Development Specialist
You will report to the
Senior Development Manager with a dotted line to the Deputy Regional Director.
Some international travel
may be required. Fluency in French is a significant advantage.
Responsibilities
Proposal Development and
Internal Coordination (70%):
Lead on drafting responses to funding opportunities based on inputs from WRI Africa Programmes Teams and ensuring submission of quality concept notes and proposals including accurate budgets.
Oversee internal
organization for bid development, ensuring strict adherence to established
internal development processes.
Draft
strategic briefs and presentations to inform and guide important interactions
and dialogues with prospective donors.
Support
annual and multi-year project planning efforts to ensure the development of
aligned projects, and compelling offers, to ensure strategic engagement on
fundraising priorities and opportunities.
Communicate
donor restrictions and reporting requirements; monitor compliance in
collaboration with WRI Africa’s operations team
Ensure
adherence to WRI’s fundraising & development guidelines and corporate
vetting procedures, working with colleagues in WRI Africa and on the Global
Development team
Work
with the Senior Development Manager to strengthen and lead fundraising
coordination and proposal development processes in WRI Africa, with WRI’s
Global Development team
Donor Stewardship and
Prospect Development (30%):
Support
in identifying, and researching new major prospective donors and funding
opportunities in the six and seven-figure range.
Assist
in the development and implementation of strategies aimed at achieving
sustainable funding that aligns with the ambition and opportunities of WRI
Africa.
Contribute
to the development and management of external partnerships to enhance WRI’s
ability and position the organization to attract and deliver large-scale
multi-year funding.
Engage
in direct fundraising activities such as proposal pitches, strategic
partnership development meetings and donor cultivation engagements jointly with
other WRI Africa Team members.
Directly
support the WRI Africa programmes team in donor cultivation efforts with
current and prospective donors, arranging meetings, leading preparations, and
tracking donor engagement with an emphasis on enhancing relationship-building
efforts.
Actively
manage a revenue and opportunity pipeline for WRI Africa on Salesforce and lead
regular reviews with WRI Africa leadership to ensure a proactive strategy for
revenue management and development is maintained.
Support
donor relationship management by working with program teams to track all donor
outreach activities in Salesforce and ensure appropriate follow-up on donor
requests.
Provide
expert development advice, including training and strategy development, to WRI
Africa managers.
Qualifications
Education: Bachelor’s degree in
environmental science, international development, public administration, social
sciences or related subject required
Experience: Minimum 5 years of
relevant, full-time experience including 2 additional years of experience in a development
position with major fundraising responsibilities
International
experience strongly preferred with prior experience of working in the
development field and preferably in the international NGO sector is essential.
Excellent
prospect research skills; understanding of what constitutes relevant and
strategic information and how to analyze the data to support prospect
development
Excellent
proofreading experience to translate technical information into lay language;
experience developing and organizing proposals for varying audiences
Working
knowledge of MS Office 365, SharePoint and Salesforce
Excellent
communication skills to diplomatically guide peers and directors through
strategy conception to concrete proposed deliverables focused on impact at global
scale
Languages: English. Fluency in
French both spoken and oral is an added advantage
Requirements: Existing work
authorization is required where this position. WRI is unable to authorize visa
work authorization
How To Apply
