Manager, Business Development
About Palladium:
Palladium is a global company working to design, develop and deliver positive impact on the lives and livelihoods of people around the globe; broaden access to health, water, power, and infrastructure; build enduring, sustainable, and transformative institutions and market systems to address global challenges; and conserve the natural world. We operate in over 90 countries and have a workforce of 4,000 talented, motivated, and diverse staff of all religions, races, languages, and gender identities.
About this opportunity:
The Manager, Business Development will perform a variety of business development functions in support of Palladium’s growth strategy for Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Somalia and South Sudan. The Manager, Business Development will focus on supporting the development of a business development pipeline, relationship building and positioning, and developing and maintaining partnerships with Kenyan and regional organizations. This position will support various tasks related to proposal capture, development, review and submission.
Location:
The position is based in Palladium’s Nairobi, Kenya office and is part of the Strategic Growth team.
You and Your Career:
If you are a collaborator, and you have interest in the USAID business development process then we are interested in hearing from you.
We are a learning organization and provide growth opportunities from the start. We pride ourselves on giving you the freedom, resources, and guidance to chart a fulfilling career!
Reporting and Supervision:
- Reports to the Country Representative, Kenya
- Work in other African countries may be required on an as needed basis
Primary Duties and Responsibilities:
- Support Winning Work
- Support business development activities in collaboration with technical staff in the region and at HQ including capture and proposal development
- Support, and when asked to do so, lead high priority/value proposals, concept papers, expressions of interest, etc. for work funded by USAID and other key donors and clients
- Take the lead in gathering and analysing market intelligence related to the organizations areas of interest in the region, country and client and make informed, strategic recommendations for short-, medium- and long-term business development
- Manage the development of monthly, quarterly and annual pipeline using market intelligence and internal Palladium resources
- Contribute to pipeline tracking and provide regular reporting to supervisor
- Work closely with SG team members (e.g., proposals, pricing, recruiting, editing team, contracts, and sourcing) and other business partners to source, monitor and respond to strategic opportunities
- Support, and when asked to do so lead the regional corporate office in preparing and writing EOIs, project experience data, team recruitment, technical and commercial proposals
- With the BD team, maintain a high win-rate on proposals submitted[EJ1] together; with continual review for quality, pricing and efficiency improvements
- Support the coordination of USAID, FCDO, NDF and other client proposals, and contribute to consortium communications
- Analyze solicitations and supporting documents to coordinate a compliant response.
- Provide administrative support, such as scheduling, recruiting, hiring, folder and file management, drafting, and editing
- Working with relevant team members, to prepare supporting sections and annexes, such as capability statements, personnel sections and CVs, past performance references, and budgets
- Work with Country Representative Kenya to support the management of the Eastern Africa region pipeline, providing reports and data analysis
Relationship Building
- Support the Country Representative Kenya to identify key contacts in the donor community and schedule engagement activities including donor round table meetings, networking events, meetings to develop and nurture relationships
- Create meaningful relationships with partners, subcontractors and freelance consultants.
- Contribute to Palladium becoming the ‘contractor of choice’ for consultancy assignments.
- Maintain excellent relationships with key clients, and support strategies for new client engagement
- Identify key events such as conferences and other events and work with supervisor to prepare for and plan attendance
- Support the development and updating of marketing and communications materials to support regional growth
- Mentor[EJ2], support, oversee, and train staff on scoping and proposal development tasks
- Identify clients, key partner organizations, and staff and maintain these relationships/networks to support new business development and divisional growth
- Advance the profile and positioning Palladium with external partners, networks and stakeholders, to secure strong strategic partnerships for new opportunities[EJ3]
- Identify and develop private sector engagement and cost-share alliances with private sector, foundation, and other non-governmental partners
- Key Competencies Required:
- Interest in learning about the USG/USAID proposal development experience
- Ability to adapt to changing and demanding situations at work
- Track record of meeting deadlines and consistently producing high caliber work
- Must possess excellent ability to nurture, collaborate, and communicate (verbally and in writing) with and influence numerous stakeholders
- Effective and clear communication, whether verbally or in writing
- Building and maintaining excellent interpersonal relationships across the organization with colleagues from different levels and backgrounds
- Able to achieve results in a quality, timely, and cost-effective way. Sees priorities, plans the efficient use of resources, and monitors progress against objectives
- Strong analytic skills and ability to respond quickly and efficiently to requests
- Strong writing, proofreading, and research skills
- Strong networking and partnership management skills
- Must be able to work under tight deadlines, with multiple/simultaneous bid efforts, and across time-zone challenges
- Engage in intra-group and cross company collaboration and coordination efforts related to business development and strategic planning
Professional Expertise/Competencies Preferred:
- Experience working in international development
- Experience working in a proposal development team with a strong understanding of the proposal development process is required
- Proven ability to successfully coordinate the full proposal development process
- Proven understanding of most elements of the proposal process including capture, partnering, recruitment, technical production, cost production, and compliance
- Experience interacting with partner organizations and demonstrated experience collaborating with organizations to submit a bid. (both as prime and sub)
- Proven ability to source candidates for proposals when the need arises, and experience interacting with international and domestic key and non-key staff( TCN, CCNs, EXPATS)
- Demonstrated skills in drafting and finalizing proposal annexes and supporting other non-technical written pieces such as corporate capes sections, management sections, key personnel sections
- Proposal formatting skills – preparing a bid so that its ready for submission to the client
- Relevant experience in Africa, with field management or operational experience is a plus
- Knowledge of other USG agencies and bilateral donors
- Familiarity with USAID and other USG project budgets preferred
- Familiarity with program evaluation, monitoring and evaluation
Equity, Diversity & Inclusion – Palladium is committed to embedding equity, diversity, and inclusion into everything we do. We welcome applications from all sections of society and actively encourage diversity to drive innovation, creativity, success and good practice. We positively welcome and seek to ensure we achieve diversity in our workforce; and that all job applicants and employees receive equal and fair treatment regardless of their background or personal characteristics. These include: (but are not limited to) socio-economic background, age, race, gender identity and expression, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, nationality, veteran, marital or Indigenous status.
Should you require any adjustments or accommodations to be made due to a disability or you are a neurodivergent individual or for any other circumstance, please email our team at accessibility@thepalladiumgroup.com and we will be in touch to discuss.
Safeguarding – We define Safeguarding as “the preventative action taken by Palladium to protect our people, clients and the communities we work with from harm”. We are committed to ensuring that all children and adults who come into contact with Palladium are treated with respect and are free from abuse. All successful candidates will be subject to an enhanced selection process including safeguarding-focused interviews and a rigorous due diligence process.
Safeguarding – We define Safeguarding as “the preventative action taken by Palladium to protect our people, clients and the communities we work with from harm”. We are committed to ensuring that all children and adults who come into contact with Palladium are treated with respect and are free from abuse. All successful candidates will be subject to an enhanced selection process including safeguarding-focused interviews and a rigorous due diligence process.