The Business Development Specialist leads grant acquisition and management efforts for the Country Office (CO) by identifying strategic funding opportunities, building partnerships, and leading proposal development. They control compliance with donor regulations, manage donor relationships, and support capacity building within the office. The Specialist also represents the organization in various forums and supports emergency resource mobilization efforts, particularly within the scope of Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and Emergency and Humanitarian Response (ER).

• Must have a Bachelor's degree in international development, business, project management, or a related field, or equivalent combination of education and experience.


• At least 5 years of experience in grants acquisition and management, including the full grant lifecycle (pre-award, monitoring, and close-out).


• Demonstrated experience in donor engagement and proposal development for major institutional cooperation donors (USAID, EU, UN, etc.).


• Project Management certification preferred.


• Experience using Salesforce or similar customer relationship management (CRM) systems for grant tracking and donor management preferred.


• Experience working in humanitarian or development sectors, especially in contexts related to human mobility preferred.


• Previous experience working with vulnerable populations, migrating families, women, children, and adolescents is preferred.

Primary Responsibilities

Pre-Award Grant Acquisition

• Lead the grant acquisition and management strategy for the Country Office (CO).


• Increase the CO's grant portfolio and diversify funding sources by identifying relevant opportunities.


• Coordinate and lead high-quality proposal development, promoting active engagement from the CO team and partners and managing technical and financial alignment in proposals.


• Support collaboration with partner organizations during proposal development.


• Coordinate with the International Office (IO) and Regional Business Development teams on proposal submissions.


• Monitor the grant proposal progress through internal tracking systems.

Post-Award Grants Management (Start-Up Phase)

• Facilitate the transition from proposal development to project implementation, ensuring a smooth handover to the execution teams.

• Ensure compliance with donor contracts and internal policies during the initial set-up phase, coordinating with legal and compliance teams to finalize agreements.


• With Grants Management team, lead project start-up workshops with project managers, finance, administration, M&E, human resources, and relevant stakeholders to ensure all teams fully understand donor requirements, project objectives, budget, and timelines.


• Monitor early-stage project progress to ensure timely initiation and flag any challenges or delays in implementation; work with the Grants Management team to identify mitigation measures.

Market Intelligence

• Stay updated on market trends, emerging funding opportunities, and donor priorities to align business development efforts with evolving demands.


• Monitor competitors and analyze their strengths and strategies to identify gaps and opportunities for ChildFund's positioning.


• Identify best practices in grant acquisition and management, using insights to enhance competitiveness and refine proposals.


• Assess the organization's internal strengths to strategically position it for new funding streams and partnerships.


• Support capacity building by working with leadership and other teams to identify promising areas for growth and develop staff competencies aligned with future market needs.

Emergency Resource Mobilization

• Act as the focal point for the National Emergency Response Team (NERT) in resource mobilization.


• Integrate Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and Emergency Response (ER) into the office's resource mobilization plan and donor mapping.


• Build and maintain strong relationships with relevant donors, ensuring positive and ongoing engagement.


• Support NERT in developing project concepts and proposals during emergencies, coordinating with the IO and Regional Office.

Donor Relations

• Cultivate and maintain strong relationships with current and prospective donors, providing timely feedback on grant project progress.


• Keep senior management informed about key donor relationships and project status.


• Act as a representative for the organization in donor meetings and networking events, advocating for the organization's goals and projects.

Other Responsibilities

• Remain alert and responsive to any safeguarding risks; acquire relevant knowledge and skills to enable you to understand the safeguarding policy and procedures; promote strong safeguarding practices; perform your duty and responsibility to safeguard, report violations, and promote appropriate behavior; and conduct yourself in a manner consistent with the organization's policies and values.


• Support other CO and organizational priorities as needed, remaining compliant with internal and donor regulations.

Required Competencies

ChildFund's Core Competencies

• Teamwork: the ability to work effectively and collaborate with others; values and respects individual differences.


• Communication: demonstrates empathy and tact when communicating with others and uses a storytelling approach when appropriate.


• Results orientation: gets things done; takes proactive steps to achieve organizational goals and quality standards.


• Decision making: uses good judgement, critical thinking, and non-traditional ways to evaluate problems and opportunities; reflects and innovates to improve decisions and outcomes.


• Resilience: thrives and grows in rapidly changing, demanding, and complex environments.


• Digital literacy: adopts and champions new technology to relevant contexts, stays aware of technological trends and embraces technological solutions to business challenges.

Other Required Competencies

• The ability to speak, read, and write fluently in Spanish and English.


• Excellent writing skills in English and Spanish, with the ability to write and contribute to high-quality proposals and reports.


• Demonstrated strong understanding of the proposal development process, including budgeting and administrative compliance with donor requirements.


• Networking and Relationship Building: Ability to establish and maintain positive relationships with donors, partners, and stakeholders.


• Project Management: Strong organizational skills, capable of handling multiple priorities and managing deadlines across different time zones.


• Financial Acumen: Ability to collaborate with finance teams to ensure accurate and compliant financial management of grants.


• Strategic Thinking: Ability to align grant acquisition strategies with the broader goals of the organization.


• Problem-Solving: Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with a proactive approach to mitigating risks and overcoming challenges.


• Presentation skills: Ability to contribute to capacity building and training of CO staff.


• Technology Skills: Proficiency in MS Office applications, particularly MS Word and Excel, with the ability to learn and adapt to new technologies such as grant management databases.

Other Criteria

• The ability to travel domestically up to 25%.