Senior Programme Development & Learning Officer

We are looking for an energetic and motivated Senior Project Design and Learning Officer to join our dynamic team in the Europe programme. The post holder will be responsible for providing expertise within the Europe programme (the Caucasus and Ukraine) to design, secure and deliver high quality programs in line with the programme strategic goals and objectives. They will support the sustainability and strategic growth of the Europe program by assisting the Director and team in identifying opportunities, developing and securing funding for new projects, as well as cultivating relationships with donors and potential new partners.

The successful candidate needs to have solid experience in securing new funding for peacebuilding or development programmes, including developing project concepts and donor relationships, writing proposals and budgets, and negotiating contracts, including commercial and service contracts.

Duties and Responsibilities

Programme Development and Strategy

• Develop a programme funding strategy and capacity statements for institutional donors, contractors, trusts, and foundations
• Follow/Collect and disseminate information on funding trends and priorities of bilateral, multilateral, and institutional donors.
• Contribute to Europe Programme strategy planning in alignment with International Alert’s global priorities and donors’ trends and priorities

Fundraising and Donor Engagement

• Manage programme fundraising by identifying funding opportunities and providing timely information to develop new bids
• Submit proposals and concept papers to donors, ensuring donors’ request and questions are addressed; collect and disseminate internally key lessons learned/best practices from proposal development processes
• Engage with donors through initiatives, direct representation, and negotiation of strategic partnerships and consortium agreements in coordination with the Europe Director and team as needed

Project Design and Proposal Development

• Support Europe team in designing and securing high-quality peacebuilding programmes that reflect strategic priorities

• Lead proposal development processes including project design, proposal writing, contribute to developing budgets, and oversee proposal submissions

• Contribute to ensuring that all programme costs, including staffing and overheads, are adequately budgeted and funded

• Ensure all proposals undergo a comprehensive internal review and sign-off process.

• Ensure systematic record of proposals submitted, subsequent modifications and donor decisions

  Collaboration and Coordination

• Internally: foster strong coordination between programme teams and HQ support functions (Advocacy, Communications, technical Units, HR, Fund Raising, Finance and others) throughout proposal development processes

• Externally: build and maintain strategic partnerships, contributing to negotiations for consortiums and framework agreements, and through regular effective communication

  Learning and Organisational Development

• Contribute to learning from proposal development and projects to enhance the impact and growth of International Alert’s work

• Support high quality of donor, internal and other type of reporting

• Promote cross-organisational knowledge sharing and communications

• Participate in organisational initiatives and provide strategic input to task forces and steering groups.

• Undertake additional tasks as required by the Europe Director

Travel requirements

The role is based in the UK. Travel may be required to travel to all Europe programme sites, as well as Brussels, the Hague and other places, on occasions to meet with donors and project/prospective partners. Occasional travel to other Alert offices to attend meetings/workshops may be required.

Person Specification

• Talents

A talent for working with others, organising, and coordinating as well as the ability to multitask, keeping track of various assignments whilst balancing your time to meet deadlines. You’ll be proactive and creative in developing new ideas and relationships, have an eye for detail and accuracy and the ability to communicate with clarity orally and in writing.

• Essential Requirements
• Graduate or post-graduate degree in peacebuilding, conflict studies, gender, development studies, international relations, or related field.
• Strong experience securing new funding for peacebuilding or development programmes, including developing project concepts and donor relationships; writing proposals and budgets, and negotiating contracts.
• Experience of working with a range of donors (institutional, multilateral, trusts and foundations), understanding of diverse donor requirements, and experience of identify funding opportunities and tracking donor trends.
• Good understanding of project design, including developing theories of change, clear and realistic objectives and effective monitoring and evaluation plans.
• Experience facilitating workshops and ideas development, including remotely and with people with diverse first languages.
• Fluent written and spoken English; excellent analytic and writing skills and persuasive oral communication.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to engage with a wide spectrum of actors, including community members, civil society, and donors.
• Experience working in a diverse and multicultural environment
• IT literate, including experience using Excel for budgeting, and using databases.
• A collaborative team player as well as a self-starter with initiative and the ability to work alone.
• An eye for detail and accuracy and an ability to balance competing demands.
• Existing right to work in the United Kingdom
• Desirable Requirements
• Understanding of conflict transformation and peacebuilding, and experience working in this field
• Understanding of the conflict dynamics in the Caucasus and Ukraine region
• Existing strong relationships with civil society, donors, and NGOs in the relevant geographical areas
• Experience overseeing and contributing to programme learning
• Working knowledge of Russian
• Solid understanding of financial and project management
• Experience of working with commercial contracts