DIRECTOR, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

JOB SUMMARY:

The Director of Business Development plays a leadership role in the Institutional Funding and Strategy (IFS) team, managing the full life cycle of proposal development for a variety of key institutional donors including the US Government, World Bank, Green Climate Fund, and others important humanitarian and development work worldwide. Working in close consultation with program technical units and CARE's 65+ country offices (COs), the Director oversees the identification, assessment and positioning for priority opportunities, as well as live-proposal design, writing and final submission. The Director plays a lead role in proposal quality control and process improvement, bid prioritization and decision-making, resource planning and management, and partnership relationship management.

In this role, the Director will lead on key research initiatives around donor and opportunity positioning. They will leverage AI to build on CAREs wealth of internal resources, both for proposal writing as well as developing other key positioning resources.

The Director regularly oversees various consultants for IFS. They participate on the IFS Senior Management Team (SMT), contributing to team-wide coordination and improvement initiatives.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

Strategic Pipeline Management and Positioning

Work with IFS, Country Offices, Technical Teams, and Bid Board to identify, screen and prioritize opportunities.

Ensure alignment of priority opportunities with organizational strategy through regular engagement with Country Directors and senior technical leadership

Oversee opportunity tracking across all pipeline stages, working with Proposal Managers, Country Offices and Technical Teams on advance donor positioning, opportunity research and relationship building.

Play a central role in Go/No-Go decision-making, ensuring timely and strategic progression of opportunities.

Proposal Development Leadership and Coordination

Oversee and guide the full proposal lifecycle for complex and high-value institutional bids, from early positioning through submission

Lead proposal design processes, including strategy development, team formation, partner engagement, and budget alignment

Direct coordination of cross-functional teams (technical, country, recruitment, finance, and external consultants) to ensure strong, cohesive proposals

Provide writing inputs where relevant, supporting consultant and in-house lead proposal writers

Ensure timely, compliant, and competitive submissions aligned with donor expectations

Proposal Quality Assurance, Innovation, and Process Improvement

Lead quality assurance across all phases of proposal development, ensuring strong technical content, compliance, and adherence to CARE and donor standards

Develop and continuously improve tools, templates, guidance, and training to strengthen proposal development capacity across HQ and Country Offices

Oversee structured review processes (e.g., color team reviews) to enhance proposal competitiveness

Drive innovation in business development, including the application of AI and knowledge management tools to improve efficiency, quality, and positioning

Team Leadership, Resource Planning, and Partnership Management

Supervise consultants and mentor Proposal Managers as needed

Lead resource planning across the pipeline, including consultant engagement and surge capacity management

Oversee proposal budgeting to ensure strategic investment in bid development

Build and manage strategic partnerships and consultant relationships to strengthen proposal positioning and delivery capacity, while contributing to IFS SMT priorities and organizational initiatives