Specialist Sr., Grants Writer and Business Development at Child Fund International

Primary Responsibilities
STRATEGIC FUNDING OPPORTUNITY ANALYSIS & POSITIONING

• The Grants Writer will conduct rigorous assessments of various funding opportunities from a variety of donors (US, FCDO, EU, Multilateral (UN), Bilateral, Foundations, and corporate funding opportunities for suitability, strategic alignment and organizational competitive viability, sharing findings with colleagues and advising on appropriate steps for the organization.
• Provide strategic advice to ChildFund Kenya’s leadership on bid/no-bid decisions through data-driven risk-benefit analyses, aligned with ChildFund Kenya’s priorities and capacities.
• The proposal writer will work with GAAM lead to ensure that all required documents including annexes, logframes, Theory Of Change, Organogram, Work plans, and all other required annexes are prepared and submitted to GAAM Lead in readiness for submission.

END-TO-END PROPOSAL DEVELOPMENT & WRITING

• The Grants Writer will lead the full proposal writing and guide the development process, ensuring alignment with donor guidelines, ChildFund Kenya’s Policies and Kenyan NGO compliance.
• The Grants Writer will work with technical teams to guide the design of project proposals and concept notes by orchestrating diverse cross-functional teams’ collaboration (including programs, finance, MEAL, Admin, Sponsorship and Partnerships Portfolio Management teams) to integrate technical, financial, and monitoring components into compelling competitive and compliant grant applications (technical project proposal narratives/financial budgets) based on donor guidelines.
• Ensure 100% donor compliance and zero-error submissions through meticulous quality assurance of technical content, annexes, and formatting.
• The Grants Writer will provide copy editing support to proposal teams in the last stages of proposal development.
• Respond to internal and external queries on drafted and submitted proposals.
• Maintain positive relationships with fund providers and other stakeholders as may be required
• Maintain records and submit reports related to grant opportunities to the manager on a regular basis.

CAPACITY STRENGTHENING & KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

• Design/deliver training and coaching sessions for ChildFund Kenya’s staff and partners on proposal writing skills, donor compliance awareness, and innovative resource mobilization approaches (e.g., logframe development, donor cultivation, pipeline development, proposals and concept notes development process), increasing proposal win rates.
• 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.
• Curate/share best/promising practices, templates, and donor intelligence via Grants Acquisition & Business Development teams and ChildFund’s digital resource hub.
• 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.

EXPERT/TECHNICAL ADVISORY & QUALITY CONTROL

• Serve as lead technical writer/ reviewer for Project Proposals and Concept Notes, providing real-time feedback and technical guidance on proposal structure, narrative strategy, theory of change articulation, logical frameworks, gender inclusion and risk analysis, tailored to the Kenyan development context and donor expectations.
• Conduct rigorous research including advanced intelligence gathering for grant opportunities including research institutional donors as appropriate
• Review and perform final copy-editing of project proposals and concept notes to ensure clarity, consistency, coherence, flow, technical accuracy, and persuasive impact as well as in complete adherence to donor and ChildFund standards.
• Ensure that project proposals and concept notes are culturally appropriate and sensitive to local contexts.
• Maintain effective communication channels with internal teams and external stakeholders including donors, partners, and government bodies.
• Support the development of strategic partnerships to enhance funding opportunities.

Required Experience and Education

• A master’s degree in international development, Social Sciences, Economics, Development Studies, or relevant discipline.
• Certifications (APMP, PMD Pro).
• At least 8+ years progressive Institutional grants acquisition experience in grants acquisition and proposal writing within Kenya and/or East Africa, with documented success securing funds from local and international donors including:
• US Government Agencies (USAID, USDA, BHA, etc).
• European Union (EU)/European Governments (ECHO, FCDO, SIDA, etc.)