Near East Foundation – Business Development Manager/Director

About Near East Foundation (NEF)

The Near East Foundation (NEF) is seeking experienced candidates for an open Business Development Manager/ Director position to be based in its Syracuse, New York headquarters. NEF is a non-profit international development organization that has supported livelihoods recovery and community-based economic development in the Middle East, Africa, and Caucasus since 1915. NEF draws on local teams, experience, and partnerships in these regions to create community-led solutions to improve livelihoods and local governance among conflict and crisis-affected groups, while maintaining neutrality and ensuring inclusiveness in our approach. Working through a network of country offices and local partners, NEF has operations in ten countries: Armenia, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, Mali, Morocco, Palestine, Sudan, South Sudan, and Syria. Our programs are organized around three themes: Inclusive Economic Development, Climate-resilient Development, and Stabilization and Peacebuilding.

Title: Business Development Manager/Director

Reports to: Co-President

Location: Washington DC/Syracuse, NY

Travel:

Occasional (10-15%)

The Role Position Description

Eligible for Relocation Assistance: Yes

Salary: Position grade and corresponding salary will be based on relevant experience, skills, and qualifications.

As part of NEF’s Business Development team, the Business Development (BD) Manager/ Director coordinates efforts to identify, track, and respond to institutional funding opportunities. Current donors include USAID, U.S. Department of State (PRM, MEPI), the Government of the Netherlands, UKAID, the EU, and the UN. The BD Manager/Director will play a key role in diversifying NEF’s sources of revenue while continuing to grow all revenue streams.

Working closely with HQ colleagues in the US, UK and Belgium and with country leadership, the Manager/Director will be responsible for

a team of BD professionals and consultants to (1) build and manage a robust pipeline of funding opportunities, (2) maintain business development systems and coordinate overall proposal workflow, (3) serve as coordinator for select proposals, and (4) track business development performance and contribute to refining NEF’s systems and practice. The BD Manager/Director will also contribute to formulating program strategies and project design; building strategic partnerships; preparing BD-related communications materials (e.g., capacity statements, past performance references), and representing NEF to donors and partners.

Responsibilities

Capture and Pipeline Management (30%)

• Maintain NEF’s proposal pipeline on Salesforce, ensuring all relevant funding opportunities are captured and annotated;

• Develop and maintain a list of key procurement portals and monitor them regularly for new opportunities in NEF’s area of work, including grants.gov, USAID business forecast, DEVEX funding tracker, and equivalents for key European and other non-USG donors;

• Undertake landscape research and analyses for specific opportunities, donors, or countries, to include information about donor activities, personnel, active organizations, and potential planned activities;

• Develop capture plans for specific opportunities, with associated timelines, resources, and expected outcomes, including advanced partnering and recruitment, and oversee their effective implementation;

• Conduct research on donor priorities, programs, strategies and initiatives and share findings and recommendations with the team;

• Offer analysis for specific opportunities to help assess strategic fit and facilitate go/no-go or partnering decisions;

• Manage the collection, compilation, and submission of questions for the USAID quarterly business forecast Q&A; attend the call and disseminate relevant information to the team;

• Monitor industry newsletters and social media for relevant updates on donors, partners, and competitors;

• Periodically seek out updates on pipeline opportunities that appear to have been stagnant.

Proposal Development and Management (60%)

• Ensure capture and proposal efforts are appropriately resourced with either NEF staff or consultants;

• Engage with lead writers and country teams to plan proposal processes and deadlines. Draft and format proposal sections and supporting documents as required. Facilitate the compilation of full narrative and cost applications;

• Create and maintain a roster of consultants and potential key personnel for commercial contracting implementation purposes;

• Serve as coordinator and editor on proposal initiatives. Ensure the highest quality and compliance of all proposals;

• Provide editing, writing, work plan coordination, assessment and research and/or other support to proposals led by other team members;

• Ensure accountability to NEF and donor requirements as outlined in relevant calls for proposals and donor rules and regulations;

• Support adherence to international standards for relief and development in all program designs and proposals;

• In consultation with human resources colleagues and the proposal technical lead, develop personnel recruitment strategies and facilitate recruitment of Key Personnel for specific capture opportunities (as necessary for the donor);

• Develop partnership recruitment strategies (local and global) and facilitate the recruitment of key partners for specific capture opportunities;

• Support the use of NEF’s business development toolkit and continued refinement of BD practices, tools, and procedures;

• Write, update, and organize tailored organizational capability statements and marketing materials.

Strategy and Planning Support (approx. 10%)

• Support the Program Directors and country leadership to develop program development strategies that will ultimately guide resource mobilization;

• Build and maintain positive working relationships with all HQ and country teams;

• Clearly and effectively communicate information about NEF experience, expertise, and effectiveness to external audiences;

• Perform other duties as assigned in support of NEF’s Mission and 2020-2027 Strategic Plan.

Qualifications

Basic Qualifications

(Band 1: Manager position; Band 2: Director position)

• BA/S in relevant field;

• Demonstrated experience in international relief and development; demonstrated knowledge of grant-based funding models, proposal development, emergency response and development strategies and operational challenges in the sector [Band 1: 5-7 years of experience; Band 2: 7 years including 5 years’ experience in a manager level];

• Broad experience in the proposal writing and/or management in economic/market development, climate resilience, agricultural and natural resources management, peacebuilding/stabilization, humanitarian response, and/or women’s empowerment/ protection projects [Band 1: 5-7 years of experience; Band 2: 7 years of experience];

• Proven experience contributing to winning proposals;

• Managing business development teams and proposal coordination processes;

• Strong written and verbal communication skills in English;

• Functional competencies that show flexibility and ability to multitask, establish priorities taking into consideration special assignments, deadlines, and available resources;

• Flexibility and ability to work under pressure in a deadline-driven environment;

• Proficiency with MS Office software required (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint).

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s degree or equivalent;

• Proficiency in French;

• Familiarity with collaborative working/project management platforms (e.g., Microsoft Teams, Google Docs) and familiarity with salesforce-based solutions.

Position Criteria

• Demonstrate advanced organizational and communication skills;

• Build highly effective working relationships with field and HQ teams;

• Possess curiosity and be committed to the pursuit of continuous learning and professional development;

• Demonstrate effective communication that enables and encourages robust discussion and participation in programming and resource mobilization;

• Demonstrate the expertise, experience, and ideas of NEF’s diverse teams to build buy-in and joint ownership for business development.

How to Apply

All correspondence, at this stage, should be via Oxford HR. To apply for this post, click on the “Apply” button on the job advert page, complete our online application form, and submit your CV and cover letter. Please provide a CV and cover letter in two different documents, which should be prepared before applying as they will be considered in the application process. The cover letter should be no more than two pages long and explain why you are interested in this post and how your skills and experience make you a good fit.

The document should be saved in PDF in the following format: Your First NameYour Last Name-Document Name-Date (mmyy) e.g., Pat-Jones-CV-012023-NEF or Pat-Jones-CoverLetter-012023-NEF.

Timeline

Applications will be reviewed on an ongoing basis.

Selection Process

All candidates will receive an update regarding their application after the closing date. We advise candidates to add the role email to their safe senders list and regularly check their spam folder.

Equality Statement

Equality and diversity are at the core of Near East Foundation’s values. Staff are expected to work collectively and individually to promote a constructive and sensitive approach to others from a variety of backgrounds, where the work of others is valued and respected.

Queries

If you have any queries on any aspect of the appointment process, need additional information, or would like to have an informal discussion, please email at nef-dsm-business-development@oxfordhr.com in the first instance.

About Oxford HR

Oxford HR operates globally - mainly within the international development and charity sectors. We carry out retained executive search mandates at board and senior management levels. We also offer human resource and organisational development consultancy.

Oxford HR has many years of experience in search as well as an extensive network of international development, social sector, corporate, public sector, and academic contacts from across the world. We carry out comprehensive and often international searches designed to meet the specific needs of our client.