Senior Program Development Officer, New Initiatives (217628-927)

The position will be based in the Mercy Corps headquarters support office in either Portland, OR, or Washington, DC.

PROGRAM/DEPARTMENT SUMMARY:

The New Initiatives team, which is part of the Technical Support Unit, is responsible for supporting Program Development throughout the Mercy Corps world. The New Initiatives (NI) team: 1) leads the development of grant submissions to institutional donors and 2) carries out initiatives that enhance agency competitiveness. Team members lead and support strategic, high-priority proposals by: assisting country teams with pre-proposal positioning activities; assembling proposal teams; leading the proposal planning process; conducting on-site participatory assessment and design work; writing and editing technical proposals; reviewing proposals to assess clarity and competitiveness; and more. The team enhances agency competitiveness through the development of tools and processes to improve proposal quality across the agency. With all of its activities, New Initiatives works in a highly collaborative manner with the agency as a whole, particularly the program operations team.

GENERAL POSITION SUMMARY:

The Senior Program Development Officer will be a full-time member of the New Initiatives team, based in either the Portland, or Washington, DC office. S/he will support strategic program development efforts by: 1) supporting prepositioning efforts; 2) leading and/or supporting proposal development processes; and 3) writing, editing and reviewing proposal documents. S/he will help enhance agency competitiveness by working with NI team members and other stakeholders to develop/improve tools and guidance on the proposal process.

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS:

Program Development/Diversifying Funding (approximately 85% time)

• Program/Proposal Design and Development: Responsible for leading and supporting the development of strategic proposals, applying the agency’s best practices in proposal development for institutional donors. Special emphasis is on supporting 1) large or strategic proposal opportunities and/or 2) complex or multi-country efforts.

• Strategic Pre-Positioning: Assist country teams in efforts to pro-actively prepare for strategic opportunities and influence donor strategies. This may include activities such as 1) support for targeted assessments that will help create funding opportunities or increase competitiveness of the agency in solicitations; 2) facilitating strategic planning sessions with country programs;

Enhanced Agency Competitiveness: (Approximately 10% time)

• As a member of the NI team, the Senior Program Development Officer will support agency-wide initiatives that enable Mercy Corps to more efficiently produce competitive submissions (e.g. developing improved reference materials for proposal writers, contributing to efforts that capture learning and results from our programs, and/or assisting with networking activities). S/he will also help mentor individuals on proposal design and development.

Organizational Learning

• As part of Mercy Corps’ agency-wide Organizational Learning Initiative, all team members are responsible for spending 5% of their work time in formal and/or non-formal professional learning activities.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITY: None

ACCOUNTABILITY:

REPORTS DIRECTLY TO: Director, New Initiatives

WORKS DIRECTLY WITH: Regional Program Directors. HQ-based Program Officers, Country Directors, and other members of the TSU

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

• Bachelor’s degree and at least 6 years of experience in international development, including both field and headquarters-based experience.
• Successful track record in program design and proposal development in a variety of sectors and geographic locations.
• Exceptional writing skills.
• Proven ability to work productively with a wide variety of stakeholders to produce quality products under tight deadlines, while ensuring a participatory, collaborative approach.
• Native-level spoken and written English required; writing samples will be requested of finalist candidates.
• Experience with USAID procurement processes and proposal development.

Desired Qualifications

• Minimum 2-3 years’ experience in field-based program and staff management
• Language skills in French and/or Arabic a plus
• Strong negotiation skills and experience developing and negotiating multiple-partnership arrangements for proposal development
• Strong understanding of personnel and staffing requirements for USAID and other institutional donor proposals.
• Experience developing budget and cost proposal submissions for USAID and/or other institutional donors.
• Experience with professional representation (e.g. donors, partner agencies, host governments, etc.).

SUCCESS FACTORS: The successful Senior Program Development Officer will have strong analytical and organizational skills and possess a love of writing and healthy competitive spirit. S/he will be able to live and work closely with a diverse team of individuals in a highly intense and fluid work and security environment. S/he will have an ability to work independently, take initiative, and spend time in environments with significant restrictions to personal movement and some operating risks.

LIVING CONDITIONS/ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS: The position will be based in the Mercy Corps headquarters support office in either Portland, OR, or Washington, DC. The position will require travel to the field up to approximately 30% time including travel to some locations that may be insecure or austere.

Mercy Corps Team members represent the agency both during and outside of work hours when deployed in a field posting or on a visit/TDY to a field posting. Staff are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner and respect local laws, customs and Mercy Corps policies, procedures and values at all times.

Please apply directly at:

http://mercycorps.silkroad.com/epostings/submit.cfm?fuseaction=app.dspjo....

Mercy Corps is an AA/EOE.