This role involves driving the identification, assessment, and development of business and fundraising opportunities to advance Solidaridad’s core mission. The Regional Business Development (BD) Manager provides technical guidance and operational support for resource mobilization, aiming to ensure the region achieves its funding diversification goals by building high-value partnerships with institutional donors, corporates, and foundations. The Manager is responsible for designing and executing a comprehensive fundraising strategy that aligns with ECA’s strategic priorities, positioning the organization as a preferred partner for sustainable development initiatives.
Position in the Organisation
The Regional BD Manager reports directly to the Regional Head of Programmes of Solidaridad Eastern and Central Africa Expertise Centre. The Manager works closely with the Managing Director, Country Managers, country BD focal points, and country-level teams. A key function of this position is providing guidance and mentorship to country-level teams, strengthening business development systems, donor intelligence, and proposal quality across the region.
Key Result Areas
Market Intelligence and Pipeline Management
- Establish and maintain a comprehensive market intelligence system that tracks donor strategies, funding trends, and emerging opportunities across Solidaridad’s priority sectors.
- Identify, analyze, and track relevant upcoming funding opportunities through proactive intelligence gathering, partner relationships, and internal resources.
- Maintain a live funding pipeline dashboard integrating intelligence from country teams and global platforms to enable real-time decision-making and forecasting.
- Prepare quarterly funding forecasts and donor trend reports to inform strategic positioning and resource allocation at the regional level.
- Coordinate the Go/No-Go process for opportunity identification, selection, and tracking, applying data-driven criteria and ensuring transparency in prioritizing high-impact opportunities.
- Develop and institutionalize standardized templates, tools, and processes for concept notes, budgets, and annexes to ensure efficiency, quality, and consistency across proposals.
Country Capacity Strengthening and Cross-Functional Coordination
- Build country-level business development capacity through targeted training, mentoring, and tools that strengthen donor engagement, opportunity scanning, and proposal development.
- Facilitate cross-functional collaboration between Programmes, Finance, PMEL, and Communications teams to ensure coherence, timely inputs, and alignment with regional strategic objectives.
- Champion the use of collaborative digital tools (e.g., CRM systems, Gantt boards) to enhance transparency, accountability, and workflow efficiency.
- Provide leadership and oversight to a small regional BD team and country-level BD focal points, ensuring consistent application of the BD framework and alignment across the region.
Opportunity Prioritization, Proposal Development, and Bid Management
- Lead the full business development lifecycle, from early positioning and bid planning to final proposal submission, covering opportunity analysis, partnership strategy, and oversight of technical and financial design.
- Serve as the lead writer or coordinating manager for complex, multi-country, or consortium proposals, ensuring quality, coherence, and compliance with donor and organizational standards.
- Coordinate inputs from technical, financial, and PMEL teams to deliver competitive, donor-aligned proposals that demonstrate measurable impact, sustainability, and innovation.
- Lead concept note and proposal development, drafting key narrative sections and ensuring alignment with Solidaridad ECA’s strategic value proposition and donor priorities.
- Facilitate after-action reviews and lessons-learned sessions to continuously strengthen the organization’s proposal development performance and institutional memory.
Strategic Partnerships and Donor Relations
- Cultivate and maintain strategic partnerships with bilateral, multilateral, and corporate donors, foundations, and networks to advance Solidaridad’s regional funding priorities.
- Coordinate partnership negotiations, including MOUs, teaming agreements, and co-creation arrangements.
- Explore innovative financing mechanisms, such as blended finance, impact investment, and CSR collaborations, to diversify funding streams.
- Conduct comprehensive donor mapping and develop targeted engagement strategies for top-tier donors and high-net-worth individuals.
- Establish and manage a structured donor stewardship and reporting process to sustain long-term, trust-based relationships with key funders and stakeholders.
Learning, Performance, and Continuous Improvement
- Lead post-proposal analyses (win/loss reviews) to extract lessons and integrate best practices into future bids.
- Maintain a knowledge repository of successful proposals, theories of change, and evidence-based materials for reference and reuse.
- Develop and monitor annual fundraising targets, KPIs, and performance dashboards, providing regular updates to regional and global leadership.
- Foster a culture of continuous learning, innovation, and collaboration within the BD function, ensuring alignment with Solidaridad’s strategic and thematic priorities.
Required Knowledge and Experience (Qualifications)
- A Bachelor's degree or higher in a relevant field such as Business Administration, Development Studies, International Relations, Strategic Management, Project Management, Marketing and Communications, Agribusiness, Economics, or other related disciplines.
- Minimum of seven (7) years of progressively responsible experience in business development, resource mobilization, fundraising, and partnership development, including at least three (3) years in a lead capacity overseeing similar business development functions and multi-million-Euro funding efforts.
- Demonstrated experience working in the development sector, particularly in agriculture, agri-business, industry, and extractives, in developing country contexts.
- Proven success in programme design, business development, and proposal development, including translating technical ideas into donor-aligned concepts and full proposals.
- Solid track record in international donor engagement and relations management, including bilateral (EU, USAID, FCDO, DANIDA), multilateral, philanthropic, and corporate partners.
- Experience in leading or contributing to consortia and multi-partner bids, developing MOUs, and negotiating partnership or teaming agreements.
- Strong experience in pipeline management systems, using digital tools such as CRMs, proposal trackers, or collaborative platforms.
- Experience facilitating cross-functional coordination with programme, finance, PMEL, and communications teams to ensure integrated and timely proposal delivery.
Specific Job Requirements (Skills and Attributes)
- Exceptional communication, presentation, and interpersonal skills.
- Strong stakeholder management and networking abilities, with proven negotiation and influencing skills.
- Experience working towards and exceeding set fundraising targets.
- Strong analytical and strategic planning skills, with the ability to translate market intelligence into actionable fundraising strategies.
- Excellent knowledge of fundraising tools and donor management platforms (e.g., CRM systems, pipeline trackers).
- Demonstrated capacity to develop innovative financing partnerships, including social impact investment, blended finance, and public-private collaborations.
- Demonstrated self-reliance, problem-solving ability, and a proactive, team-oriented mindset.
- Willingness and ability to travel extensively within Eastern and Central Africa and occasionally internationally.
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