Program Development Manager USG Contracts

Position description

Mercy Corps is powered by the belief that a better world is possible. To do this, we know our teams do their best work when they are diverse, and every team member feels that they belong. We welcome diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and skills so that we can be stronger and have a long-term impact.

Program / Department Summary

The Institutional Donor Engagement (IDE) department provides a unified, agile, and innovative vision of partnership with key donor communities, and promotes the public profile, brand recognition, and voice of Mercy Corps while championing its work across the globe. IDE aims to position Mercy Corps as a leader in the development and humanitarian sectors by spearheading its global business development strategy, ensuring the institutional donor relations and business development teams apply consistent practices across all levels (Country, Regional and Global). IDE works to maintain productive relationships with existing institutional donors, including key North American and European governments, while expanding and diversifying the portfolio of institutional donors around the world.

Within IDE, the New Initiatives (NI) team is responsible for supporting and enhancing Business Development. The NI team: 1) leads the development of proposal submissions to institutional donors and 2) carries out initiatives that enhance competitiveness across the organization. Team members lead and support strategic, high-priority proposals by: assisting country teams with pre-positioning activities; assembling proposal teams; leading the proposal planning process; conducting on-site participatory assessment and design work; writing and editing technical proposals; reviewing proposals to assess clarity and competitiveness; and more. The team enhances overall competitiveness through the development of tools and processes to improve proposal quality across the organization.

General Position Summary

The Program Development Manager USG Contracts will be a full-time member of the New Initiatives team based in the Washington, DC office. He/she will support strategic program development efforts focused on US Government Contracts by: 1) supporting prime and subcontract prepositioning efforts; 2) leading and/or supporting contract proposal development processes; 3) writing, editing and reviewing proposal documents. He/she will be a key contributor to Mercy Corps’ efforts to enter the USG contracting space by developing key tools, templates and training materials relevant to contract proposals; and 4) Providing mentorship and guidance on USG contracts new business development to other members of the New Initiatives Team, MC country teams, and other stakeholders.

Essential Job Responsibilities

PROGRAM & PROPOSAL DEVELOPMENT (APPROXIMATELY 70% TIME)

• Program/Proposal Design and Development: Responsible for leading and supporting the development of strategic USG contract proposals, applying the agency’s best practices in proposal development for institutional donors. At first, these will be subcontracting opportunities, with future plans to move toward prime proposals. Responsible for managing large and dispersed proposal teams with many actors including coordination between HQ and country offices. Responsible for overseeing negotiations with numerous actors (local and international) both for prime and sub positions for the organization. Works closely with the Cost & Pricing team to manage budget development process and ensure adequate coordination between technical design and budget development processes.
• Strategic Pre-Positioning: Assist country teams in efforts to pro-actively prepare for strategic opportunities and influence donor strategies. This may include activities such as 1) support for targeted assessments that will help create funding opportunities or increase competitiveness of the agency in solicitations; 2) facilitating strategic planning sessions with country programs. Helps promote good pre-positioning practices amongst country and desk teams.
• Donor and Partner Engagement: Regularly attend events in Washington, DC and country offices to represent Mercy Corps with key donor agencies, especially USAID. Additionally, cultivate relationships with potential partner organizations for future opportunities.

CONTRIBUTE TO ACTIVITIES THAT RAISE OVERALL COMPETITIVENESS AND CONTRACT READINESS (APPROXIMATELY 25%)

• Mercy Corps has made a long-term strategic decision to pursue USG Contracts. The Contracts PDM will work closely with representatives from various teams to develop necessary tools, templates and guidance specifically for USAID contract proposals where these differ significantly from existing resources.
• The Contracts PDM will also develop and deliver trainings to headquarters and country office staff on contract proposal development.
• Keep up to date on relevant donor strategies being developed or applied by significant governmental, academic, and non-profit groups. Work with Mercy Corps to determine how the agency can best work with and/or influence such materials.

SAFEGUARDING RESPONSIBILITIES

• Actively learns about safeguarding and integrates it into their work, including safeguarding risks and mitigations related to their area of work.
• Practices the values of Mercy Corps including respecting the dignity and well-being of participants and fellow team members.
• Encourages openness and communication in their team; encourages team members to submit reports if they have any concerns using reporting mechanisms e.g., Integrity Hotline and other options.

Supervisory Responsibility:

The Program Development Manager – USG Contracts has no supervisory responsibility.

Accountability

Reports Directly To: Sr. Director, New Initiatives

Works Directly With: Contracts and Grants Compliance, Cost & Pricing, International Finance, Human Resources, Technical Resources and Quality, and Award Management Teams; along with Regional and Country Teams

Accountability to Participants and Stakeholders

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.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree (or equivalent) in International Development, International Relations or related field is preferred.
• 5+ years of professional experience in International Development highly preferred, including experience living and/or working overseas.
• Successful track record in program design and proposal development for USG/USAID contracts in various sectors and locations.
• Fluency in spoken and written English is required.
• Exceptional writing skills. Finalist candidates will be asked to provide writing samples.
• Proven ability to work productively with a wide variety of stakeholders to run both participatory processes and meet tight deadlines with an emphasis on producing quality products.
• Strong negotiation skills and experience developing and negotiating multiple-partnership arrangements for proposal development.
• Strong understanding of personnel and staffing requirements for USAID and other institutional donor proposals.
• Experience developing budget and cost proposal submissions for USAID and/or other institutional donors.
• Experience with professional representation (e.g. donors, partner agencies, host governments, etc.).
• Willingness and ability to travel frequently to Mercy Corps project sites and field locations, including traveling to insecure environments, is required.
• Familiarity with at least one of Mercy Corps' technical sectors (Food Security, Water Security, Peace and Good Governance, Economic Opportunity) and geographic locations is required.

Success Factors

The Contracts PDM will demonstrate a winning track record in program development, and bring flexibility, creativity, and enthusiasm to every project they undertake. The individual must have exceptional writing skills and the ability to multi-task, set priorities, pay attention to detail, and work under tight deadlines within complex team environments. The PDM will have a love of writing, strong interpersonal skills, and a healthy competitive spirit, and have the drive and initiative to contribute to internal team efforts. Being aware and sensitive to international development issues and diverse cultures is critical. The PDM will have strong leadership qualities and ability to lead a diverse team from across the agency through a complex and stressful proposal process and also be a strong advocate within the organization for effective and winning business development approaches.

Application instructions

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