With over 70 years of experience, our focus is on helping the most vulnerable children overcome poverty and experience fullness of life. We help children of all backgrounds, even in the most dangerous places, inspired by our Christian faith.
Come join our 33,000+ staff working in nearly 100 countries and share the joy of transforming vulnerable children’s life stories!
Employee Contract Type: Local – Fixed Term Employee (Fixed Term)
Job Description:
Job Title: Senior Programs Officer (Resource Acquisition & Business Development)
Location: Harare
Closing Date : 22 March 2024
Purpose Of The Position
To support WV Zimbabwe’s growth of grant and private partner portfolio, through strategic donor and partner engagement, grant acquisition and high quality proposal development in close cooperation with WV’s technical advisors and other related teams. The position leads grant acquisition and donor engagement processes in alignment with WVZ’s and WVI process guidelines, policies and structures and support the Resource Development and Donor Engagement Program Officer (RDDE) team members with technical and managerial line management, in them confidently executing their mandate. The Senior Programs Officer (SPO) works as an integrated part of WVI and WVZ, representing the organization and RDDE respectively in internal and external forums/ working groups promoting WV’s Grant acquisition strategy and operational performance and reputation.
Major Responsibilities
​1. Donor engagement
- Further strengthening of relations with multilateral/ bilateral and private sector donors, along developed and updated donor engagement plans, technical support and development of donor strategy aligned materials
- Evolve diverse funding sources, through Call for Proposals research and unsolicited opportunities with existing and potential new donors within the private and institutional donor landscape, in coordination with Technical Advisors and the Strategic Evaluation and Learning unit of WVZ.
- Liaise with World Vision Offices worldwide and in-country partners for joint strategic engagements and pre-positioning purposes.
- Engage with stakeholders specifically on global opportunities, i.e. World Vision Regional Office and WV field offices in SAR, Africa and globally.
- Strengthen WVZ portfolio towards commercial contract funding, financial institutions and multilateral donors, such as AfDB, Global Fund, Green Climate Fund, etc.
- Represent the WVZ RDDE team in national, regional or international forums/ working groups
2. Proposal development
- Lead proposal development processes from Expression of Interest (EOI) to contract stage (hand over to operations), adhering to WVZ and WVI process guidelines and regulations, by coordinating internal experts and local partners along donor regulations and expectations for qualitative project proposals.
- Support on proposal writing along donor language and expressing WV’s capacities and capabilities along CfP guidelines.
- Liaise and negotiate with WVs Support Offices and in country donors for effective and efficient proposal development and contract conditions, including the insurance of match funding through diverse sources (i.e. G2G).
- Steer local and international partnering processes along WVI protocols
- Update and maintain Proposal Development documentation, Grant list, trackers and WVI management tools/ systems.
3. Technical support
- Lead and keep oversight of grant development tools for accurate resource acquisition accountability
- Contribute to grant acquisition strategic developments and review/ development of operational tools for enhanced standardization of processes
- Provide technical support to internal counterparts and local partners towards donor and proposal requirements
4. Staff support
- Mentor, manage and build the capacity of RDDE staff in order to enhance the quality and timeliness of their duties
- Support, where requested, Grant Management on interlinking grant acquisition and prepositioning processes, related to donor visibility, field visits, amendments, compliance and accountability
- Review and approve proposals of RDDE members before submission
- Support developing and conducting team building and team meetings on a regular basis
Required Qualifications, Experience & Competencies
- Degree in International Relations, Social Sciences, Development or other relevant fields . A Master’s Degree is preferred but not essential.
- A minimum of 5 years’ experience engaging at the national and international level with government, UN and private sector donors, including leading programme design processes, negotiating contracts and representing recipient organization and program interests and priorities in meetings and other settings
- In-depth knowledge of project design and proposal writing, especially at grant level
- Knowledge of funding sources, donor trends and regulations of USAID, various UN, INTPA, SIDA, Global Fund, AfDB, ECHO, etc.
- Passionate about World Vision’s mission and translating program outcomes and stories into compelling cases for support
- Demonstrated capacity ​to manage complex consortia and processes
- Demonstrated analytic and strategic thinking skills
- High self-organizational/ coordination skills
- Ability to work independently and as part of the team to set priorities and manage multiple projects simultaneously with competing deadlines;
- Ability to maintain a positive attitude and collaborative style that fosters workplace excellence and collegial teamwork;
- Ability to pursue thoroughness and appropriate attention to detail
- Excellent written, oral and relational skills
- Strong interpersonal skills to relate with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders.
NB: Shortlisting will be done as the applications are received. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.
World Vision Zimbabwe is both an equal opportunity employer and a Christian organization. We conduct recruitment without regard to race, ancestry, national origin, age, sex or gender, marital status, parental or pregnancy status, or disability of an otherwise qualified individual. We take a firm stance against racism, discrimination, and harassment and foster an environment where people with a multiplicity of personal characteristics are embraced and valued. Qualified women and people with disabilities are encouraged to apply.