Job
Senior Business Development Lead (Africa)
- Organization: Catholic Agency for Overseas Development
- Location: International
- Deadline: Mon Aug 31 2026
- Category: Donor Relations/Grants Management
About this opportunity
**Starting Salary:** Salary will be paid in USD$ in Kinshasa and Harare and the equivalent in local currency in Abuja (NGN) and Nairobi (KES)
**Contract:** Permanent - Full-time
**Location:** Abuja, Harare, Kinshasa or Nairobi.
**This is a national post, terms and Conditions will depend on the country of registration.**
**The candidate must have the right to work in one of the four locations.**
**Job Profile**
The Senior Business Development Lead (SBDL) will work closely with programme and funding colleagues to develop high-quality programmes and projects that enable CAFOD and its partners to maximise income from institutional donors. Through this work the SBDL will help extend the reach and impact of CAFOD’s programmes in delivering positive and lasting change for some of the world’s poorest communities. The SBDL will provide support to the Integrated Funding & Business Innovation Unit (IFBI) managers and CAFOD’s Africa programme teams as CAFOD drives forward its resource mobilization ambitions.
The SBDL is a member of the Integrated Funding & Business Innovation team (IFBI) and reports to the International Development Funding Team Leader (IDFTL). The SBDL will lead on establishing, maintaining, and strengthening strategic relationships with key global and/or UK-based donors; developing and driving donor funding engagement strategies; leading on complex proposal development and contract management; identifying new and innovative funding opportunities, fostering innovation and shared learning among colleagues and partners, including through the Institutional Funding Community of Practice. Where relevant they will be expected to collaborate and develop synergies with other fundraising streams within CAFOD. The post holder will be expected to engage with the Humanitarian/Development/Peace Building Nexus and also on shorter-term humanitarian resource mobilisation, if required.
The SBDL role will include specific responsibilities for supporting a number of CAFOD’s larger, more complex and multi country institutionally funded programmes including systems development programming. This will involve the design and development of proposals and reporting back to institutional donors.
Donor-lead responsibilities are a component of this role; the post-holder will hold and develop expertise on a portfolio of allocated donors to be determined but likely to include the Africa Development Bank (other current examples of donors CAFOD works with include the UK Government, UN, START, DEC, EU, various other Governments etc). The SBDL will work with other funding colleagues as well as with programme staff, thematic advisers, and colleagues in the Finance, Fundraising and Advocacy and Education Groups, to help build CAFOD’s reputation and grow income.
The SBDL may undertake international travel to support teams and partners with proposal development and contract management activities, as well as to meet with key donors and/or collaborate and preposition with INGOs and sister agencies within the Caritas Internationalis confederation. They may also provide cover for Business Development Leads.
The SBDL is not a budget holder but may carry out some supervision tasks or matrix management of other staff members, consultants, or volunteers. For specific tasks they may be matrix managed by Core Programme Managers/Country Representatives.
Under the oversight of the IDFTL, the SBDL will have responsibility for certain organisation wide tasks including organising and co-chairing the Institutional Fundraising Community of Practice meetings and coordinating the collection of data for annual planning exercises and processes.
**Key Responsibilities**
**Donor engagement, proposal development, and contract management (60%)**
- Support or lead on large scale/ complex/ single or multi country programme funding opportunities, including proposal development and design, providing expert input on design elements (for example market systems development approaches) and task managing staff where necessary.
- Act as CAFOD’s donor lead for designated donors including Africa Development Bank. In collaboration with programme and funding colleagues and in line with CAFOD’s Integrated Funding & Business Innovation Approach, support the development and coordination of donor funding engagement strategies and drive their implementation across CAFOD with other key stakeholders. This includes coordinating internal project selection processes, providing donor-specific technical and compliance advice and working collaboratively to increase the quality of funding bids and contract management.
- Provide flexible surge support when requested to International Programme colleagues on institutional funding opportunities, this may include changes to contract portfolios and work-plan priorities.
- Represent CAFOD externally with agreed priority donors, leading on strategic relationship management in liaison with programme and funding colleagues; this includes attending relevant external fora and leading on the management and review of donor registration and due diligence processes and/or framework agreements where required.
- When required (usually for high value or high risk bids), lead on contract management, including the preparation, review and timely submission of financial and narrative reports, facilitating external evaluations and ensuring quality and compliance standards are met.
- Work closely with Finance, the International Operations team, and other colleagues to ensure CAFOD’s business systems and processes satisfy specific donor requirements, including on financial and supply chain management, document retention, audit, transparency, and accountability.
- When required, travel to support country programmes with institutional funding requests, including provision of in-country support during the absence of other BDLs.
**Shared learning, new business development, and innovation (25%)**
- Lead in the early identification, prospecting, and development of potential new donors and innovative funding streams for thematic or geographic areas. Develop a pipeline of new prospects and opportunities, prioritise, and schedule those opportunities, supporting IFBI managers in overseeing CAFOD’s prospect management tool and ensuring that it is up to date.
- Develop and maintain professional and productive relationships with allocated donors, carrying out research, proactively disseminating information on new funding opportunities and sharing donor updates with programme and funding colleagues.
- Keep abreast of evolving donor-specific, thematic or sector-wide policies and trends by representing CAFOD externally in agreed external networks and groups, and through professional contacts within the sector; disseminate learning through organising and co-chairing the Institutional Funding Community of Practice.
- Lead on the periodic review of donor feedback and trends, particularly those relating to priority donors, where appropriate preparing learning documents and presentations for dissemination and sharing with colleagues and partners.
- Where delegated, coordinate and support the development, and champion cross organisational funding focus areas such as Partner Direct Funding. This may include identifying new partner direct funding opportunities, institutional funding, crowd funding or community based fundraising.
- Support colleagues in programme teams to strengthen CAFOD’s and our partner’s institutional funding capacities, e.g., on proposal writing, programme development, monitoring & evaluation, and ensure learning on this is captured and shared across the international programme, including through the Institutional Funding Community of Practice.
**Strategy, planning, monitoring & reporting (15%)**
- Contribute to the implementation of CAFOD’s Integrated Funding & Business Innovation Approach and Institutional Funding Strategy, ensuring alignment with donor funding engagement strategies and resp
**Contract:** Permanent - Full-time
**Location:** Abuja, Harare, Kinshasa or Nairobi.
**This is a national post, terms and Conditions will depend on the country of registration.**
**The candidate must have the right to work in one of the four locations.**
**Job Profile**
The Senior Business Development Lead (SBDL) will work closely with programme and funding colleagues to develop high-quality programmes and projects that enable CAFOD and its partners to maximise income from institutional donors. Through this work the SBDL will help extend the reach and impact of CAFOD’s programmes in delivering positive and lasting change for some of the world’s poorest communities. The SBDL will provide support to the Integrated Funding & Business Innovation Unit (IFBI) managers and CAFOD’s Africa programme teams as CAFOD drives forward its resource mobilization ambitions.
The SBDL is a member of the Integrated Funding & Business Innovation team (IFBI) and reports to the International Development Funding Team Leader (IDFTL). The SBDL will lead on establishing, maintaining, and strengthening strategic relationships with key global and/or UK-based donors; developing and driving donor funding engagement strategies; leading on complex proposal development and contract management; identifying new and innovative funding opportunities, fostering innovation and shared learning among colleagues and partners, including through the Institutional Funding Community of Practice. Where relevant they will be expected to collaborate and develop synergies with other fundraising streams within CAFOD. The post holder will be expected to engage with the Humanitarian/Development/Peace Building Nexus and also on shorter-term humanitarian resource mobilisation, if required.
The SBDL role will include specific responsibilities for supporting a number of CAFOD’s larger, more complex and multi country institutionally funded programmes including systems development programming. This will involve the design and development of proposals and reporting back to institutional donors.
Donor-lead responsibilities are a component of this role; the post-holder will hold and develop expertise on a portfolio of allocated donors to be determined but likely to include the Africa Development Bank (other current examples of donors CAFOD works with include the UK Government, UN, START, DEC, EU, various other Governments etc). The SBDL will work with other funding colleagues as well as with programme staff, thematic advisers, and colleagues in the Finance, Fundraising and Advocacy and Education Groups, to help build CAFOD’s reputation and grow income.
The SBDL may undertake international travel to support teams and partners with proposal development and contract management activities, as well as to meet with key donors and/or collaborate and preposition with INGOs and sister agencies within the Caritas Internationalis confederation. They may also provide cover for Business Development Leads.
The SBDL is not a budget holder but may carry out some supervision tasks or matrix management of other staff members, consultants, or volunteers. For specific tasks they may be matrix managed by Core Programme Managers/Country Representatives.
Under the oversight of the IDFTL, the SBDL will have responsibility for certain organisation wide tasks including organising and co-chairing the Institutional Fundraising Community of Practice meetings and coordinating the collection of data for annual planning exercises and processes.
**Key Responsibilities**
**Donor engagement, proposal development, and contract management (60%)**
- Support or lead on large scale/ complex/ single or multi country programme funding opportunities, including proposal development and design, providing expert input on design elements (for example market systems development approaches) and task managing staff where necessary.
- Act as CAFOD’s donor lead for designated donors including Africa Development Bank. In collaboration with programme and funding colleagues and in line with CAFOD’s Integrated Funding & Business Innovation Approach, support the development and coordination of donor funding engagement strategies and drive their implementation across CAFOD with other key stakeholders. This includes coordinating internal project selection processes, providing donor-specific technical and compliance advice and working collaboratively to increase the quality of funding bids and contract management.
- Provide flexible surge support when requested to International Programme colleagues on institutional funding opportunities, this may include changes to contract portfolios and work-plan priorities.
- Represent CAFOD externally with agreed priority donors, leading on strategic relationship management in liaison with programme and funding colleagues; this includes attending relevant external fora and leading on the management and review of donor registration and due diligence processes and/or framework agreements where required.
- When required (usually for high value or high risk bids), lead on contract management, including the preparation, review and timely submission of financial and narrative reports, facilitating external evaluations and ensuring quality and compliance standards are met.
- Work closely with Finance, the International Operations team, and other colleagues to ensure CAFOD’s business systems and processes satisfy specific donor requirements, including on financial and supply chain management, document retention, audit, transparency, and accountability.
- When required, travel to support country programmes with institutional funding requests, including provision of in-country support during the absence of other BDLs.
**Shared learning, new business development, and innovation (25%)**
- Lead in the early identification, prospecting, and development of potential new donors and innovative funding streams for thematic or geographic areas. Develop a pipeline of new prospects and opportunities, prioritise, and schedule those opportunities, supporting IFBI managers in overseeing CAFOD’s prospect management tool and ensuring that it is up to date.
- Develop and maintain professional and productive relationships with allocated donors, carrying out research, proactively disseminating information on new funding opportunities and sharing donor updates with programme and funding colleagues.
- Keep abreast of evolving donor-specific, thematic or sector-wide policies and trends by representing CAFOD externally in agreed external networks and groups, and through professional contacts within the sector; disseminate learning through organising and co-chairing the Institutional Funding Community of Practice.
- Lead on the periodic review of donor feedback and trends, particularly those relating to priority donors, where appropriate preparing learning documents and presentations for dissemination and sharing with colleagues and partners.
- Where delegated, coordinate and support the development, and champion cross organisational funding focus areas such as Partner Direct Funding. This may include identifying new partner direct funding opportunities, institutional funding, crowd funding or community based fundraising.
- Support colleagues in programme teams to strengthen CAFOD’s and our partner’s institutional funding capacities, e.g., on proposal writing, programme development, monitoring & evaluation, and ensure learning on this is captured and shared across the international programme, including through the Institutional Funding Community of Practice.
**Strategy, planning, monitoring & reporting (15%)**
- Contribute to the implementation of CAFOD’s Integrated Funding & Business Innovation Approach and Institutional Funding Strategy, ensuring alignment with donor funding engagement strategies and resp
Donor Relations/Grants Management
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