Business Development Officer

About CGA

CGA Technologies is a UK registered international consultancy firm established in 2011 that delivers scalable and sustainable technology systems that propel countries towards their development goals. We have offices and/or programmes in South Sudan, Kenya, Sierra Leone, Mali, Malawi, Uganda and Ukraine. 

In partnership with governments, the private and civil sectors, and local communities, we work to achieve sustainable change through the transformation of national systems to be accountable and inclusive, and empower people to access basic services and  the support they need to break the cycle of poverty.

CGA Technologies is part of Corus International, an ensemble of organisations working in concert to deliver the holistic, lasting solutions needed to overcome these interrelated challenges. Together with our local partners, we reduce poverty at the same time as improving communities’ health.

About the role

As Development Officer, you will lead on our underpinning processes and carry out much of the groundwork for business and programme development, including pipeline administration, market research, bid qualification, meeting and workshop coordination, supporting the design of new programmes. 

• Leading our development processes that underpin our work: Managing the communication and delivery to make them successful; providing the day-to-day administration to prepare for future projects; continuously reviewing and refining processes to improve success.
• Coordinating elements of bid and proposal activities: Project management and administrative support, coordinating discrete elements of bids and contributing to high quality content for internal and external stakeholders.
• Horizon scanning, research, and opportunity scoping: Ensuring the team is forward-looking and proactive; exploring policy and market developments for new opportunities to secure funding, develop relationships, and grow impact; undertaking the initial analysis of whether opportunities align with our strengths and strategy.

More specifically, the Development Officer role will include the following roles and responsibilities:

1. Lead the processes that underpin CGA’s business development, including: 

• Coordinating identification and analysis of relevant funding opportunities from a range of governments, multilateral institutions, and trusts & foundations.
• Organising, updating and maintaining the accuracy of CGA’s pipeline of business opportunities.
• Contribute to maintaining and developing business development processes and systems.

2. Coordinate bid and proposal development, including:

• Develop, review and maintain boiler plate text, capacity statements, project descriptions and proposal templates.
• Support partner outreach, pre-positioning activity, lead on drafting teaming agreements and compile supporting documents for due diligence.
• Coordinate scheduling related to bid development and debriefs with relevant stakeholders, including country programme management, technical teams, finance and external partners; and support proposal development workplans.
• Contribute to bids led by other colleagues as required, ranging from due diligence and administrative queries, CV formatting, and producing tailored project references.
• Support the drafting, editing, and proofreading of proposal documents.

3. Support programme development and strategy implementation, including:

• Support the team to manage relationships with funders and partners.
• Participate in research and analysis of potential partners and competitors, new thematic subject areas for CGA, and keeping abreast of developments inside CGA’s sphere of work.
• Provide general support to CGA’s practices on programme and business development, commercial matters and strategy implementation.

About you

• You are exceptionally well organised and process driven: Excellent organisational, administrative, and analytical skills, with a passion for development impact. Ability to work autonomously within defined processes, ensuring that quality and time expectations are met while balancing competing pressures and maintaining an attention to detail throughout.
• Your written output is excellent, and you have an eagle-eye for detail: Excellent research, drafting, communication, and project coordination skills. Able to produce and publish high quality content from a diverse range of feedback and sources of information.
• You are proactive, highly motivated, and a fast learner: Bringing energy, curiosity, and thoroughness, you  identify ways to improve existing processes and establish new approaches. You enjoy building and maintaining relationships across all levels of business, and you are willing to get stuck-in to support colleagues across our offices as part of a small but busy team.
• Your behaviours reflect CGA’s ethos and values: which prioritise development impact for the communities we work for, including those set out in our Positive Business, Ethics and Conduct (PBEC) policy: https://cgatechnologies.org.uk/sites/default/files/201029-CGA-Positive-Business-Ethics-and-Conduct-Policy-V13.1-2020-.pdf

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• A degree in a relevant field, Bachelor or Masters, or equivalent experience.
• Experience of administrating processes that demand attention to detail, and bringing information together into informative, quality, written content.
• Experience of communicating with internal teams, and experience and/or understanding of project coordination.
• Strong interpersonal, written and verbal communication skills; good relationship builder and ability to write compelling narratives and present engagingly.
• Project management skills: ability to manage a process from beginning to end. Enjoy working under time-pressure with and manage multiple and competing priorities with excellent time-management skills and remain good-humoured under pressure.
• Research and analytical skills, including strong numerical skills and familiarity with Excel. Taking responsibility for the accuracy and clarity of data, research and analysis, and how it can be used for decision-making and planning.
• Good knowledge of internal office systems and Microsoft suite: Word, PowerPoint, Excel.
• Knowledge of, and interest in, the international development sector
• Aptitude for, and a desire to learn new skills

Desirable knowledge, skills and experience 

• Previous, relevant, work or voluntary experience.
• French (or Spanish) language skills, including the ability to write in French.
• Knowledge and/or relevant field experience of the education, health and/or social protection sectors in low and middle income countries, especially in Africa.

Location

The base location can be flexible, it would ideally be somewhere where: other CGA or Corus colleagues are based, where there is enough connectivity to practically do the job, and where you are legally entitled to work. The role will likely include some travel, to support our country teams and build relationships.

Contract Arrangements

Full Time with a contract for a period of one year, renewable.

To apply, please send an up-to-date CV and a cover letter of no more than 2 pages to colleaguesandfriends@cgatechnologies.org.uk by Sunday the 12th of February midnight GMT. 

Due to limited resources, only short-listed candidates will be contacted.