Business Development and Partnerships Senior Advisor at International Rescue Committee

Job Overview: 

• The IRC’s Airbel Impact Lab designs, tests, and scales life-changing, cost-effective solutions for people affected by conflict and disaster. By applying the IRC’s deep technical expertise and field experience with multi-disciplinary problem-solving in humanitarian contexts, we work to develop breakthrough solutions. 
• Reporting to the Director of Finance and Operations, the Business Development & Partnerships Senior Advisor will drive Airbel’s partnerships and business development (BD) priorities with public and private donors. They will work in close collaboration with Airbel leadership, grants and strategy teams, and global and regional technical leaders to develop and implement a global fundraising strategy. This position will provide business development and program design support on proposals, focusing on both private and public donors, as well as cultivating strategic partnerships. Overall, the Business Development & Partnerships Senior Advisor is co-responsible with Airbel Senior Leaders for setting the BD strategy, crafting compelling proposals, and driving ultimate bid success through donor intel and positioning, strong bid submission, and effective cross-functional collaboration.

Major Responsibilities

Strategy and Capture

• Develop and drive a global donor funding strategy for Airbel in collaboration with Airbel & Global leadership.
• Serve as the main BD focal point for Airbel, coordinate knowledge sharing with fundraising departments, and provide accurate guidance to Airbel Senior Leaders for bid development.
• Develop and oversee pipeline of upcoming funding and partnership opportunities.
• Work closely with internal stakeholders to plan for staff needs and business development capacity requirements to successfully write and budget for winning proposals.
• Adapt, strengthen, and roll out new and existing fundraising tools and processes.
• Coordinate internal competition processes.
• Business Development and Program Design
• Lead proposal writing for Airbel-led proposals, ensuring overall quality, coherence and logic in project design, integration with other sectors as needed, meaningful engagement of partners, and adherence to IRC’s IMPACT quality standards and scale considerations.
• Review budgets to ensure consistency with the proposal design.
• Ensure Project Design Meetings take place on time and are of sufficient quality.
• Advance key decisions to senior leaders as relevant.

Partnerships Strategy

• Support defining and leading Airbel’s approach to partnerships including both global and local partnerships, ensuring successful pre- and post-award partnership operations.  
• Lead coordination to drive all aspects of partnership strategy and management for Airbel, with a strong focus on building effective partnerships with local civil society and other local actor organizations.
• Develop and evolve tools, processes and ways-of-working to be fit-for-purpose for Airbel-led projects and strategic priorities.
• Identify and evaluate opportunities for private sector partnerships required to effectively deliver the Airbel strategy both as part of but also outside specific BD opportunities.
• Identify and evaluate opportunities for partnerships with academic or research centers with a goal of identifying more research partnership opportunities from the global South.

Experience and Skills

Required Experience:

• Demonstrable experience leading proposal development for multi-million-dollar humanitarian and/or development projects
• Demonstrated success managing complex portfolios and winning large awards
• Experience with major public and private donors (USAID, BHA, FCDO, ECHO, etc.) 
• Track record of developing and implementing systems/processes across varied functional and technical program areas
• Experience building and negotiating partnerships, with understanding of localization and power-shifting trends

Required Skills:

• Strategic analysis and problem-solving using diverse data sources
• Ability to work independently and collaborate with remote, multicultural teams
• Stakeholder management and influence across organizational levels
• Strong project management and ability to balance competing priorities
• Fluency in English (French a plus)