TITLE: Head of Program Development and Resource Mobilization
TEAM/PROGRAMME: Programme Development and Quality (PDQ) LOCATION: Kabul, Afghanistan
GRADE: INT 3 CONTRACT LENGTH: 2 Years with possibility of extension
CHILD SAFEGUARDING:
Level 3: The post holder will have contact with children and/or young people either frequently (e.g. once a week or more) or intensively (e.g. four days in one month or more or overnight) because they work country programs; or are visiting country programs; or because they are responsible for implementing the police checking/vetting process staff.
ROLE PURPOSE:
The Head of Program Development and Resource Mobilization will work closely with the Country Director, Deputy Country Director-PDQ, and other program staff to expand and diversify Save the Children Afghanistan's funding sources and partnerships, ensuring the effective resourcing of the Country Strategic Plan (CSP).
Aligned with Save the Children’s Global Breakthroughs, this role is central to achieving the country’s programmatic goals. The Head of Program Development and Resource Mobilization will coordinate the development of the annual funding strategy, establish a robust engagement plan with members, donors, implementing partners, and key stakeholders, and oversee an efficient system for identifying and pursuing new funding opportunities, including portfolio analysis and donor landscape scanning. For specific funding opportunities, this role will lead the proposal development process.
The post holder will collaborate across the SCI Movement (Global SCI team, Members, and other Country Offices as required) to implement the country funding strategy and serve as the primary link with the Regional Office for New Business Development best practices and capacity-building initiatives.
SCOPE OF ROLE:
Reports to: Deputy Country Director- Program Development and Quality
Dotted Line: SCI Global New Business Development Team
Staff Reporting to this Post: 3 direct lines
Key working relationships: Function as the main liaison with the SCI Global NBD team, ensuring seamless coordination between the members and the country office team. Actively collaborate with the Country Office Senior Leadership Team, Finance, Awards, Technical Experts/Operations, the Deputy Country Director-PDQ, and other essential stakeholders to advance strategic resource mobilization across the country office.
KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITIES:
Program Design and Development – 40%
• Analyse the current portfolio, identify trends and approaches that inform a better funding strategy and grow the business opportunity pipeline.
• Lead design and delivery of high quality Country Funding Strategy and Donor Engagement Plans which aligns program demand (CSP) and funding supply (donor landscape).
• Drive and accelerate sustainable portfolio growth for Save the Children Afghanistan, working in alignment with the regional funding strategy.
• Engage the Technical Unit to embed cross-functional expertise in program design and align all new proposals with global and country-specific frameworks.
• Oversee the development of program models that are adaptable and responsive to both emergency and development needs.
• Implement the funding strategy and ensure coordination and synergy among country office teams in undertaking approaches and actions that deliver agreed restricted funding targets.
• Drive interdepartmental and member coordination for proposals development and participate in project design and proposal development, and monitoring of the proposal development calendar.
• Ensure best practice ways of working and continuous learning to improve future program development efforts.
Relationship and Partnership Management – 20%
• Support the Country Director, Deputy Country Director-PDQ and Technical teams to build strong relationships and funding partnerships.
• Direct and proactively engage on a strategic basis with institutional donors at country level in order to build relationships, facilitate technical programme exchanges, influence policy and thinking, and identify key areas of potential cooperation, including programme funding.
• Together with respective Member Offices, lead donor engagement by establishing positive relationships with government offices, scanning of funding opportunities and raising profile of SCI within government leading to increased funding from the government.
• Represent Save the Children Afghanistan as needed with key institutional, corporate, foundation and other donors and support to advance SCI Afghanistan visibility and reputation.
• Ensure teams have best practice approach and system to planning, and undertaking stakeholder engagement with identified prospects and ongoing key partnerships.
Strategic Funding and Resource Mobilization – 20%
• Understand and effectively communicate the country’s pipeline and priority funding gaps, as agreed with the country leadership. These may include thematic/program gaps, co-financing gaps, and operational sustainability gaps.
• Identify and track relevant upcoming funding opportunities through desk-based research, advance intelligence gathering, donor websites and strategy papers for INGOs, private sector, government institutional donors, trusts and foundations and major donors that have a national or regional presence.
• Maintain and build capacity in systems or processes for collecting donor, implementing partner, and competitor intelligence and information.
• Proactively work with the regional resource mobilisation team to drive improvement in strategic portfolio planning.
• Assess competitiveness, gather all relevant data & make recommendations in order to help SMT make informed Go/No Go decisions, and adequately resource teams build for pursuing all strategic funding opportunities.
Relationship and Partnership Management – 10%
• Act as the primary relationship manager for donors, representing Save the Children in meetings and negotiations to strengthen donor relationships.
• Develop strategic partnerships with local, national, and international partners, ensuring strong program consortia for large-scale, multi-sectoral interventions.
• Partner with the Head of Technical Unit to assess the strengths and weaknesses of potential partners and consortia members for program quality and growth.
Capacity Building and Knowledge Sharing – 10%
• Provide training and mentorship to program and technical staff on program design, donor engagement, and proposal development best practices.
• Facilitate cross-learning sessions and workshops on proposal development, donor compliance, and partnership management.
BEHAVIOURS (Values in Practice)
Accountability:
• Holds self-accountable for making decisions, managing resources efficiently, achieving and role modelling Save the Children values
• Holds the team and partners accountable to deliver on their responsibilities - giving them the freedom to deliver in the best way they see fit, providing the necessary development to improve performance and applying appropriate consequences when results are not achieved.
Ambition:
• Sets ambitious and challenging goals for themselves and their team, takes responsibility for their own personal development and encourages their team to do the same
• Widely shares their personal vision for Save the Children, engages and motivates others
• Future orientated, thinks strategically and on a global scale.
Communication & Collaboration:
• Builds and maintains effective relationships with their team, colleagues, Members and external partners and supporters by adapting effective communication strategies considering the context.
• Values diversity, sees it as a source of competitive strength
• Approachable, good listener, easy to talk to.
Creativity:
• Develops and encourages new and innovative solutions
• Willing to take disciplined risks.
Integrity:
• Honest, encourages openness and transparency; demonstrates highest levels of integrity
QUALIFICATIONS
Background in business development, donor and relationship management, strategic portfolio analysis and planning in non-profit management or related discipline.
EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS
Essential
• Relevant Sector Expertise: Minimum of 8 years’ experience in both emergency and development contexts, with a strong background in at least two of Save the Children’s priority sectors, including education, child protection, child poverty, child rights governance, and health and nutrition.
• Fundraising and Donor Relations: 5+ years of proven experience in securing funding from government donors, multilateral agencies, corporate donors, and foundations. Skilled in donor engagement at a strategic level.
• Strategic Funding Strategy Development: Demonstrated ability to conduct funding landscape assessments and develop targeted programme funding strategies to support strategic goals.
• Proposal and Budget Development: Strong track record in leading the development of large-scale proposals and project budgets exceeding $3 million, ensuring alignment with donor requirements and organizational goals.
• Commercial Acumen and Risk Management: Highly developed business acumen with strong risk management skills and understanding of major institutional donors’ compliance and eligibility requirements.
• Networking and Relationship Building: Proven networking abilities to establish productive partnerships with external donors and agencies, with a focus on sustained donor engagement.
• Communication and Influencing Skills: Strong interpersonal skills, including the ability to communicate with impact, negotiate, and influence stakeholders effectively. Skilled in coaching and managing staff in both direct and matrix relationships.
• Leadership: Demonstrated leadership abilities, with experience in managing both direct reports and matrixed staff relationships. Ability to lead cross-functional teams towards shared objectives.
• Language Proficiency: Strong communication skills in English (written and spoken), with the ability to summarize, articulate, and present complex information effectively.
Desirable
• Donor Mapping and Afghanistan-Specific Knowledge: Familiarity with donor mapping and an understanding of the Afghanistan context and donor landscape.
• Experience with Commercial Contracts and Grants: Knowledgeable in bidding processes for commercial contracts and grants.
Additional job responsibilities:
The duties and responsibilities as set out above are not exhaustive and the role holder may be required to carry out additional duties within reasonableness of their level of skills and experience.
Equal Opportunities:
The role holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with the SCI Equal Opportunities and Diversity policies and procedures.
Child Safeguarding:
We need to keep children safe so our selection process, which includes rigorous background checks, reflects our commitment to the protection of children from abuse.
Safeguarding our Staff:
The post holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with the SCI anti-harassment policy.
Health and Safety:
The role holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with SCI Health and Safety policies and procedures.