Multi-Country Business Development and Grants Manager – MENA

Position description

Mercy Corps implements a variety of programming throughout the MENA/Europe region in response to the diverse humanitarian and long-term development needs of the region. Mercy Corps has ongoing programs in Ukraine, Georgia, Syria, Yemen, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and Palestine. Mercy Corps is committed to delivering high quality, high impact programming that reaches communities or individuals in need, wherever they are.

Mercy Corps recently launched its new global ten-year strategy, “Pathway to Possibility,” which reflects our ambitions to not only meet basic needs of communities affected by conflict and climate, but to achieve lasting, transformational change at scale. Pathway to Possibility (P2P) includes a three-layers resilience approach at its core and aims to deliver impact through four key outcome areas: Food Security, Water Security, Economic Opportunity, and Peace and Good Governance. P2P is also driven by five organizational commitments on being climate smart; evidence-driven; safe, diverse and inclusive; locally-led; and innovative and creative.

As a result of recent funding disruptions, Mercy Corps’ MENA/Europe Leadership has decided to optimize resources and create efficiencies by creating a new structure for smaller country portfolios under the management of the regional team directly; namely Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Yemen. This role is the product of this structural change decision.

General Position Summary 

The Business Development and Grants Manager is responsible for overseeing new business development and grants processes for Mercy Corps’ multi-country structure in MENA/Europe, supporting program teams in Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Yemen. The Business Development and Grants Manager will support the Multi-Country Director of Programs in securing new programs by coordinating and leading proposal development processes. The Business Development and Grants Manager will develop and maintain a system to ensure timely submission of quality donor reports as well as communication pieces. They will work with Country and Program Managers on donor reporting as needed, providing review and quality checks.

The Business Development and Grants Manager will collaborate closely with Program/Project Managers and Country Managers, as well as the Regional Program Team (including the Award Management Team (AMT), Business Development Advisor, and technical advisors) based in the region and global headquarters. 

Essential Job Responsibilities  

PRE-POSITIONING AND DONOR ENGAGEMENT

• Map and track existing donor priorities and funding opportunities across technical sectors relevant to the respective country strategies in coordination with Country and Program Managers, and the regional Award Management and Business Development teams, including maintaining a database of donor contacts

• Interface with Mercy Corps headquarters and the regional office to keep abreast of donor strategic priorities, specific requirements and deadlines. 

• In partnership with the Multi-Country DoP, Country and Program Managers, AMT, and Regional BD Advisor, produce short and unsolicited concepts that are used for donor engagement. 

PROPOSAL DEVELOPMENT

• Initiate the appraisal process for new funding opportunities, leading to go/no go decisions.
• Lead the development of concept notes and proposals, coordinating across departments, with the region and HQ, engaging particularly with the Evidence & Learning team, technical advisors, program leads and finance to ensure the production of high quality proposals that are reflective of Mercy Corps and donor strategic objectives, are operationally viable and accurately reflect the cost of doing business.
• Coordinate to ensure that prior to submission all proposals are reviewed and approved by management and HQ, as appropriate.
• Liaise with the Programs, Finance and Operations Teams in the development of budgets of funding proposals.
• Lead on modification of programs in response to changing contexts and implementation realities.
• Conduct after action reviews of completed proposal processes and document lessons learned.   

REPORTING AND PROGRAM COMMUNICATIONS

• 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 teams
• Coordinate and provide timely, thorough responses to information requests from HQ and donors related to reports and proposals
• Whenever relevant and possible and with the support of the regional Communications and Technical and Evidence and Learning Teams, support the development of communication materials, such as sector profiles, impact reports, infographics, factsheets, success stories, videos, and other relevant pieces.
• Represent Mercy Corps in external coordination forums, as requested. 

RECORD RETENTION AND COORDINATION

• Oversee maintenance of a grant filing system, ensuring compliance with PM@MC minimum standards.
• Organize and lead grant kick-off and close-out meetings to help ensure that all grant information, including deadlines, donor priorities and requirements, are communicated and understood by the team, and grants are closed in compliance with donor regulations.

 ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING  

• As part of our commitment to organizational learning and in support of our understanding that learning organizations are more effective, efficient and relevant to the communities they serve - we expect all team members to commit 5% of their time to learning activities that benefit Mercy Corps as well as themselves.  

Supervisory Responsibility: None

Accountability

Reports Directly To: Multi-Country Director of Programs 

Works Directly With: Project/Program Managers, Country Managers and other country program teams, Finance Teams Award Management Team, Regional Business Development Advisor, Regional Technical and Evidence and Learning 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. 

Knowledge and Experience

• BA degree in relevant field; MA in a field related to Humanitarian Assistance or International Development preferred. 
• 3 to 5 years of progressive work experience, with demonstrated strengths in program or portfolio management, grants management, proposal development, and donor reporting. 
• Familiarity with key institutional donors (ECHO, EC, FCDO, etc.) and other donor regulations related to reporting requirements and ability to understand and adjust to the donor contractual requirements preferred. 
• Experience with development funding institutions (World Bank, EBRD, IFC etc...) and private donors (foundations, corporations and others) will be an asset.
• Excellent planning, management and coordination skills, with the ability to organize a workload comprised of varying and changing tasks and responsibilities.
• Proven ability to work cooperatively with internal and external stakeholders, with demonstrated skills in relationship-building and coordination.
• Demonstrated experience working in a multi-cultural and high-stress environment. 
• Excellent writing and editing skills in English required. 
• Excellent representation skills required. 
• Proven contextual knowledge of the Middle East region preferred.

 Success Factors 

The successful candidate will be eager to learn through doing and will not shy away from tough challenges. This position has a critical function in ensuring grant management systems and processes are successfully implemented across the life of a grant and key controls are in place to support effective management of the funding portfolio and compliance with the donor requirements. As such this person will be very closely working with different departments across the multi-country and regional team structures. The successful candidate is passionate about humanitarian and development work and is committed to the delivery of high-quality products while respecting deadlines. They will be patient, flexible and are able to improvise and remain responsive and communicate clearly and effectively under pressure. They will excel at prioritizing and organizing processes and are detail oriented. They will have a passion for writing. 

Living Conditions / Environmental Conditions 

The position is based either in Amman, Jordan; Beirut, Lebanon; or Aden, Yemen. Team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner and respect local laws, customs and 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

 Team Engagement and Effectiveness 

Achieving our mission starts with how we build our team and collaborate. By bringing together individuals with a variety of experiences, backgrounds, and perspectives, we strengthen our ability to solve complex challenges and drive innovation. We foster a culture of trust and respect, where every team member is valued for their contributions, empowered to reach their full potential, and motivated to do their best work. We recognize that building a strong and effective team is an ongoing process, and we remain committed to learning, improving, and growing together.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Mercy Corps is an equal opportunity employer committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all employees and qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, sex, sexual orientation, religion or belief, national origin, age, disability, marital status, veteran status, or any other characteristics protected under applicable law.  

Safeguarding & Ethics 

Application instructions

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