Manager II, Resource Acquisition and Management

Position title: ​Manager II, Resource Acquisition and Management​

Location: ​Kampala​

ChildFund office: ​Uganda​

Manager/Supervisor title: ​Country Director​

Position type: ​Full-time fixed term​

Work environment: ​On-site​

About ChildFund

ChildFund is a child-focused international development organization that works in 23 countries to connect children with the people, resources, and institutions they need to grow up healthy, educated, skilled and safe, no matter where they are.

ChildFund’s Values

ChildFund is creating a diverse, equitable, inclusive, and accessible environment where everyone is welcomed and celebrated equally. In our culture of connection, you will have ample opportunity to grow, learn, and lead while contributing your talents and innovations to our inspiring mission.

ChildFund’s Commitment

ChildFund International has a zero-tolerance policy regarding sexual exploitation, abuse, and harassment (SEAH) and all other forms of harm by its staff, partners, and other representatives in the delivery of its mission and services for children. ChildFund is committed to creating a safe environment in the workplace as well as in the communities where it delivers programs and services. ChildFund expects every staff member, partner, and representative to adhere to this commitment and to ensure all organizational policies and standards are followed. This position is subject to a range of vetting checks, including a criminal records check and/or disclosure to ensure program participants are safeguarded.

About This Role

​​The Manager II, Resource Acquisition and Management is a new position that forms a key part of the Senior Management Team. The Manager will oversee grants acquisition for the Country Office (CO), including pre- and post-award activities, and lead a small team of professionals. The Manager will also support partnership building, networking, and donor engagement and will take the lead on developing and maintaining robust knowledge management structures to enhance and improve the CO’s grants acquisition and grants management capacities. ​

Required Experience and Education

• ​​​A bachelor’s degree in international development, business, or other relevant area; a master’s degree is a plus.
• ​At least 6 years’ experience in business development, international development, and/or grants management and compliance in international development organizations.
• ​Demonstrated experience in fundraising and donor relationship management.
• ​Experience supporting multi-million-dollar grant proposals and awards.
• ​Previous supervisory experience.​​

Primary Responsibilities

​​Remain alert and responsive to any safeguarding risks; acquire relevant knowledge and skills to enable you to understand the safeguarding policy and procedures; promote strong safeguarding practices; perform your duty and responsibility to safeguard, report violations, and promote appropriate behavior; and conduct yourself in a manner consistent with the organization’s policies and values.

• ​Fundraising strategy development and execution:
• ​Lead the Country Office’s (CO) grant acquisition efforts, meeting or exceeding grant acquisition targets.
• ​Develop the CO’s Resource Mobilization and Grant Acquisition Strategies in alignment with relevant policies.
• ​Lead the development of the CO’s Capture Plan, including donor mapping, analysis of donor priorities and mapping of peer organizations.
• ​Report regularly to the SMT on funding pipeline; proactively analyze and take actions to strengthen pipeline and identify opportunities.
• ​Working in close coordination with the CO’s technical team and the Global Business Development Team, support and lead pre-positioning for relevant grant funding opportunities.
• ​Oversee compliance to ensure CO Business Development activity aligns with ChildFund’s Business Development Policy, Procedures and Practices.

​Resource mobilization and proposal development:

• ​Lead the CO proposal development processes from capture to negotiation.
• ​Monitor websites to identify new opportunities, analyze solicitations, draft compliance matrix, manage proposal calendar and checklists, manage proposal files in Salesforce, and support final production of the proposal.
• ​Prepare and present proposal budgets in collaboration with Program and Finance Staff; review budgets for cost realism and accuracy; support the collection of costs data; liaise with subs (local partners) in the preparation of costs proposals; and provides inputs for budget narratives.
• ​Manage the collection and production of supporting documentation for cost applications in compliance with ChildFund and donor requirements.
• ​In coordination with Country Director and Program technical teams, draft capacity statements, past performance references (PRR), management plans, and other relevant sections of proposals.
• ​Conduct desk reviews to inform proposal strategy, such as Go/No Go decisions, problem analysis, partnering and recruitment for project staffing decisions.
• ​Coordinate with Human Resources to identify key personnel.
• ​Lead donor negotiation to ensure appropriate implementation & reporting will be done (match, reporting requirements, project timeframe).
• ​Lead the use of organizational system and tools (including Salesforce) to support the execution of the resource mobilization strategy.
• ​Support global business development efforts as required.

​Partnerships and donor engagement:

• ​Support the development and maintenance of effective relationships with current and prospective donors; support the CO with networking and liaising with key in-country and international donors.
• ​Identify key strategic partnerships for the CO and ChildFund, including civil society organizations, INGOs, UN and government entities, and develop and support strategies to cultivate partnerships.
• ​Actively engage in and Support ChildFund’s communication work; ensure business development collateral are up to date and ready for sharing with potential donors.
• ​Provide effective coordination for the establishment of proposal development working groups with representatives from key stakeholders within and outside ChildFund (consortia formation).
• ​Effectively communicate the organization’s strategies to external partners and donors

​Post Award Grants/NSPs management

• ​Lead a team of grants management and finance professionals to manage the CO’s grants portfolio and compliance with donor and ChildFund policies and requirements.
• ​Support the grant start-up process, including development of work plan, PMP, procurement plan and initial staffing plan.
• ​Coordinate regular program and financial reporting, overseeing compliance with contractual requirements.
• ​Support the CO to contextualize ChildFund’s cost recovery policy through development of local cost recovery policies and implementation of the same.
• ​Oversee NSP database:
• ​Oversee development and regular updates to database.
• ​Track grants and small award implementation progress and make routine reports to the SMT.
• ​Participate in funded projects’ monitoring and evaluation activities.
• ​Compile NSP projects’ fund release requests from local partners to support SMT decision-making.
• ​Follow up on donor inquiries on NSPs and donations.
• ​Facilitate signing of NSP and donation project agreements with donors and MOUs with local partners.
• ​Maintain all required documentation.
• ​Support grant projects’ close out process; collaborate with relevant internal and external stakeholders for smooth close out process including final evaluation, audits, and asset handover.
• ​Oversee the web-based grant management system (Salesforce) by uploading and regularly updating the National Office grant opportunities and projects and maintaining up to date meeting notes.
• ​Monitor the adherence and compliance of grant and NSP projects to the terms and donor’s requirements, including branding requirements.
• ​Compile and prepare NSP-related updates for monthly, quarterly, and semiannual newsletters as well as for annual reports.

​Knowledge management, learning and sharing:

• ​Strengthen the COs’ institutional capacity to acquire relevant grants:
• ​Provide adequate training to field staff on proposal development and grants management skills (including proposal-writing and report-writing).
• ​Build staff and partner organization capabilities for successful grant acquisition and management.
• ​Lead team to develop learning products that contribute to CO learning and sharing by documenting approaches, project and program designs and lessons, case studies, and other knowledge products.
• ​Develop and maintain knowledge management system for tracking opportunities from capture to award, including maintaining a repository of proposal development templates, pre-award tools, program concepts, capacity statements, proposal templates, pricing tables, etc.
• ​Lead the management of the knowledge database to ensure information is shared among technical team, field program and other concerned staff, to capture new opportunities and track the ongoing grants.
• ​Ensure Program & Sponsorship team is apprised of opportunities and communicate Business Development Unit newsletter contents on a regular basis.
• ​Assess and build GAM capacity of local partners.
• ​Other duties as assigned by the Country Director.​

Required Competencies

​​ChildFund’s Core Competencies

• ​Teamwork: the ability to work effectively and collaborate with others; values and respects individual differences.
• ​Communication: demonstrates empathy and tact when communicating with others and uses a storytelling approach when appropriate.
• ​Results orientation gets things done; takes proactive steps to achieve organizational goals and quality standards.
• ​Decision making uses good judgement, critical thinking, and non-traditional ways to evaluate problems and opportunities; reflects and innovates to improve decisions and outcomes.
• ​Resilience: thrives and grows in rapidly changing, demanding, and complex environments.
• ​Digital literacy: adopts and champions new technology to relevant contexts, stays aware of technological trends and embraces technological solutions to business challenges.

​Other Required Competencies

• ​The ability to read, speak, and write fluently in English.
• ​Demonstrated knowledge of US government donors (i.e., USAID, Department of State, etc.); multilateral donors, foundations, and other institutions’ grant-making initiatives.
• ​Familiarity with IRS sponsorship regulations, and other applicable legal rules.
• ​Ability to contribute to and review high value proposals responsive to the key donor requirements.
• ​Strong management and team leadership skills; demonstrated commitment to inclusive leadership.
• ​Proficiency with Microsoft Office suite applications (particularly Word and PowerPoint).
• ​Excellent relationship-building skills with the demonstrated ability to identify, cultivate, and maintain strategic and productive partnerships with donors and other organizations.
• ​Technical expertise in at least one area relevant to ChildFund’s work (Early Childhood Development, health, education, child protection, adolescent sexual and reproductive health, youth civic engagement, youth employability or gender) is beneficial.
• ​Strong budgeting and data analysis skills is a plus.
• ​Fluency in French is a plus.