Vice President, Business Development

About Trickle Up

Since 1979, Trickle Up has focused on the poorest and most vulnerable, working with participants who live in extreme poverty and face multiple levels of exclusion due to gender, ethnicity, religion, and disability. The organization has worked with over 485,000 participants and their families, helping to sustainably lift over two million people out of extreme poverty in India, Africa, and the Americas. Our mission is to partner with women in extreme poverty to build economic opportunity and drive inclusion. Trickle Up works through partner organizations, to build paths to savings, food security, and agency, resulting in sustainable poverty reduction at scale.

Position Overview

The Vice President, Business Development provides overall leadership of the Business Development team overseeing proposal development. In this role, the Vice President is responsible for leading business development strategies with multiple key stakeholders. This includes developing and updating business development approaches; working with technical and finance teams as well as Trickle Up Regional and Country Offices and other partners to prospect, network, and identify new opportunities for US Government funding; managing the business development team; and coordinating the development of winning proposals. The Vice President and her/his team will ensure the quality of all aspects of the proposal process and will be responsible for the management of selected proposal opportunities from inception through proposal submission. The Business Development Unit will also participate in negotiations with donors and primes and project hand-over and start-up processes.

Reporting to the CEO and participating in the Global Leadership Team the Vice President will be expected to collaborate with Trickle Up’s leadership on the development and implementation of Trickle Up’s fundraising strategy. This includes maintaining, updating, and presenting the pipeline; contributing to the annual budget forecast cycle; representing Trickle Up at selected external events and with diverse internal stakeholders; coordinating external networks; and engaging with peer organizations, donors, and potential donors. The Vice President will also advise the Leadership Team on relevant trends and be expected to co-create new and innovative funding and implementation models.

Principal Functions

Develop and implement Trickle Up’s business development strategy

• Collaborate with Trickle Up’s Leadership Team to develop a comprehensive USG-focused business development strategy including approaches, tools, and metrics.
• Lead the implementation of the business development strategy including coordinating actions of relevant stakeholders.
• Propose, cost out, and oversee strategic investments in new business development and the budget planning cycle.
• Contribute to identifying emerging areas for Trickle Up to shape opportunities with donors.

Coordination of business development-focused networking and representation

• Lead the Business Development Unit, technical teams, and other internal stakeholders to identify, track, and position for relevant upcoming funding opportunities in coordination with Country Offices, partner organizations, and relevant technical teams.
• Identify and present together with others Trickle Up’s capabilities to USG and other donors such as corporations and foundations.
• Represent Trickle Up’s USG business development interests at relevant meetings, events, and among formal and informal networks of peer organizations.
• Conduct or coordinate prospecting visits to Trickle Up’s Country Offices to identify and prepare for upcoming funding opportunities by gathering and analyzing intelligence to inform collaborative proposal development strategies including partnering.
• Engage with Trickle Up Country or Regional Offices to enable them to understand USG proposal requirements and build their capacity in relevant USG proposal development topics. 
• Manage pre-solicitation proposal preparations, bid planning and strategy development, partnership building, identifying win themes and gaps, and intelligence gathering and sharing.
• Liaise and collaborate with Trickle Up’s Individual Giving team in the development and delivery of combined (USG/Corporate/Individual fundraising opportunities, with the intent of leveraging support from multiple donors to amplify the success of Trickle Up’s mission.
• Maintain an up-to-date detailed proposal tracker including opportunities in various stages of development.

Leadership of the development of the USG proposal process

• Oversee all aspects of the USG-funded proposal processes including proper submission of high-quality, responsive, winning bids.
• Support reviews and writing of specific sections including overall proposal structure, context and background sections, technical design, and drafting and review of management and/or other proposal sections.
• Ensure completeness and timeliness of USG proposal submissions.

Lead and manage the Business Development Unit

• Support the recruitment and retention of qualified business development professionals.
• Manage the BD Unit including maintaining team spirit and performance, setting annual goals, encouraging career development, addressing issues within the team, and ensuring equitable distribution of work.

Qualifications

Education requirements

• Master’s degree in international development or related field and a minimum of ten years of work experience in a business development setting; or
• Bachelor’s degree in international development or related field and at least twelve years of work experience in a business development setting or related field.

Experience requirements

• Demonstrated success with USG, especially USAID capture and proposal processes and procedures.
• Human and Financial management experience.
• Negotiation experience and skills, preferably with USG donors.
• Budget development experience.
• An understanding of the global humanitarian structure.
• Demonstrated ability to develop, implement, and adapt USG-focused business development strategies in a rapidly changing environment.
• Proven record of accomplishment winning USG programs across a variety of procurement mechanisms.
• Deep and demonstrated understanding of USG donors, with a wide network of contacts within USAID (United States Agency for International Development) and other government donors and implementors.
• Demonstrated ability to provide advice to the Leadership Team on business development opportunities, investments, and budgets.
• Demonstrated ability to identify and generate new and innovative international development funding and implementation models in alignment with Trickle Up’s technical capabilities.
• Demonstrated ability to work with diverse, interdisciplinary, and multi-national teams to produce high-quality products on time.
• Demonstrated understanding and acceptance of Gender, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion principles.
• Demonstrated experience working in a range of different contexts in developing countries in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America.
• Demonstrated experience in building networks to create and negotiate mutually beneficial partnerships to pursue new business opportunities.

Behavioral Competencies and Skills

• Excellent technical skills in writing, editing, formatting, research, negotiation, and verbal communications.
• Strong organizational skills.
• Proven management acumen.
• Excellent interpersonal skills.
• Ability to coordinate multiple projects simultaneously, work well under pressure, and meet deadlines.
• Ability to effectively communicate with and coordinate activities of multiple stakeholders, including field-based staff.
• Ability to collaborate with others and work as part of a team.
• Ability to adapt to rapidly changing priorities.
• A sincere commitment to help alleviate poverty.

Other requirements

• Willingness to travel (20-25%) and in locations with limited amenities.

Languages

• Fluent in English. Spanish or French is a plus.

Salary and Benefits

We offer a salary between $136,318 to $161,878 commensurate with experience along with a generous benefits package including medical, dental, and vision, life insurance, professional development opportunities, access to other voluntary benefits, and a fully vested 403B retirement plan as well as paid time off and paid federal holidays. The successful applicant will join a dynamic, passionate, multicultural team deeply committed to alleviating extreme poverty. Trickle Up promotes a collegial, high-performing organizational culture in which staff communicate clearly and openly, and are reflective, innovative, and mutually accountable.

To Apply 

To be considered, please click the “Apply for this Position” button and follow the instructions to upload your cover letter and resume. Applications will be considered on a rolling basis until October 25, 2024. We are sorry we are unable to answer phone calls related to this posting.

All offers of employment will be subject to satisfactory references and appropriate screening checks, which include criminal records checks and other reference-check databases Trickle Up participates in the Inter-Agency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme. In line with this initiative, as part of the referencing process, we will request information from job applicants’ previous employers about any findings of sexual exploitation, abuse, or harassment during employment. By applying, you confirm your understanding of these recruitment procedures.

Trickle Up requires that employees be vaccinated for COVID-19 before visiting or working in a Trickle Up office or conducting any travel or in-person meetings on behalf of our organization. If you are hired for this position, Trickle Up will require proof that you have received the COVID-19 vaccine or have a valid religious or medical reason not to be vaccinated.

Trickle Up is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We value a diverse workforce and extend equal opportunity to all applicants and employees regardless of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, marital status, sexual orientation, veteran status, disability, or any other status protected by law. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable people with disabilities to perform essential job functions.