Grant Writer at Pula

Pula is seeking an experienced Grant Writer to join the partnerships team to increase our outreach to and engagement with philanthropic funders, corporate foundations and development agencies. S/he must have a love for building partnerships across the commercial and public sector, including for-profits and nonprofits, identifying potential partners that align strategically to the business needs, tailoring our value proposition to each partner, pitching to each and, where successful, guiding subsequent grant negotiations, contracting and fundraising processes.

The Grant Writer is expected to:

• Build new, and execute on existing fundraising networks
• Contribute to shaping our narrative around risk financing and insurance
• Lead on proposal and tender development for suitable opportunities.

Tasks will be related to liaising with development agency partners and philanthropic entities on funding risk finance mechanisms and insurance premiums, as well as working with the partnerships team to close on identified contracts.
The Grant Writer will report to the Head of Partnerships, where performance will be assessed against annually agreed fundraising and proposal development targets, at both individual and team levels.
Who you are:

• You have at least 5 years of experience in fundraising and grant writing for the nonprofit and/or social enterprise sector, and are familiar with development themes in agriculture, climate change or credit and insurance. You have a strong professional network in the development sector, for example with private/corporate foundations, UN and other development aid agencies, intergovernmental and regional cooperation organizations etc.
• You have designed complex projects from start to finish, including developing detailed narrative proposals, as well as multi-stakeholder work plans and budgets, and have secured at least one grant from an agency such as USAID, GIZ, AfDB or BII. Overall, you have successfully fundraised and written grants worth a total of at least $1 million, with at least one grant worth $500,000 or more.

What you need to have to be successful:
Hard skills

• Writing and editing - You are at ease reading and drafting technical documents or proposals written by or aimed at development sector actors. You are an excellent writer and creator of presentations.
• Speaking and communication - You are a persuasive and confident speaker who canlead and bring focus to a meeting or discussion with several partners. You know how to approach and deal with partners respecting protocol.
• Data and financial - You have strong quantitative and data analytics skills for financial planning (budget development) and number crunching.
• Organizational - You have exceptional time management skills and work ethic, and are not daunted by a heavy workload, time pressure or looming deadlines.
• Tools - You are fully comfortable with Google applications such as Sheets, Docs, Slides,Meet, Drive etc.

Soft skills

• Relationships - Can build relationships with stakeholders rapidly and can expand into new networks quickly. Passionate about building and maintaining relationships.
• Resilient and Intense - Can navigate deal complexity and will not give up until the deal is signed. You are tenacious and a self starter. You recover quickly from tough situations. Eager to build new partnerships, has a point to prove and looks to prove that point at Pula.
• Builds their profile and therefore reputation around Pula and the Pula products. They do not want to fail and therefore will do what it takes for Pula to succeed.
• Coachable - Adaptable: Is eager to learn and grow in their skills and ability. Is resourceful to close any skills and knowledge gap. Openly receives and shares feedback. A consummate learner.
• Gravitas yet Street Smart - Charming. Has a confident, comfortable presence. Can sit across from the UN Secretary General, Bill Gates or the Minister of Agriculture of Kenya and hold their own and pitch without assistance. Can understand and map the stakeholders in a new partnership, identify and test champions, structure the partnership, problem solve and find another way when a proposed partnership gets stuck.
• Communication - Can confidently convert information internally and externally adjusting quickly between written and verbal communication as situations call for it. Follows through on action points from conversations and can succinctly summarize the progress required to progress a partnership.