Humanitarian Business Development Manager

This Business Development Manager Humanitarian Funding role is an exceptional opportunity for the right candidate with an entrepreneurial spirit to lead program development addressing the needs and aspirations of displaced people in Ukraine, Poland, Europe and beyond. The purpose of the Humanitarian Business Development Manager is to develop a funding strategy inspired by our customers’ deepest insights. The role will lead the development of an engagement plan across donors and partners and create an efficient system to identify and develop new funding opportunities. The post holder will lead the Alight Europe program's grant management, donor compliance, and communications oversight.

The role is traditional in many ways. The right candidate will further strengthen the country program’s systems, processes, policies and procedures to strengthen donor relations and reporting, ensure compliance, and grow the donor base to support Alight in reaching more customers.

Finally, the role includes storytelling of Alight’s Ukraine Response in Europe and the US and helping Alight become a valuable and trusted partner in the response. The BDM is the main fundraiser on the team and will work collaboratively with the global team, and program teams to find the right funders, partners, and channels to amplify Alights work.

The Team

We are on a journey to build Alight, a new platform of amazing people and organizations providing lifesaving services and creating breakthrough solutions for and with the displaced. We inspire and unleash the abundance in every human being. We build a meaningful life for and with the displaced. Our customers, displaced communities, are at the heart of our work. Our work is therefore centered on our customers' needs and aspirations. We aim to co-create solutions and help the displaced throughout their journey. To achieve this level of co-creation, we listen, learn, explore and observe our customers and use their deepest insights to design solutions that empower them. The Europe team leads on using customer insights to improve our ability to deliver quality services.

Building a shared organization takes time and intention. We will always be becoming Alight, meaning your work will evolve. For now, here’s how you could anticipate spending your time:

Funding Strategy – 10%

Use customers’ deepest insights, research evidence and customer feedback to develop a funding strategy for the Ukraine response which aligns program demand and the donor landscape.
Drive and accelerate sustainable portfolio growth for Alight, grounded on customer perspectives and experiences and aligned with the Alight strategy.
Work closely with the Regional Director and the programs team to establish and maintain strategic partnerships through networking and engaging donors, governments and other international agencies.
Support strategic planning, operational processes, and tools to achieve a high-quality portfolio.
Understand and effectively communicate the response’s priority funding gaps, as agreed with Regional Director and country leadership. These may include thematic/program, co-financing, and operational sustainability gaps.
Support Alight teams to develop appropriate and effective fundraising and private sector engagement strategies involving donor research and intelligence, product development, cultivation, solicitation and stewardship, as needed.

Humanitarian Business development/Proposals – 50%

Identify, research, and disseminate information on new funding opportunities from bilateral, multi-lateral, and other institutional and non-traditional donors (foundations, corporates etc.)
Facilitate conversations with program teams to gather intelligence, assess competitiveness, facilitate Go/No Go decisions, and adequately resource teams for pursuing all strategic funding opportunities.
Manage and circulate a pipeline of upcoming opportunities to key Program Development staff.
Ensure upcoming donor engagement opportunities are identified and assessed.
Ensure resources for proposal development are identified (lead writer, Technical Advisors, budget development, recruitment)
Support with appropriate/competitive teaming arrangement
Disseminate donor and Alight standards to relevant personnel at the beginning of the process.
Ensure multiple proposal reviews are conducted.
Lead the writing and editing of proposals for the Ukraine Response program
Carry out detailed reviews of the budget; both for donor responsiveness and ensure the financial submissions match the technical narrative.
Ensuring timely and comprehensive handover of approved project documents for timely post-award actions.
Maintain effective communication with donors by tracking trends and anticipating the likelihood of funding opportunities.
Spot and pursue new opportunities for program growth and start-up including conducting full-scale assessments, in coordination with program team members.

Communications, and public engagement – 40%

Stay informed of all insights and reports coming from Kuja Kuja, program teams and partners and share high-impact information with country and global response leaders.
Work to connect key stakeholders to Alight’s network of displaced people and responders.
Work with Alight’s global team to design and implement high-impact donor, media, and partner visits.
Coordinate with the global communications team to write and produce one-pagers and mini-share backs
Help the global team access key data, stories, and information about the context and Alight programming.
Work with Alights DC team to share Alight programs and impacts with stakeholders in DC and Brussels

Work with PR team to identify stories and storytellers to share with media and the Alight audience.
Create connections with international media in Poland and support international media invited to the region by Alight.
Work with the global comms team to hire and support local content creators.
Ensure team members are brand ambassadors- oriented to and fluent in Alight’s Ukraine response and the organization as a whole.
Work with the global program and Ukraine response teams to write decks, concept papers and proposals.
Ensure Alight brand visibility in Poland and Ukraine, work with global team to equip all team members with branded wearables, gifts, and stationery.
Represent Alight in various internal and external meetings as delegated by the Regional Director.

Skills and experience we’re seeking

Human-centered project manager with an ability to listen empathetically, help co-create a vision, and see through completion.
3+ years’ experience in a similar position: grant management, project design, proposal development (program narratives and budgets) in complex emergency or post-conflict settings, preferably with NGOs.
Excellent organizational skills, ability to determine priorities and pay attention to detail.
Knowledge of institutional donors (United Nations, USAID/OFDA, BPRM, DFID, EU, etc.) regulations, procedures and requirements a plus.
Demonstrated success in establishing partnership management and monitoring protocols with local NGO partners.
A relationship person, you have experience and understand what it takes to build strong, two-way professional relationships with all kinds of people.
Clear, detail-oriented communicator to ensure information that reaches new arrival is always useful
Skilled at both seeing the big picture to articulate a strategy or vision, while also able to roll up your sleeves and ensure all details are handled.
Strong written and oral communication skills. Comfortable and able to communicate through a variety of technology – outlook, WhatsApp, Viber, etc.
Ability to organize and adapt in a rapidly changing environment
Level-headed under pressure & stress as we are operating in chaotic and difficult environments
Flexible, flexible, flexible; ability to adapt in an ever-changing environment
Fluent in Polish and English, Ukrainian a plus.