Head, Business Development

Background/Job Purpose

Reporting to the Director, Programs and Impact, the Business Development Manager will be responsible for assisting the Executive Secretary and the Director, Programs and Impact, with resource mobilization, and growing ACBF business through creating, maintaining, and facilitating effective partnerships between ACBF and its collaborating and financing partners, including national governments, non-governmental organizations, bilateral and multilateral institutions, and Foundations to secure resources for ACBF programs.  S/he will be responsible for promoting the Foundation and its achievements and be the liaison between ACBF program teams and funding and implementing partners in coordinating proposal development, partner solicitation, and reporting on results.

Main Duties and Responsibilities:

·       New business development: Actively identifies, qualifies, and tracks funding and partnership opportunities in a systematic manner in pursuit of supporting ACBF’s programs to grow income for the Foundation through multi-country funding opportunities and scoping new partnerships.

·       Resource mobilization strategies: Leads the design and implementation of resource mobilization strategies intended to strengthen income and partnerships to deliver the Foundation’s strategy. Responsible for ensuring that the Foundation’s programs are adequately resourced. Monitors the funding pipeline and leads on income planning and forecasting.

·       Strategic donor engagement: Responsible for managing and building ACBF’s relationships with institutional donor representatives. Proactively engages on a strategic basis with institutional donors to facilitate technical programme exchanges, influence policy and thinking, and identify key areas of potential cooperation, including program funding.

·       Coordination: Co-ordinates to strengthen business development activities within the organization. Links with colleagues (primarily the Executive Secretary, Strategic Advisor, and Director, Programs and Impact) to access intelligence, opportunities, and skills. Brokering and streamlining assistance from technical advisers. Supports staff within the organization to adhere to funding policies and guidelines.

·       Management: Provide line management for any funding  ensuring a consistent standard of excellence in resource mobilization from one country to another. Advises ACBF teams on recruitment, risk identification, skills training, and capacity building.

·       Promote and ensure uptake of ACBF Academy and Institutional Accelerator, as well as knowledge services by partners/clients, including governments, civil society, and Pan-African organizations as well as international development partners and the private sector.

·       Collaborate with the Board Secretariat to follow up on member states annual fees and pledges and increase the rate of payment.

 External

·       Representing the Foundation in diverse communities, including speaking engagements, attending conferences, and participating in other key internal and external meetings. 

·       Network building and connecting grantees, partners, and other stakeholders.

·       Build the influence and leverage of ACBF work to achieve greater impact. This includes facilitating and managing partnerships/relationships with other capacity-building actors, donors, and other actors to advance the strategy.

·       Manage relationships and coordinate engagement with Ministries, and other stakeholders, expected results, and milestones.

 Partnership Development

·       Build, prioritize and manage a pipeline of prospective partners.

·       Actively source new partners for the Foundation and manage a portfolio of existing relationships. 

·       Help shape the broader strategy for engaging partners at scale as effort matures.

·       Manage relationships and coordinate engagement with key partners, and the role of each partner’s expected results, and milestones.

·       Develop and sustain effective partnerships and networks for the delivery of an impactful program ensuring the delivery of ACBF’s value add.

Desired Qualifications, Competencies and Experience

·       The minimum requirement is a university degree or equivalent in Business Administration, Law, Economics, International Development, or other relevant experience.

·       Demonstrated experience and success in engaging with bilateral and multilateral donors.

·       Demonstrated ability to devise and implement resource mobilization strategies.

·       Proven ability to identify new business opportunities and partnerships.

·       Experience working with technical teams to develop program proposals that are funded by donors.

·       Strong networking, representational, and negotiation skills.

·       Ability to work effectively with others in a team across institutional boundaries and business units. Proven ability to utilize talent and expertise of team members to achieve objectives.

·       Ability to adapt and work within a multicultural, multilingual, and multidisciplinary environment.

·       Experience of skills capacity building in relation to programme funding or related field.

·       Superior verbal and written communication skills in English and ideally, French, with ability to analyze and synthesize complex issues.

·       Good familiarity with government decision-making processes, both political and technical, including budget processes, appropriation, protocols, and communications. 

·       Strong proven ability to identify and articulate strategic and policy issues through effective oral and written briefs.

·       Good knowledge and awareness of issues related to ACBF’s strategic objectives and theories of change.

·       Ability to make effective, timely decisions and take prudent risks.

·       Ability to effectively use software programs such as Microsoft Office Word, Excel, PowerPoint, SharePoint, and Outlook. Experience with project management in ERP systems would be an asset.

·       Experience in the implementation of internationally funded projects will be a distinct advantage.

Personal Characteristics

·       An intellectually curious but humble leader with a high degree of compassion, able to engage, enable and inspire.

·       A hands-on approach to all activities with real passion and high levels of energy. Agile and comfortable adapting to different environments.

·       Creative and resourceful in overcoming barriers and unexpected roadblocks. Courageous in spirit, driving change through innovation.

·       An authentic leader who intuitively engenders an inclusive environment, enabling program to reach its ambitious goals.

·       Possesses high personal standards of ethics and integrity towards employees, stakeholders, and beneficiaries.

·       Diversity of thought and experience. Continually seeks new perspectives and feedback, takes an inclusive approach,

·       High levels of learning-agility with a real interest in the capacity building ecosystem.

·       Entrepreneurial and comfortable with ambiguous and change-led environments; self-confident with an authentic style that gravitates to championing change.

·       Eager to seek a challenge and expand frontiers; brings a visionary approach. Sets and meets a high bar of goals and principles.

·       Servant leadership mentality, deeply committed to serving and listening to others. Natural ability to build strong relationships and enable collaboration through empathy and authenticity.

·       Committed to building a community through ACBF’s principles.

Compensation

The African Capacity Building Foundation offers a competitive salary commensurate with experience.  The Foundation provides a very generous package of benefits.

 About the African Capacity Building Foundation

For more than 30 years, The African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) has been building human capital and institutional capacity for Africa’s sustainable development. With membership from 40 African Countries, the African Development Bank, the United Nations Development Program, The African Union, and The World Bank, ACBF is the leading institution for capacity development in Africa. While serving all actors, ACBF recognizes the importance of and pays attention to improving the effectiveness of Africa’s public sector institutions at local, national, regional, and continental levels to become effective systems integrators and catalyzers of sustainable and transformative change.

Since its creation in 1991, ACBF has trained over 50,000 personnel in civil service, most of whom hold key positions in Ministries of Finance, Planning or Economic Development and Central Banks across the continent. The Foundation has established a network of over 50 think tanks supporting evidence-based policymaking across Africa and conducted numerous policy research/analyses, which have been critical in informing economic management and establishing benchmarks for success.

 The Foundation currently maintains offices in Accra, Addis Ababa, Harare, and Nairobi. 

To apply for this position please submit in confidence a resume and a cover letter that details why you are a good fit for this career position quoting the reference, “Head, Business Development /12/2023,’ to   E-mail:  Recruitment@acbf-pact.org

 Please note, only candidates under serious consideration will be contacted. 

The African Capacity Building Foundation is an Equal Opportunity Employer

We strongly encourage qualified female candidates to apply.

For detailed information and the application process, visit our website on https://www.acbf-pact.org/work-us/vacancies