Senior Energy Program Development Officer- HQ at Mercy Corps

THE POSITION

The Energy Program Development Officer will support country teams to grow their portfolio of standalone energy projects and energy interventions at the nexus of agriculture, economic opportunities, and humanitarian programming aligned with Mercy Corps Pathway to Possibilities (P2P) strategy. This will involve contributing to the integration of energy in annual country strategies, leading the design of energy interventions and projects, serving as the lead writer for concept notes and proposals, identifying appropriate technical and other local partners, and participating in donor research and engagement.

This position will also work with MC country teams and E4I program teams to help position them strategically for funding opportunities, including by preparing donor presentations and, where required, attending, and presenting in donor meetings. In addition, this role will coordinate closely with the Regional Program Team (RPT) to track the pipeline of potential new business opportunities, and support country teams in prioritizing and preparing for them. This role works closely with MC E4I’s Program Management, RPT, Communications, and Finance teams and MC’s Technical Support Unit (TSU) to realize new funding opportunities

RESPONSIBILITIES

PROGRAM AND PROPOSAL DEVELOPMENT

• Serve as lead writer for proposals from institutional donors, foundations, private corporations, and other philanthropic entities following Mercy Corps’ best practices in proposal development.
• Conduct extensive research and analysis to ensure proposals have country and thematic relevance in energy access and sectors aligned with the P2P strategy such as agriculture, food security, economic opportunities, and humanitarian.
• Lead the preparation and facilitation of design workshops developing supporting materials such as logical frameworks, compliance matrices, technical outlines, and proposal calendars.
• Collect proposal contributions from relevant country and program teams ensuring the quality of inputs and seamlessly integrating inputs in the proposal narrative.
• Lead proposal review sessions and incorporate feedback timely.

• Support program and finance teams in developing competitive cost proposals.
• Oversee the final submission of assigned proposal efforts coordinating with RPT.

PIPELINE MANAGEMENT AND LEARNING

• Contribute to and maintain up to date E4I’s BD Pipeline Tracker.
• Evaluate opportunities that align with MC E4I’s strategic goals and expertise and contribute to go/no-go recommendation and decisions.
• Lead fortnightly pipeline review sessions with E4I’s Senior Management Team.
• Support the preparation of business development presentations for program board meetings and quarterly progress meetings to MC E4I leadership.
• Plan and lead proposal retrospectives to uncover lessons learned from the proposal process and feed learnings into continuously improving E4I’s proposal development. 
• Working with the New Initiatives (NI) team, prepare and deliver business development training and capacity building sessions to country teams. 

DONOR ENGAGEMENT

• Keep up to date on relevant donor strategies and the evolving energy funding landscape initially focusing on Africa and expanding globally.
• Contribute to the development of high-quality presentations for donor and partner engagements.
• Cultivate and nurture donor relationships that positively impact MC E4I’s ability to grow its standalone energy programming and energy interventions at the nexus of the P2P strategy.
• Provide other support including conducting research, contributing to strategy sessions, and writing communications content, as requested. 

Accountability

Reports Directly To:

• Director of Global Strategy & Major Energy Programs

Coordinates regularly with: 

• E4I’s Managing Director

Works Directly With:

• E4I’s Senior Management Team, Regional Advisory and Program Teams, RPT, Head of Monitoring Evaluation and Learning, Mercy Corps Regional Leadership, Mercy Corps Country Teams, Mercy Corps Finance Team, and E4I Communications Team. 

Accountability to Participants and Stakeholders

• E4I / Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our program participants, community partners, other stakeholders, and to international standards guiding international relief and development work. We are committed to actively engaging communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring and evaluation of our field projects. 

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS & TRANSFERRABLE SKILLS

• Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs/Development or related field and 5+ years of experience. Familiarity with the energy access sector in Africa is an advantage.
• Successful proposal writing experience, as lead writer, for six-figure plus opportunities.
• Experience managing and coordinating across the entire business development cycle from capture to award.
• Experience conducting rigorous research and analysis to inform proposal pursuits.
• Proven ability to independently plan, prepare, and lead proposal design and review sessions collaborating effectively with a wide variety of stakeholders under tight deadlines to produce quality proposals. 
• Professional fluency in written and spoken English. Written and spoken fluency in French is advantageous.
• Ability to work under pressure with tight deadlines.
• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal.
• Excellent organizational skills.