Bid Writer (Consultant)

CARE Palestine Expression of Interest

Bid Writer (Consultant)

The intention of this call for Expression of Interest (EOI) is to establish a dedicated roster of highly skilled and experienced proposal development writers, for support to CARE Palestine, on an ad hoc basis, during periods where existing business development capacity may be limited.

BACKGROUND

CARE is one of the world’s leading international humanitarian and development organizations, committed to helping people in poor communities improve their lives and alleviate poverty. Founded in 1945, CARE is working across 94 countries to fight global poverty and marginalization.

CARE began operating in Palestine in 1948 to provide life-saving emergency assistance to people affected by conflict. Today, CARE provides support to women’s economic empowerment, food security and livelihoods, as well as multi-sectoral emergency response. CARE puts women and girls at the center of its work in acknowledgement that as a humanitarian community, it is not possible to overcome poverty until all people have equal rights and opportunities. CARE Palestine continues to develop response strategies for all aspects of its programming in Gaza and the West Bank, in a bid to ensure continued relevancy and secure additional funds for future years of program implementation.

SCOPE OF WORK

The role of Bid Writer (Consultant) is a mid-level consultancy position responsible for the coordination and writing of specific bids. S/he will be closely working with Gaza and West Bank teams including the Head of Business Development, Response Director, Program Managers, MEAL Managers and the Finance Manager to coordinate inputs for bids, as well as technical advisors, operations focal points and the Country Director, to ensure resources are available in a timely fashion in accordance with internal and donor-driven deadlines.

Assignments may be undertaken remotely, and no travel is expected, unless expressly invited. This EOI serves as an opportunity for candidates to be added to a pool of bid writers for CARE Palestine but does not serve as a guarantee of contracting. The level of effort required will depend on the scope of opportunity and if selected, a framework agreement will be provided for 12-month period. Any subsequent agreement does not commit CARE Palestine to providing work during this period for the assigned consultant/s.

Support for donor engagement, scoping or bid identification is not required within the scope of this EOI. The position is responsible for 1) delivery of efficient and high-quality bid coordination and writing for specific funding opportunities, to be identified by CARE and 2) support for the writing of response plans and capacity statements, for donor audiences.

Typically, responsibilities will include:

• Attending program design/proposal kick off workshop/s and act as chief note-taker to familiarise yourself with donor requirements, program design planning, thematic areas and deadlines.
• Acting as lead coordinator for the bid response, including end-to-end planning, timeline development, soliciting inputs from program and technical leads, finance, procurement and other relevant support colleagues, specific to the bid and annex requirements. This includes acting as (internal) bid focal point for all queries, facilitating senior management reviews and consolidating inputs for final submission.
• Acting as lead writer for the bid response, assuming draft from scratch (i.e. no boilerplate).
• Acting as lead editor for all technical inputs to ensure the whole proposal follows ‘one voice’.
• Participating in review feedback calls and provide regular updates, including escalating issues as required.
• Participating in a lesson learned call following bid submission as required.

APPLICANT PROFILE

Education

• Master’s degree in international development or other relevant discipline.
• Proposal writing training certification, or attendance record.

Experience

• At least six years’ experience of working in program delivery and with institutional donor audiences or similar in business development and/or management roles.
• At least four years’ experience working specifically in bid writing positions (Program Funding Managers, Bid Writer etc.) in lead writer positions in a humanitarian context.
• Demonstrable experience of working with affiliated offices within complex organisation structures.
• Keen familiarity with donor regulations, standards and compliance matters.
• Excellent written and spoken English and attention to detail.
• Demonstrable understanding of displacement dynamics and issues.
• Strong understanding of gender and other programming issues within Syria and a commitment to promoting the empowerment of women and girls.
• Self-directed, accountable, and integrous and able to work across multiple time zones.
• Able to demonstrate strong facilitation skills, work efficiently to deliver key tasks and adapt quickly to changing deadlines and requirements.
• Preference for candidates who have experience on bid development within the MENA region.

Technical Requirements

CARE Palestine seeks consultants with significant experience and technical capacity to write unsolicited proposals, concepts or detailed responses to requests for proposals (RFPs) in the following areas:

Sectoral:

• Water, Sanitation, Hygiene (WASH)
• Food Security
• Livelihoods
• Protection, including GBV
• Women’s Economic Empowerment and/or Microfinancing
• Emergency Response (all sectors)
• Shelter/NFI
• Cash/Vouchers

Cross-Cutting:

• Climate
• Anticipatory Action/Preparedness
• Displacement Responses
• Durable Solutions

Donor Experience:

• European Union (DG-NEAR, DG-ECHO, other)
• United States (BHA, BPRM, USAID)
• Germany (GFFO, BMZ, GIZ, KFW)
• United Kingdom (FCDO, CSSF, other)
• Canada (Humanitarian Coalition, GAC, other)
• SIDA
• DANIDA
• World Bank
• WHO
• WFP
• UNOCHA
• ADA
• ENABEL
• SDC
• Private Donors, including emergency committees such as the DEC and Giro555
• Various Ministries of Foreign Affairs: Norwegian, Czech, Polish, French, Dutch, Italian, Luxembourg, other.