/or revise technical content for institutional business development purposes or for key proposal sections.
  • Closely coordinates with capture captains in assigned regions.
  • Assist with recruitment efforts for new bids.
  • Assist with market analysis and Business Development portfolio management.
  • Network with business development professionals in peer organizations to enhance partnership development.
  • As needed, participate in the recruitment and selection of best candidates for key personnel positions to align with technical requirements of the project.
  • Coordinate with the BD Director to teach and share with IRI staff best practices for developing proposal strategy, approach, and writing clearly.
  • Support the Institute’s Communities of Practice (CoP), as interested.
  • Support the design and implementation, where applicable, of CoP-related programming.
  • Support CoP-related thought leadership for the Institute.

How to apply

Please submit both resume and cover letter to the company website: Senior Business Development Specialist | Job Opportunities (ultipro.com)


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