Job Title:   Business Development Officer

Organisation: WaterAid

Duty Station:  Kampala, Uganda

Reports to: Director of Finance

About Organisation:

WaterAid is an international non-governmental organisation, focused on water, sanitation and hygiene. WaterAid’s vision is of a world where everyone has access to safe water and sanitation. WaterAid transforms lives by improving access to safe water, hygiene and sanitation in the world’s poorest communities.

Job Summary:   The Business Development Officer supports the Country programme to increase and diversify its funding base in collaboration with development partners. Supporting the Head of Business Development and the Program Team to strengthen existing relationships and establish new relationships with institutional donors. Supporting development and implementation strategies for partnerships to grow the funding portfolio. The Business Development Officer further provides support for all grants in grants and donor contract management.

Key Duties and Responsibilities:

Acquisition and new business development (Fundraising and Donor liaison

• Supports the develop and submit proposals to your line manager in line with WAU fundraising policies.
• Support the implementation of the WAU fundraising strategy.
• Collaborate with the Head of Business development and Fundraising Committee to develop proposals, including funding requests, partnership projects, and advocacy initiatives, aligned with organizational priorities and donor requirements.
• Support fundraising efforts by identifying potential funding opportunities, preparing grant Support the applications, and engaging with donors and funding agencies.
• Collaborate with the Head of Business Development and Fundraising Committee in Researching and gathering intelligence on fundraising opportunities.
• Support the Head of Business Development and Fundraising Committee in writing of funding proposals & concept notes and submitting these to potential donors.
• Work with the Head of Business Development to ensure effective coordination of proposal development and bid preparations, using staff and consultants as necessary to deliver bids.
• Collaborate with Head of Business Development and Fundraising Committee to ensure effective contract negotiation for strategic, high value opportunities as well as maintain standard negotiating positions for donor contract terms and conditions.

Donor Contract Management

• Review and submit monthly and quarterly donor reports in line with reporting timelines.
• Collaborate with the program team to maintain and update the WaterAid Uganda’s records WAPS system.
• Work with the Head of Business Development to maintain close contact and prompt response to the donor leads from the federation members.

Capacity Building

• Collaborate with the Head of Business Development to orient train and support relevant staff in the different aspects of fundraising.
• Collaborate with the Communication Officer to document learning on the implementation of donor-funded grants and contracts.
• Support capacity building for all grants in grants management to improve burn rates and results-based reporting
• Provide advice for budget reviews and work plans for all grants to improve donor contract management.
• Provide support and guidance to internal teams in managing internal and external collaborations and guide external partner engagement and affiliation with WAU.
• Work with the Head of Business Development to facilitate and provide capacity building trainings for relevant staff in fundraising, funding planning process WAPS and Restricted Income Systems.

Partnership Development, Management and Networking

• Support in donor guidelines developed and rolled out within all projects
• Collaborate with the Head of Business Development to coordinate and facilitate partnership formation where required and proposal development processes externally
• Participate in regional IPD networking and training forums and contribute to development of new IPD strategies to improve practice.
• Support in the development of MOUs, agreements or other required documentation in relation to partnership development
• Work with the Head of Business Development to conduct continuous donor landscape analysis and liaise with cross department teams to update the partnerships database in line with WAU strategic plan and priorities.
• Work with the Head of Business Development to identify, cultivate, and nurture partnerships with key stakeholders at local, national, and international levels to advance the organization’s health and systems initiatives.
• Collaborate with Head of Business Development and Fundraising Committee in building and maintaining strong relationships with existing Donors and partners , ensuring effective communication and collaboration to achieve shared goals.
• Support in maintaining accurate records of donor agreements, activities, and outcomes, and prepare timely reports for internal and external stakeholders as required (liaise with the sub-national engagement coordinator for district level initiatives)
• Supporting the Implementing a variety of marketing strategies and promotional campaigns.
• Support in organizing and attending non-profit events and networking with relevant stakeholders.
• Establishing good relationships with staff, members of the public, donors, partners and the media.

Public relations and branding

• Work with the Head of Business Development to ensure WAU participation and representation at relevant forums, conferences, and events to expand networks, raise visibility, and advocate for reproductive health issues.
• Coordinate closely with internal teams, including program, communications, and finance, to ensure alignment and coherence in external positioning of brand.

Knowledge Management and documentation

• Support in facilitating the exchange of knowledge, best practices, and lessons learned among partners and stakeholders to strengthen collective efforts in advancing reproductive health outcomes.
• Support in preparing presentations, videos, photos and reading materials to promote WAU’s work in collaboration with knowledge management, PMER specialist and relevant departments/sections/staff
• Provide regular updates on fundraising, contribute in preparation of reports and provide feedback to management about what is and is not working.

Risk management. Safeguarding, Safety & Security;

• Support an environment which upholds WaterAid’s Global Code of Conduct and associated safeguarding and child protection policies.
• Support an environment which consistently upholds WaterAid’s Health, Safety & Security Policy.
• Ensure that Safeguarding, Child Protection, and Gender Equality policies are fully embedded in project design and implementation as well as relationships with all actors
• Ensure that comprehensive health, safety and security measures (e.g. risk management plans, local security protocols) have been put in place when designing programmes / project and are consistently upheld during their implementation.
• Ensure that partners that WaterAid works with are adopting the same health, safety and security standards (as defined in any applicable WaterAid health, safety and security policies), and arrange for capacity building support where gaps or weaknesses are identified

Qualifications, Skills and Experience:

• A degree in Project/Programme Management, Social Sciences, Development Studies, Business Management/Administration, International Development, Public Health or related field. Minimum 6 years working experience in the field of Project Management
• Post graduate project management qualification
• Experience in raising funds from donors such as the EU, DFID, USAID, SIDA, NORAD, DANIDA etc and managing the funds.
• 5 years extensive experience in planning, securing, and managing funds from institutional donors as well as a thorough understanding of development programming.
• Experience in stakeholder engagement, public relations, strategic communication, partnership management, and programming.

Required Skills and Competencies

• Proven ability to identify new business opportunities and create successful partnerships.
• In-depth knowledge of the fundraising industry and its current events
• Knowledge of a range of bilateral and multilateral donors and CSR of corporate bodies.
• Experience in consortia partnerships management
• Excellent networking, engagement and negotiating skills and proven ability to initiate and maintain strategic partnerships.
• Strong communication and IT fluency.
• Strong skills in proposal, editing and report writing from experience working with international donors
• Ability to co-ordinate fundraising efforts and work effectively with a wide variety of partners and disciplines.
• Understanding of the national legislation, policies, strategies, and funding mechanisms of WAU.
• Experience in partnership-building, including assessing the suitability of partners, and negotiating and formalizing Memorandums of Understanding.
• Ability to represent WAU at the highest level, including with national bodies and agencies, NGO networks and international donors.
• Willingness to travel within different regions for experience-sharing and workshops.
• Excellent interpersonal, networking and communication skills with the ability to represent WAU in donor forums, develop partnerships with other NG0s.

If you are interested in the position above and have the right skills and attributes, please access the link attached to the position for more details on the job application pack (Job Description and job application form).

Send together with a cover letter to waurecruitments@wateraid.org in the subject line