Development Specialist at Cardno

The Development Specialist will participate in business development and project management.

About the role

Cardno is seeking a full time  Development Specialist to provide support in business development and project management.

The ideal Development Specialist candidate must be passionate about international development and have a commitment to delivering high quality services to our beneficiaries and clients in a professional manner always. In this highly dynamic role, the preferred candidate will be expected to work in a manner that optimizes cooperation with others to achieve our set corporate objectives.

Key responsibilities:

The Development Specialist will participate in business development and project management and specific responsibilities will include:
  
Business development:

• Proactively undertake research on project areas and support analysis of industry trends to better understand our clients’ needs
• Proactively and professionally engage with local, regional, and international partners and consultants
• Track business prospects and support conversion of opportunities into successful bids
• Support proposal preparation processes (conceptualizing, designing, preparing, undertaking quality assurance and timely submission)
• Draft proposal sections, as required
• Support recruitment of qualified local, regional, and international consultants
• Conduct follow-up with partners, consultants, and team members after proposal submission for debriefs, and to disseminate key lessons learned.

Project management:

While the focus of the Development Specialist role will be in business development, there will be opportunities in project management to undertake the following tasks:   

• Backstop projects, including monitoring project budgets
• Recruit, mobilize, and demobilize consultants
• Support development of annual plans and reports
• Support development and timely and quality delivery of deliverables
• Develop and sustain strong relationships with project teams and partners
• Visit project sites and attend project workshops

Qualifications:

• Master’s degree in relevant international development field (Conflict and Peace Studies, Climatology, Disaster Management, Environmental Planning and Management, History, Political Science, Community Development, Gender, etc.) or related field.
• At least 3 years’ prior experience in international development assistance; working experience in an international environment is preferable
• At least 2 years’ prior experience in business development that includes participation in winning new projects
• Demonstrated success interacting with all levels of professional staff
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced commercial environment with serial deadlines
• Good communicator both oral and written, with strong interpersonal and negotiation skills to deal with persons of various cultural and educational backgrounds, service oriented
• Ability to work independently in a disciplined and organized manner
• Highly motivated, proactive with analytical and creative abilities to support problem solving
• Demonstrable ability in Microsoft Office suite
• Authorization to work in Kenya is required.