Career Opportunity with RI, Bangladesh

Resource Mobilization, External Engagement and Communications Manager

Duty Station: Based in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh (With frequent travel to Dhaka office/field offices/Camps as required)
Report To:  Deputy Country Director
Expected Start Date: At Earliest
Contract length: Up to December 31, 2022 (With possibility of Extension subject to funding, program needs and performance of incumbent)

About RI:  Relief International, headquartered in USA, is a leading international non-government organization working in 16 countries to relieve poverty, ensure well-being and advance dignity. We specialize in fragile settings, responding to natural disasters, humanitarian crises and chronic poverty.

Relief International (RI) has been working in Bangladesh since 2004, implementing programs covering emergency response, health, economic opportunity, trafficking in persons, gender equality and youth empowerment. RI has been present in Cox’s Bazar since 2014 where it was implementing a trafficking in person’s project in Ukhiya and Teknaf supporting old caseload refugees as well as host communities prior to the large-scale influx. Since 2017, RI has scaled up its operations in Cox’s Bazar to support the emergency response by providing integrated, multi-sectoral programming for refugee and host communities, covering health services, including a 100- bed COVID-19 Isolation and Treatment Center in Ukhiya, child protection, SGBV, complimentary food and livelihoods opportunities to support social cohesion. Relief International is currently implementing a large scale refugee response program in Cox`s Bazar in Bangladesh in collaboration with multiple partners including UNHCR, USAID.RI maintains a country office in Dhaka with multiple field offices in Cox`s Bazar.

Relief International combines humanitarian and development approaches to provide immediate services while laying the groundwork for long-term impact. Our signature approach which we call the RI Way emphasizes local participation, an integration of services, strategic partnerships, and a focus on civic skills. In this way, we empower communities to find, design and implement the solutions that work best for them.

Position Summary:

The Resource Mobilization, External Engagement and Communications Manager is an integral member of RI and will provide strategic leadership in capture planning and implementation, bid management, oversight of donor research and analytic and pipeline management and facilitation/execution of RI’s grant acquisition strategy. Additionally, the Resource Mobilization, External Engagement and Communications Manager will ensure resource diversification, strengthened donor networking, and improved resource acquisition capabilities for Relief International Bangladesh. This position will support the CD/DCD to lead the identification of grant funding opportunities for the Dhaka and Cox’s Bazaar Refugee response teams; draft key sections of proposals as necessary (e.g., management, executive summary and other non-technical sections); develop and manage compliance matrices for all submissions with knowledge of key donors (i.e., US/EU/UN); lead the preparation for bi-weekly Business development meetings with CD/DCD, Department leads; other responsibilities as required.

S/he will use entrepreneurial approach in working to develop and submit high quality institutional and high value donor proposals and tender bids that are aligned with defined priorities, demonstrate impact, and offer value for money. S/he will proactively identify new and non-traditional sources of funding from a range of institutional donors and working to leverage funding prospects. S/he will lead the preparation of concept notes/project proposals, coordination with potential partners, consultants/expert, donor agencies and other relevant stakeholders in close collaboration with the Deputy Country Director, Programs Director and Program Departments. The position will be expected to provide support to donor communications including reporting and situation reports.

Furthermore, the incumbent will train and/or build the capacity of staff related the development of bids in line with donor requirements, assure strategic inter-departmental collaboration with the Program and Technical staff, Finance staff (in particular with the development of cost proposals), Operations Department, while assuring the provision of any and all requisite support to the Refugee Response program development team.  

MAJOR RESPONSIBILITIES:

This position is a critical and key position of the country office Senior Management Team to lead the development and roll out of the Country Office Resource Development and Communications Strategy, in alignment with Relief International’s regional and global strategy. As such, the position holder will:

External/Donor Engagement and Communication

  • Lead and manage the resource development drive in Bangladesh to drive growth and diversification of grant income (bilateral, multilateral, major foundations and corporations, gifts in kind (GIK), non-food items etc.) in accordance to the Bangladesh Country Office Resource Development Strategy.
  • Monitor new calls for proposals and thoroughly review the ones published, identifying risks and constraints for each one as well as RI’s eligibility and brief CD/DCD and other relevant staff accordingly;
  • In collaboration with the RI Program Development team, support the Country Director (CD) and DCD in terms of donor intelligence by gathering and maintaining up to date a donor mapping and search for background information on key donors. This will take the form of a donor data base, donor mapping capture plan, briefing notes and any other relevant document;
  • Oversee management of all live bids, and participate/lead major bi-lateral (e.g., USAID, FCDO) bids in close collaboration with Regional/Global Support Office (R/GSO) Resource Development Teams.
  • Conduct networking and liaison with key in-country international donors and update them on RI strategy and coordinate with the Program Director, Deputy Country Director, Country Director, Managers, Operations, Project Managers/Leads and other internal constituents to develop strong relationships with high priority donors, as well as partnerships with potential subs and primes for future bids.
  • Advise program and program quality teams, finance, working groups on relevant donor requirements/compliance, potential funding opportunities, changes in donor priorities and ensuring quality grant management for all related projects.
  • Lead development and management of bids for Relief International Bangladesh (RIB) in order to maximize ability to compete for high priority grant opportunities, both as a sub and prime in close collaboration with RSO/GSO and all internal RI constituents (Technical teams, i.e., Operations, Finance, HR etc.)
  • Assist with development of promotional materials, including Annual Report and other program-related collateral.
  • Represent RI as needed in partner meetings, Emergency Sub Committee Meeting of INGO Forum, conferences, and other networking events. 

Program Development

  • Develop strategy for expansion of program in new areas and sectors in collaboration with Program Director;
  • Lead the development and submission of proposals/concept notes in close collaboration with the Country Director in alignment with donor regulations and RI standards through directly drafting key sections of proposals and coordinating with team members to collate proposal inputs. 
  • Develop proposal work plan and lead coordination around upcoming deadlines/opportunities in collaboration with RSO/GSO
  • Review and improve narrative inputs for proposals/concept notes collated from program focal points and ensure that the entire proposal package adheres to donor guidelines and meets the selection criteria;
  • Ensure costing elements are aligned with narrative submissions and support the program team and finance manager in budget development when needed;
  • Liaise with RI Asia Regional Office for report reviews and take lead in addressing feedback;
  • Coordinate the preparation of modification requests for donors, including proposal revision, budget realignment, and other changes, in compliance with donor guidelines;
  • Where proposals are pending with donor agencies, may meet with donor officers to ensure program plans represent a good fit with donor objectives;
  • Conduct continual review of other implementing organizations’ activities to identify gap areas, overlap and potential synergies
  • Develop a pool of consultants/experts who can be contracted for various program development opportunities
  • Undertake travel within the country as required in the pursuit of the above tasks;

Partnership Management

  • Collaborate with relevant staff to identify partnerships opportunities with local and national civil society organizations, relevant international and local NGOs and private sector firms through regular stakeholder analysis process and networking with actors in Bangladesh;
  • Coordinate pre-award due diligence processes for all new partnerships, including through vetting, coordinating the pre-award assessment with other departments, analysis of risks associated with the award and the identification and implementation of appropriate measures to manage the risks, working with other departments as appropriate.
  • Support the development of sub-grant agreements and any subsequent modifications;

Learning

  • Responsible for collecting, collating and drawing conclusions from current and past projects to improve and strengthen current and future programing.
  • Build the capacity of Bangladesh Country Office in grant acquisition, and specifically capture planning, capture management, bid management, and partnering in coordination with Regional Support Office; all such work will be aligned with the global Grants Acquisition strategic priorities for the growth and management of grants.
  • Build the capacity of RI staff on proposal development by sharing insights on how to produce winning proposals and conducting training donor specific guidelines and templates, etc.

Communication and coordination

  • Attend relevant meetings and networking events (e.g., relevant RFA/P meetings, pre bid meeting, donor consultations etc.)  as needed for the performance of duties;
  • Support development of RI’s Bangladesh strategy through inclusion of analysis and trends, development of marketing materials such as country profiles, technical sector capacity statements, success stories, case studies, assessment reports, contents for communication materials etc.
  • Establish and maintain functional relationships with the R/GSO teams to effectively grow the national office portfolio.

Equity and Diversity commitment

  • Ensure that new programming equitably considers at-risk groups including women, children, and people with disabilities.

Safeguarding and Gender Sensitiveness

  • Be part of embedding an organizational culture that is committed to protecting clients from harm.
  • Ensure that the team understands and abide by the organization culture of safeguarding.

QUALIFICATIONS & REQUIREMENTS:

This position demands a dynamic individual with a demonstrated ability to achieve results in a demanding and fast paced environment.

  • Bachelor/masters in international relations, political science, social science, development studies, economics, business administration or other relevant field;
  • At least 5 years of progressive experience in strategic bid identification, partnership and proposal development in international relief or development programs, previous experience with USAID, EU, UN, WFP, IOM etc. preferred;    
  • Proven success in grant writing, networking and donor liaison;
  • Excellent writing skills in English at a native-speaker level and demonstrated ability to write and edit reports and proposals under tight deadlines;
  • Strong knowledge of the rules and regulations of major institutional donors such as ECHO, European Commission, UN donors and US Government donors (e.g. BPRM, USAID);
  • Working knowledge of budget development and management;
  • ability and willingness to travel to field offices;
    Ability to work independently, set priorities, and manage time efficiently;
  • Demonstrated leadership and management skills, including ability to give effective feedback and to guide and mentor direct reports;
  • Proficient in Microsoft Office.

RI Values:

We uphold the Humanitarian Principles: humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and operational independence. We affirmatively engage the most vulnerable communities. We value:

  • Integrity
  • Adaptability
  • Collaboration
  • Inclusivity
  • Sustainability

How to Apply:

Interested candidates are requested to apply through online by August 31, 2022.

Qualified female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.

RI Bangladesh has a non-negotiable policy of ZERO TOLERANCE towards Safeguarding. All employees are expected to abide by the Code of Conduct, Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (SEA) ,Child Protection Policy and Human Trafficking Policy of Relief International.

You may check our website at www.ri.org to know about our organization.