Catholic Relief Services is the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. CRS works to save, protect, and transform lives in need in more than 100 countries, without regard to race, religion or nationality. CRS’ relief and development work are accomplished through programs of emergency response, HIV, health, agriculture, education, microfinance, and peacebuilding.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Program Assistant – Business Development

Job Identification: 3000996
Location: Abuja (FCT)
Job Schedule: Full time
Job Shift: Day
Job Category: Operations and Administration
Travel Required: (15% local travel)
Supervisory Responsibilities: none

About the Business Development Unit

• The Business Development Unit leads the development of competitive, multi-sector and technically complex emergency, recovery, and innovation proposals.
• The unit leads acquisition, including (i) donor engagement with emphasis on new donors/charities/multilateral relationships; (ii) leadership for concept and proposal development processes; and (iii) development of partnerships with academic, private sector and NGO actors to support competitiveness.
• The BD Unit also champion CRS’ thought leadership through (i) development of knowledge and communication products; (ii) engagement in Nigeria, regional and international information-sharing and learning forums.
• The unit also supports the identification, development and scaling of best practices emanating from CP’s Flagship programs, such as THRIVE.

Job Summary

• CRS is seeking a qualified and highly motivated individual who will support the CP’s Business Development Unit. Principally, the Program Assistant will focus on research, administrative and coordination functions in support of the CP’s grant acquisition efforts.
• The Program Assistant will support the BD Unit to ensure that CRS’ programs in Nigeria are of quality and represented well to the international community through effective project design, proposal development, and grant handover.
• Under the direction of the Business Development Specialist, the Program Assistant will work with the Programs and Operations teams, as well as other relevant internal and external stakeholders, in building strategic relationships, supporting the development of new proposals and start-up of new grants.

Roles and Responsibilities
Strategic Positioning Administrative Support:

• Assist BD Specialist in researching strategic donor information and gathering intelligence regarding impending opportunities.
• Assist is scheduling donor meetings and following up with key stakeholders.
• With support from the MarComm Coordinator, assist in planning donor influencing meetings/events.
• Assist the BD Specialist to establish/ strengthen relationships/ linkages and networks with key resilience actors and leading NGOs to gather donor intelligence and build collaborative relationships.

Programming and Proposal Development Support:

• Assist the BD Specialist in working with operations and finance staff on administrative processes towards developing concept papers and prepare proposals.
• With the support of BD Specialist, regularly apply learning, emerging innovations, and best practices from project evaluations, field visit reports, project reports across the program, and from other NGOs and donors to new proposals.
• Assist BD Specialist in identifying and defining funding sources from appropriate public donors to support existing and planned programming activities.

Preferred Qualifications

• Basic understanding of the aid architecture (Humanitarian funding)
• Fluency in English
• Excellent writing skills (especially in English) with a focus on clarity, brevity, and research
• Public speaking and meeting facilitation skills
• Excellent knowledge of MS Office, Access, Google Platforms
• Strong planning and time management skills
• Work collaboratively with team members when
• Program development and management.
• Non-profit fundraising and donor relations.

Key Working Relationships:

• Implementing Partner, Government, Donor, Clusters

Internal:

• BD Specialist, CoPs, PMs, MarComms Coordinator, MEAL Coordinator, DHOP, Admin Teams, Sector leads.

External:

• Donors, INGOs, LNGOs.

Agency-wide Competencies (for all CRS Staff):
Agency competencies clarify expected behaviors and attitudes for all staff. When demonstrated, they create an engaging workplace, help staff achieve their best, and help CRS achieve agency goals. These are rooted in the mission, values, and guiding principles of CRS and used by each staff member to fulfill his or her responsibilities and achieve the desired results.

• Personal Accountability – Consistently takes responsibility for one’s own actions.
• Acts with Integrity – Consistently models values aligned with CRS Guiding Principles and mission. Is considered honest.
• Builds and Maintains Trust – Shows consistency between words and actions.
• Collaborates with Others – Works effectively in intercultural and diverse teams.
• Open to Learn – Seeks out experiences that may change perspective or provide an opportunity to learn new things.

Agency Leadership Competencies:

• Lead Change – Continually look for ways to improve the agency through a culture of agility, openness, and innovation.
• Develops and Recognizes Others – Builds the capacity of staff to reach their full potential and enhance team and agency performance.
• Strategic Mindset – Understands role in translating, communicating, and implementing agency strategy and team priorities.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree in relevant area (English, Int’l Development, Humanities, Social Work, health etc.)
• 1 to 2 years of experience required for the work in humanitarian or development contexts.
• Experience in large-scale humanitarian emergencies
• Basic understanding of project design and proposal writing.
• Basic understanding of working with various major donors and their regulations.
• Basic understanding of CRS’ and Sphere relief standards, and the Red Cross and NGO Code of Conduct.
• The position requires ability and willingness to travel domestically up to 15 % of the time.
• Language Requirements: Excellent oral and written communication skills in English.
• Writing experience.

Application Closing Date
26th October, 2023.

Method of Application
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply online

Note

• This job description is not an exhaustive list of the skill, effort, duties, and responsibilities associated with the position.
• CRS’ talent acquisition procedures reflect our commitment to protecting children and vulnerable adults from abuse and exploitation.