BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANT

Posting Closing Date: Friday, April 12, 2024

The Adventist Development and Relief Agency is a global humanitarian organization of the Seventh-day Adventist Church that demonstrates God’s love and compassion. ADRA’s purpose is to serve humanity so all may live as God intended.

ADRA International encourages all interested candidates to apply. ADRA International is a religiously qualified Equal Opportunity Employer under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.  ADRA International has the right to prefer a member of the Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) church in the hiring process. In the event that a qualified SDA candidate is not found, we will give the opportunity to candidates who must understand, respect and honor the mission, purpose, and identity of ADRA International.

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SUMMARY

As a member of the Business Development Unit (BDU), this position contributes to the implementation of the business development strategy and supports in the pursuit of new business opportunities.  The Business Development Assistant interacts with internal teams on opportunity research and proposal development. The incumbent will contribute to high-quality proposal submissions by ensuring compliance with donor submission requirements, coordinating proposal development processes, writing non-technical proposal sections, editing and formatting proposal documents, and conducting quality assurance.

This position will be based at ADRA Offices in Silver Spring, Maryland.

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PRE-REQUISITES

Required 

• Bachelor’s degree in International Development, International Relations, Public Policy/Administration, Political Science, Business Administration OR in a relevant technical area/related discipline such as Public Health, Agriculture, Economics
• Excellent written communication skills, including experience writing sections of successful proposals or grants, demonstrating ability to write, integrate, edit, and articulate targeted solutions in a clear, concise, and compelling manner.
• Effective project management and organizational skills.
• Capable with Microsoft Office suite (Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, SharePoint).
• Must exhibit sensitivity to and interest in other cultures and belief systems.

Preferred 

• One or more years of related experience supporting proposal development, ideally for USG donors.
• Master’s Degree in one of the above mentioned disciplines.
• Experience in research, assessment, or evaluation of development programs.
• Proficiency in French, Spanish, Arabic and/or Portuguese strongly desired.

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BEHAVIORAL COMPETENCIES

• Working with People (2.1)- Demonstrates an interest and understanding of others; adapts to the team and builds team spirit.
• Writing and Reporting (4.1)- Writes clearly, succinctly and correctly; writes convincingly in an engaging and expressive manner. 
• Analyzing (4.3)- Analyses numerical data, verbal data and all other sources of information. 
• Delivering Results and Meeting Customer Expectations (6.2)- Focuses on customer needs and satisfaction; sets high standards for quality and quantity. 

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RESPONSIBILITIES

Unit Management and Self-Development

• Contributes to unit work plans to meet ADRA’s annual revenue targets, outlining target clients (donors, foundations) and regions/countries.
• Attends appropriate seminars, conferences, meetings, and other learning opportunities to develop relevant knowledge and skills and to improve performance, efficiency, or capacity.
• Develops and implements tools, templates, and processes as needed to improve and track unit performance.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Opportunity Cultivation, Intelligence, and Marketing

• Collects and analyzes information on USG and other donor priorities, donor trends, evolving donor requirements, and development methodologies that impact ADRA’s business and BD processes.
• Tracks online donor portals and development industry news to identify and share new business development opportunities within BDU.
• Identifies qualified leads/funding opportunities by matching ADRA’s capacity, experience and expertise to opportunity requirements.
• Develops communication material to market ADRA’s capabilities and approaches to potential donors and partners.

Proposal Development

• Leads coordination, production, submission processes on all types of funding opportunities, supporting work of Business Development Planners, Business Development Managers and Senior Managers and/or bids led by technical units, as needed.
• Contributes to writing of non-technical proposal sections and background sections.
• In support of proposal managers, utilizes proven tools and methods in proposal development, and coordinates participation and contributions of proposal team members in proposal initiatives.
• Creates, compiles, and reviews supporting documents and annexes for proposal submissions.
• Stays informed on donor/client/partner submission requirements and processes to ensure timely delivery of proposals.
• Reviews proposal drafts for appropriate tone, grammar, presentation, and final editing prior to production.

Knowledge Management, Communication, and Sharing

• Captures and documents learning from proposal development processes to refine and continuously improve tools and processes; maintains proposal documents and files in online archives.
• Contributes and develops content for marketing materials, capacity, and past performance information relevant to ADRA’s BD efforts.
• Provides technical assistance to country offices as needed through workshops, seminars, and capacity building activities, so that country office staff can meet proposal, performance, quality assurance, and customer service standards for various sectors and donors.
• Attends/presents at conferences, workshops, coordination meetings, and donor interaction opportunities relevant to ADRA’s business and target clients.

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TRAVEL

Up to 15% domestic and international travel required. Must have the ability to travel on short notice if necessary.

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MENTAL/EMOTIONAL REQUIREMENTS:

Must be able to work in a fast-paced and customer service-oriented environment; to perform duties under pressure and meet deadlines in a timely manner; to work as part of a team as well as to complete assignments independently; to take instructions from supervisors; to exercise problem-solving skills; and to interact with co-workers, supervisors, network employees, donors and the public in a professional and pleasant manner.

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PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS / OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION (OSHA)

Person must be able to perform essential job functions with or without accommodation.  Incumbent should be in optimal health for difficult and temporary below-basic living conditions at overseas location and for field travel in general.

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Committee Membership

None

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Qualifications