Key skills

Business devlopment

project proposal writing

negotiations skill

Partnership experience

Additional/Preferred Skills

fund mobilizations

Preferred Qualifications

MA

About ICRISAT

ICRISAT is a non-profit, non-political organisation that conducts agricultural research for development in Asia and Africa, working with partners around the world. Drylands cover about 45% of the world's land, are home to 2.3 billion people (one in three) and support 45–50% of the world's livestock. ICRISAT's vision is a prosperous, food-secure and resilient dryland tropics. ICRISAT is headquartered in Patancheru, Hyderabad, India, with two regional hubs and eight country offices in Africa. For more information visit - www.icrisat.org

Role Purpose

ICRISAT seeks applications from dynamic and motivated professionals as a Consultant – Business Development Lead. The incumbent will work on a project Funded by SERVIR, to enhance the sustainability and fund mobilization for West Africa hub. The description should indicate that this position is a part-time job (0.5–0.7 FTE). The selected candidate will be placed in any of the locations - Accra, Dakar or will work remotely.

Key Responsibilities:

  • Strategy Development: Develop and implement the hub’s annual business development strategy aligned with SERVIR’s network-wide sustainability objectives. This should capture expected outputs from the evolving services to inform business development strategies and market-entry plans.
  • Funding Oversight: Actively scout for and monitor funding opportunities and solicitations, input them into the SERVIR tracking database (e.g., ticketing forms, HubSpot), maintain a proactive funding pipeline, and support proposal development in line with SERVIR’s proposal development SOP.
  • Proposal Leadership: Coordinate proposal development across technical teams and regional partners, ensuring high-quality submissions aligned with SERVIR priorities.
  • Partnership Development: Develop and maintain relationships with governments, donors, NGOs, research institutions, philanthropic organisations, and private-sector partners, including the design and implementation of business models tailored for non-traditional donors (e.g., philanthropic organisations, private sector entities, and individuals).
  • Translating Technical Capability into Value: Work closely with the hub’s technical teams to understand evolving Earth observation and Geo-AI platform capabilities, and translate them into compelling value propositions, investment concepts, partnership opportunities, and proposal narratives that support sustainability and future fund mobilisation.
  • Coordination: Work with the SERVIR Global secretariat and the other hubs to pursue multi-regional opportunities and share business development intelligence.
  • Communication: Represent the hub at strategic conferences, donor meetings, and regional forums, communicating the impact and value of SERVIR’s services.

Essential Qualifications and skills:

  • Minimum 5 years of progressively responsible experience in business development, resource mobilisation and project management.
  • Demonstrated experience with international development organisations and development finance institutions (UN agencies, World Bank, AfDB, IFAD, GCF, GEF) as staff, consultant or lead counterpart on funded programmes.
  • Strong track record in resource mobilisation: developing successful funding proposals and securing grants or investments from bilateral/multilateral donors, climate funds, philanthropic foundations or the private sector.
  • Excellent proposal writing, negotiation, communication and stakeholder engagement skills.
  • Ability to translate technical capability (Earth observation, GeoAI) into value propositions, investment concepts and proposal narratives.
  • Full professional fluency in English (written and spoken).
  • Strong interpersonal, collaboration, and teamwork abilities, with experience working effectively in multidisciplinary and multicultural environments.

Terms of Appointment

This is a contract role for 12 months.

How to apply

The position will remain open until a suitable candidate is identified. Shortlisting will start from 24 November 2026. All applicants should apply with their latest resume, and the names and contact information of three references that are knowledgeable about their professional qualifications and work experience. All applications will be acknowledged; however, only short-listed candidates will be contacted. Applicants must be nationals of the country of assignment or possess a valid work permit and legal authorization to work in the country to be eligible to apply for this position.

ICRISAT is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to increasing diversity and maintaining a progressive and inclusive workplace. We welcome applications from all qualified candidates regardless of their ethnicity, race, gender, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, age, marital status or whether they have a disability.


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Before applying, please make sure that you have read the requirements for the position and that you qualify. Applications from non-qualifying applicants will most likely be discarded by the recruiting manager.