ABOUT US

We are an international development organisation putting ingenious ideas to work so people in poverty can change their world. We help people find solutions to some of the world’s toughest problems. Challenges made worse by catastrophic climate change and persistent gender inequality.

We work with communities to develop ingenious, lasting and locally owned solutions for agriculture, water and waste management, climate resilience and clean energy. And we share what works with others, so answers that start small can grow big.

We’re a global change-making group, working with communities who are vulnerable to poverty and climate change to support them to change their world. Together we develop innovative, community powered and locally owned solutions that achieve transformative change in lives and livelihoods. And we work with a range of partners, including governments, business and international organisations to ensure improvements are sustained and scaled and to change the systems that keep people poor and vulnerable.

We were founded in 1969 by radical economist EF Schumacher who challenged the development thinking of the time. He believed in solutions suited to context, equipping people with the skills and knowledge to change their situation, economic systems that work for all and living within the planets means. This ethos continues to fuel all our work. Schumacher was the author of ‘Small is Beautiful: A study of economics as if people mattered’. In our work we start ‘small’, ensuring we understand what is already working but we aim big focusing on what will deliver the systems change required.

We have over 50 years of experience working across Africa, Asia and Latin America. Our group consists of a UK registered charity with experienced country teams, an expert consulting service and an independent development publishing company. We combine these specialisms to multiply our impact and help shape a world that works better for everyone.

OUR AIMS

We work across four thematic areas. Much of our most impactful work combines our expertise across issues to solve complex and interconnected problems such as supporting smallholder farmers with renewable energy to increase yields and open up bigger opportunities for the wider economy.

Harnessing energy that transforms for the one billion people without electricity, and the three billion people without clean cooking solutions. We’re bringing together rural communities, displaced people, energy providers and decision makers to put clean energy to work. By 2025, our work with partners will have led to affordable, low-carbon energy access and cleaner cooking for two million people in ‘last mile’ communities and 18 million people through wider systems change.

Building resilience that protects for vulnerable people whose lives and livelihoods are threatened by climate-related and natural hazards. We’re working with people threatened by natural and climate related hazards, reducing vulnerability and minimizing the impact on their lives and livelihoods. By 2025, 0ur work with partners will have enhanced risk knowledge systems so that four million people living in hazard-prone, climate-vulnerable communities are better protected.

Making cities fit for people for the millions of people living in urban slums and settlements without proper sanitation, clean water and waste services. Our work with communities is making cities in poorer countries cleaner, healthier, fairer places for people to live and work, with clean water for drinking and sewage safely contained, collected and processed. By 2025, our work with partners will have led to improved water, sanitation and waste management services for one million people living in slum communities and a further 2.4 million people through wider systems change.

 Cultivating farming that works for smallholder farmers struggling to make a sufficient income and adapt to the negative effects of climate change. We’re teaming up with smallholder farmers, many of whom are women, so they can adapt to climate change and achieve a good standard of living. By 2025, our work with partners will have improved food security and incomes for two million people in rural communities and a further one million people through wider systems change.

ABOUT THE ROLE

Our Vision
Practical Action’s vision is of a world that works better for everyone.

Scope

Key Relationships

Internal – Country Director; the business development team members; partnership team; SMT members & their teams; regional director;

UK/global teams: Business Development Strategy; Partnerships & Philanthropy; Impact, Influence, and Innovation thematic leads; Finance team; Communications & brand team; the Practical Action Business Development Network.

External – Representatives of Government,  Bi-lateral donors (such as but not limited to USAID, AusAid, High Commission of Canada, SIDA, Danida, Government of Netherlands, FCDO, BMZ, etc.), UN agencies, and Multi-lateral Banks (World Bank, Asia Development Bank; IsDB, other development Banks), Representatives of  I/NGOs working in Bangladesh; Representatives of development consultancies who are based or work in Bangladesh; Representatives of private sector organisations and companies that Practical Action might or could work with or already does; government departments and research institutes.

Key accountabilities

Strategic (35%)

• Lead the fundraising and business development function in Practical Action Bangladesh
• Set annual fundraising targets in coordination with the Country Director, Strategic Leads and Head of Finance
• Should demonstrate success in fundraising around Practical Action’s four programming areas with significant achievement in Climate change resilience and Agriculture areas
• Ensure that proposals for raising funds fall within the Practical Action vision, aims and strategy and align with Practical Action policies and processes
• Develop and implement a business development strategy that is appropriate for the Bangladeshi context and sits within the PQD framework
• Manage and develop the business development team, with support from People and Culture and existing policies and processes
• Make significant contributions to proposal writing and management

Core business (50%)

• Set business development priorities on a quarterly, monthly and weekly basis with the business development team and communicate them internally
• Ensure regular routine of basic business development activities: donor and call screening and intelligence gathering; sharing intelligence internally; initiating proposal development; recording information on PAMS; recording donor and partner information on HubSpot; reporting monthly and quarterly on fundraising performance
• Proactively engage with donor organisations, setting up meetings to understand their priorities and to showcase Practical Action’s achievements and offers
• Proactively engage, in coordination with thematic leads and CD, with INGOs, local NGOs and CSOs, consulting firms and private sector companies with a view to forming consortia and partnerships that will enhance PA’s work and increase the potential for securing funding
• Work with thematic staff to develop offer documents suitable for engaging with potential donors and partners
• Ensure leadership on the coordination of proposal development, including scheduling, clarifying roles and responsibilities, sign off/internal approval and submission;
• Quality control of proposal development, including clarity and alignment of theory of change, proposal, results framework and budget; alignment with donor requirements and call for proposals and concept notes, calling on support from UK teams in the design, write up and review as required
• Ensure implementation of Public and Private Partnerships assessments, due diligence checks and risk analysis are embedded in the proposal development process
• Lead on monthly, quarterly and annual reporting and planning for business development, ensuring timely preparation and data analysis
• Manage one direct report and oversee the management of other team members; manage temporary or short-term business development or fundraising consultants

SMT  (15%)

As a senior manager and key member of the SMT, you will be expected to make a contribution to other matters that are not necessarily directly to do with business development and fundraising

• Play active role within the Senior Management Team to deliver Practical Action’s strategy
• Support the Country Director, deputising when required, in the overall running of Practical Action Bangladesh   

PERSON PROFILE

Qualifications, Expertise and Experience

Essential

• Excellent skills in written and spoken English and Bangladeshi
• Educated to Masters level or higher; inter-disciplinary degree is an asset
• Exceptional written communication skills: you need to be able proactively to seek (often complex) information from a variety of sources, or colleagues, and turn this into engaging and inspiring communications relevant to the donor
• Commitment to Practical Action’s vision and goals
• A commitment to equality and inclusion demonstrated by inclusive ways of working and developing more junior staff
• Experience of successfully managing a team
• Well organised, with excellent time management, coordination, communication and team building skills
• Ability to work well under pressure and to deadlines
• A good understanding of the current fundraising environment in Bangladesh and of global fundraising trends
• Proven successful professional experience in institutional fundraising and in raising funds from companies and foundations
• Demonstrable success in securing funding of large grants (multi-million £) over multiple years from a variety of donors
• Demonstrable success at developing strong relationships with key donors
• Demonstrable success in diversifying sources of funding
• Able to work at the big picture level without sacrificing attention to detail
• Able to use Microsoft Office and CRM databases
• Willingness to travel within Bangladesh and occasionally overseas

Desirable

• Diploma/training in business development, marketing, or other relevant subject
• Experience of working in NGO sector and/or private sector
• Skills in public speaking and presenting

Application Deadline: 06 February, 2023