Director, Deputy Regional at Child Fund International

The Deputy Regional Director, Business Development and Grants plays a pivotal role in securing funding, fostering strategic partnerships, and ensuring financial sustainability for Africa. Reporting to the Regional Director, the DRD leads in fundraising, grant acquisition and management, and donor relations management, with a strong focus on public, institutional donors, private sector and philanthropic funders. The position will lead a Business Development team and work closely with the Deputy Regional Director, Programs and Impact, Country Directors and Technical Specialists/Advisors to develop and implement a fundraising strategy that will support the region and country programs to meet their strategic priorities.

Required Experience and Education

• At least 9 years of progressively responsible experience in business development, grants management, and/or program management in the international development sector.
• At least 5 years of experience in management.
• Demonstrated experience working with government funding agencies, as well as other bilateral, multilateral donors, corporates, foundations and the private sector.
• Demonstrated track record of securing public, private and philanthropy funding, including experience with capture and proposal processes and procedures.
• Proven experience in managing government and multilateral grant-funded projects.
• Experience leading internal and external workshops, forums, and international program design efforts.
• Demonstrated experience working in a range of different contexts in Africa.
• Experience with child sponsorship is an advantage.

Education

• A bachelor's degree in international development or related field is required.
• A master’s degree in development studies, social sciences, international development or related field is preferred.

Primary Responsibilities
Strategic growth

• Collaborate with the Global Business Development team to develop a comprehensive business development strategy for Africa, including clear immediate, mid-term and long-term milestones, approaches, tools, and metrics. This includes coordinating/leading strategic communications efforts related to branding, external positioning, materials development, website and social media presence, and advocacy initiatives.
• Lead efforts to expand business opportunities and secure partnerships. Monitor the donor competitive landscape and use the funding forecasts to inform approaches to resource mobilization.

Relationship-building

• Lead the establishment and management of meaningful connections with public, private, institutional, and philanthropic funding agencies and other stakeholders, aligning organizational initiatives with their priorities (Client and Partnership Cultivation plan).
• Contribute to managing complex funding relationships to optimize the value of partnership value and secure future reinvestment or additional funding.

Positioning and visibility

• Lead strategic pre-positioning efforts across the region to enhance the organization's visibility and competitiveness, which includes identifying emerging grant opportunities, cultivating early relationships with potential partners and stakeholders, and aligning internal capabilities with anticipated needs well ahead of the formal announcement of the funding opportunity.  

Funding acquisition

• Lead the development of compelling funding proposals and pitches, collaborating with various departments to highlight organizational strengths and impact.
• Monitor and report on funding initiatives, including tracking interactions, funds received, and project outcomes.

Stakeholder engagement

• Collaborate with internal teams and external partners to align business development strategies.
• Play a leadership role in convening cross-functional teams to strengthen project design, foster collaboration across silos, and promote emergent learning and effective internal communication practices.
• Develop a roster of technical consultants (internal or external) to lead technical design and subject matter input into proposals.

Team management

• Manage the BD unit, including maintaining team spirit and performance, setting annual goals, encouraging career development, addressing issues within the team, and ensuring equitable distribution of work.

Grants management

• In collaboration with the Deputy Regional Director, Programs and Impact, the Grants and Project Management Team, and Country Directors, foster a culture of donor stewardship by articulating requirements for the implementation of secured grants and contracts.

Learning and capacity building

• Capture and disseminate best practices in business development, enhancing ChildFund’s strategic approach to resource mobilization.
• Build regional capacity and promote cross-country learning by offering technical guidance on proposal design, donor compliance, and budgeting, while facilitating knowledge sharing and the adoption of successful business development practices across the region.

Safeguarding

• Remain alert and responsive to any safeguarding risks, acquire relevant knowledge and skills which will enable you to promote strong safeguarding practices, understand the safeguarding policy and procedures, and conduct yourself in a consistent manner with the Safeguarding Policy.

Other

• Travel internationally on a regular basis, as required by program and organizational needs.
• Other duties as assigned by the Regional Director.

Required Competencies
ChildFund’s Core Competencies

• Teamwork: the ability to work effectively and collaborate with others; values and respects individual differences.
• Communication: demonstrates empathy and tact when communicating with others and uses a storytelling approach when appropriate.
• Results orientation: gets things done; takes proactive steps to achieve organizational goals and quality standards.
• Decision making: uses good judgement, critical thinking, and non-traditional ways to evaluate problems and opportunities; reflects and innovates to improve decisions and outcomes.
• Resilience: thrives and grows in rapidly changing, demanding, and complex environments.
• Digital literacy: adopts and champions new technology to relevant contexts, stays aware of technological trends and embraces technological solutions to business challenges.