Business Development, Partnership and Reporting Manager

Job Title

The Business Development, Partnership and Reporting (BDPR) Manager will directly support the Country Director (CD) and the Director of Programs (DoP) in leading strategic positioning and fundraising initiatives. He/she will lead the development of new initiatives (aligned on Mercy Corps programmatic strategy), manage new partnerships, ensure donor representation and provide oversight and support to ensure donor compliance as well as quality reporting for all active and future programs in DRC. As a result, he/she will play an essential role in Mercy Corps DRC strategic development and will contribute to the expansion of its programmatic portfolio.

Responsibilities

• Map existing implementing and potential partners as well as other donor projects, across a variety of technical sectors (including emergency response, WASH, health, protection, market systems development, livelihoods, natural resource management and social cohesion).
• In collaboration with the CD, DoP and Program Leads, help build strategic relationships with key stakeholders, peer agencies and donors that lead towards funding opportunities.
• In collaboration with the CD, DoP and Program Leads, help build relationships with potential partners, including international and national NGOs for sustainable programming.
• Work with teams to develop a comprehensive and functional mission-level stakeholder engagement strategy aligned with the country strategy to determine opportunities, and support donor engagement and partnerships management.
• Under the delegation of the DoP, participate in key donor meetings and consultations, support donor contacts, when necessary, to foster long-term collaboration, engagement, and strategic prepositioning.
• Ensure key contacts, required formats and donor strategies are kept up to date at the country office level.
• Update and maintain tracking system for potential and current donors and new business opportunities.
• Interface with Mercy Corps headquarters and the regional office to keep abreast of donor strategic priorities, specific requirements, and deadlines
• Lead proposal development processes, drafting and producing high quality concept notes and proposals that support Mercy Corps DRC strategic programming goals. This includes a strong coordination leadership between the CD, DoP, SMT, program Leadership, support services and field teams.
• Develop systems and ensure all program development/new business development opportunities are systematically managed and ensure regular updates and engagement of the CD, DoP and SMT.
• Identify and act on capacity building and inclusion strategies to increase the voice of national staff in the new initiatives process, with an eye for leveraging internal talent into new initiative processes, including but not limited to, supporting trainings, facilitating participatory design workshops, capacity building trainings, etc.
• Coordinate with programming teams to identify key public stakeholder relationships and wherever possible, strengthen the voice of external stakeholders in the design process.
• Ensure new initiatives processes comply with PM@MC standards and are in alignment with Mercy Corps Country Strategy, GEDSI, GDI, and do no harm approaches through the involvement of relevant MEL, gender, youth, and conflict advisors in the design process.
• Ensure full internal and HQ review and sign off as per the proposal development process.
• Support coordination with the HQ and Regional teams.
• Conduct and document after action review processes for new initiatives and partnerships, maximizing learning and internal organizational documentation.
• Following new initiative awards, facilitate teams through a handover process, supporting the onboarding of new staff to the program design and development process, ensuring full understanding of program scope. Provide inputs to kick off processes, particularly as it relates to key concerns and priorities raised during the design process and relevant partnership strategies.
• Liaise with the Programs, Finance and Operations Teams in the development of budgets of funding proposals.
• Support the program leadership on the development of the broader Country Office strategy.
• Develop external strategic communication materials, such as strategic two-pagers, sector profiles, impact reports, program briefings, leadership and positioning pieces, key messages, talking points, and other relevant pieces.
• Support the DoP in the development of documents or other related initiatives leveraging evidence from programs.
• Ensure high-quality information sharing among internal and external audiences.
• Represent Mercy Corps in external coordination forums, as requested.
• Support the CD, DoP, Program leadership and Communications Advisor in any specific external communication initiative.
• Oversee reporting workflows and processes between Program Teams, senior leadership, and HQ to ensure the timely and quality development, review and submission of reports and other communication products.
• Maintain a reporting tracker and share regularly with Program and MEL Teams.
• Provide timely, thorough responses to information requests from internal and external sources.
• Support the adherence of teams to PM@MC minimum standards in partnership with the DoP, the PQEL Manager and the Program leadership.
• Support program kick-off, regular portfolio review and close-out meetings to ensure that all program information, including deadlines, donor priorities and requirements, are communicated and understood by the team, and programs are closed in compliance with donor regulations.
• Maintain effective communications with headquarters and regional staff, providing timely updates on programs and flagging potential issues promptly.
• Collaborate with the PQEL Manager to develop an evidence base and learning pieces to improve program quality.
• Support the integration of Mercy Corps’ global rebrand within the DRC Country Office, ensuring that brand positioning, key messages, and visual identity are strategically leveraged to strengthen donor engagement, competitive positioning, and fundraising success.
• Under the direction of the CD as well asDoP and in close collaboration with the CO Communications, PQEL and HQ Brand teams, translate the global brand narrative into compelling, context-specific positioning materials that elevate Mercy Corps DRC’s visibility, thought leadership, and influence with priority donors and partners.
• Help to monitor brand consistency and proactively identify opportunities to use the refreshed brand to advance strategic growth and partnership objectives.
• Ensure compliance with security procedures and policies as determined by country leadership.
• Proactively ensure that team members operate in a secure environment and are aware of policies.

Requirements

• BA degree in relevant field and MA preferred.
• 2-5 years experience in roles with significant new business responsibility, with demonstrated strengths inprogram or portfolio management, proposal development, and donor reporting.
• Demonstrated experience with new business workstreams including donor engagement, pipeline management, prospecting and prepositioning.
• Good familiarity with US and EU donors and corporate, trust and foundation donors, preferred
• Familiarity with institutional donor regulations related to reporting requirements and ability to understand and adjust to the donor contractual requirements.
• Excellent planning, management, and coordination skills, with the ability to organize a workload comprised of varying and changing tasks and responsibilities.
• Experience in staff management, supervision, and capacity building.
• Demonstrated experience in working in a multi-cultural and high-stress environment.
• Fluent in English and French. Excellent writing and editing skills in both languages required.
• Excellent representation skills required.
• Previous work experience in DRC, preferred.

Who You Are

You are passionate about strategic development as well aspartnership relations, and you love responding to the challenges and opportunities of coordinating ambitious proposals. You have been involved in project development initiatives and have experience with various stakeholders, such as institutional donors, development finance institutions, national/international NGOs and private sector. You understand how an international NGO such as Mercy Corps needs to design products to raise funds and strengthen partnerships. You are a fantastic communicator, internally as well as externally, and you are strongly interested in international assistance in complex settings.

Accountability

Reports Directly To: Director of Programs

Works Directly With: the CD, the Senior Management Team (SMT), the program leadership, the field teams, the Communication Advisor, support services as well as HQ and regional teams.

Supervisory Responsibility

None