Program Development Manager USG Contracts - Institutional Donor Engagement Team - US Remote
Description
Location: Washington D.C, or US Remote
Position Status: Exempt, Full time, Regular
Salary Level: US Starting Salary for this role will be USD $76,800 to $91,200 commensurate on experience.
About Mercy Corps
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.
Minimum Qualifications & Transferable Skills
- 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.
Living Conditions / Environmental Conditions
The position is ideally based in Washington D.C.; however, applications for remote work from other locations within the United States are also welcome. The position requires travel approximately 25% quarterly time to the field where living conditions may be exceptionally rugged or be in volatile environments where security protocols will need to be followed. Team members must be ready to deploy to field environments on short notice in response to any emergency or crisis. When in the field the team member must be able to work in remote settings, over weekends and/or evening as required by the schedule, and in settings with limited infrastructure, food options, and living conditions.
Mercy Corps Team members represent the agency both during and outside of work hours when deployed in a field posting or on a visit/temporary assignment to a field posting. Team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner and respect local laws and customs, and adhere to MC's policies, procedures, and values at all times and in all in-country venues.
Ongoing Learning
In support of our belief that learning organizations are more effective, efficient and relevant to the communities we serve, we empower all team members to dedicate 5% of their time to learning activities that further their personal and/or professional growth and development
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
Achieving our mission begins with how we build our team and work together. Through our commitment to enriching our organization with people of different origins, beliefs, backgrounds, and ways of thinking, we are better able to leverage the collective power of our teams and solve the world’s most complex challenges. We strive for a culture of trust and respect, where everyone contributes their perspectives and authentic selves, reaches their potential as individuals and teams, and collaborates to do the best work of their lives.
We recognize that diversity and inclusion is a journey, and we are committed to learning, listening and evolving to become more diverse, equitable and inclusive than we are today.
Equal Employment Opportunity
Mercy Corps is an equal opportunity employer that does not tolerate discrimination on any basis. We actively seek out diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and skills so that we can be collectively stronger and have sustained global impact.
We are committed to providing an environment of respect and psychological safety where equal employment opportunities are available to all. We do not engage in or tolerate discrimination on the basis of race, color, gender identity, gender expression, religion, age, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin, disability (including HIV/AIDS status), marital status, military veteran status or any other protected group in the locations where we work.
Safeguarding & Ethics
Mercy Corps is committed to ensuring that all individuals we come into contact with through our work, whether team members, community members, program participants or others, are treated with respect and dignity. We are committed to the core principles regarding prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse laid out by the UN Secretary General and IASC and have signed on to the Interagency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme. By applying for this role an applicant confirms that they have not previously violated an employer’s sexual misconduct, sexual exploitation and abuse, child safeguarding or trafficking policy. We will not tolerate child abuse, sexual exploitation, abuse, or harassment by or of our team members. As part of our commitment to a safe and inclusive work environment, team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner, respect local laws and customs, and to adhere to Mercy Corps Code of Conduct Policies and values at all times. Team members are required to complete mandatory Code of Conduct e-learning courses upon hire and on an annual basis.
As an applicant, if you witness or experience any form of sexual misconduct during the recruitment process, please report this to Mercy Corps Integrity Hotline ([email protected]).
Covid-19 Vaccine Policy for US-Based Employees
Mercy Corps has determined that, in an effort to protect the health, safety, and well-being of all Mercy Corps employees working in the United States, all U.S.-based employees must be fully vaccinated for COVID-19, regardless of prior COVID-19 infection status. This policy is necessary to ensure not only the safety of our workforce, but the ongoing functionality of the organization.
This policy will be revised as needed to comply with federal, state, and local requirements, and to respond to changing guidance from public health authorities.
For new employees this requirement goes into effect within 10 business days of employment. Team members that travel are expected to comply with host-country requirements, including vaccinations. Failure to comply may impact your employment. Proof of vaccination or exemption must be provided.