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 Syria, 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 organisations, 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 marginalisation.
CARE began operating in Syria in 2013 to provide life-saving emergency assistance to people affected by the ongoing conflict. CARE puts women and girls at the center of our work because we know that we cannot overcome poverty until all people have equal rights and opportunities. CARE Syria continues to develop response strategies for all aspects of CARE Syria’s programming, in a bid to ensure continued relevancy and secure additional funds for future years of program implementation.
SCOPE OF WORK
The role of Business Development and Proposal Writer (Consultant) is a mid-level consultancy position responsible for the coordination and writing of specific bids, and for support in program design. S/he will be closely working with the Head of Business Development, Deputy Country Director – Programs, Program Development & Partnerships Manager, Program Managers and the Finance Lead to coordinate inputs for bids, as well as technical advisors and hub leads as required, 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. Support for donor engagement, scoping or bid identification is not required within the scope of this EOI. The position is solely responsible for delivery of efficient and high-quality bid coordination and writing for specific funding opportunities, to be identified by CARE.
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. This also includes assisting or acting as lead coordinator (as agreed with country team) with CARE member, ans other CARE country offices or partners, as agreed in each case, to ensure an integrated approach to programming.
- 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 timely escalating issues as required.
- Participating in a lesson learned call following bid submission as required.
DURATION
This EOI serves as an opportunity for candidates to be added to a pool of bid writers for CARE Syria but does not serve as a guarantee of contracting. Proposal development assignments are expected to last between two to three weeks on average; however, the level of effort required will depend on the scope of the opportunity.
If selected to become part of the pool, a framework agreement will be provided for 24-month period. Signing a framework agreement does not commit CARE Syria to providing work during this period for the assigned consultant/s. In case the consultant would be matched with an opportunity, a specific contract for that opportunity would be signed.
PAYMENT METHOD
Payments can be made via bank transfer monthly upon receipt of Reports and approved Invoices.
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 three years’ experience working specifically in bid writing positions (Program Funding Managers, Bid Writer etc.) in lead writer positions in a humanitarian context. Experience writing large proposals (preferably over 1 million USD per year) for institutional donors is essential.
- Demonstrable experience of working with affiliated offices within complex organisation structures.
- Experience in establishing consortia, or negotiating implementing partnerships will be considered an advantage
- 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 Syria 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
Cross-Cutting:
- Climate
- Anticipatory Action/Preparedness
- Cash/Vouchers
- Displacement Responses
- Durable Solutions
Donor Experience:
- European Union (DG-NEAR, DG-ECHO, other)
- United States (BHA, BPRM, other)
- Germany (GFFO, BMZ, GIZ, KFW)
- United Kingdom (FCDO, CSSF, other)
- Canada (GAC, other)
- Swiss Development Agency
- SIDA
- DANIDA
- Ministries of Foreign Affairs (NMFA, Czech MoFA, French MoFA, Dutch MoFA, Italian MoFA, other)
- World Bank
Experience with all these donors would be ideal, though strong expertise in some or any of them may still qualify you for the consultants’ pool.
How to apply
APPLICATION PROCESS
Any consultant fulfilling the criteria outlined in this call for EOI is encouraged to apply. CARE Syria requires all applicants to submit: 1) a filled and signed RFP CARE RFP Template.DOC outlining their experience as it aligns to this EOI/ToR, and including a financial offeroutlining day rate (assuming 8 hours per day), in USD. In addition, and as part of the review process, applicants are required to include 2) a CV (of no more than three A4 pages in length), and 3) one or two samples of recent written work where the applicant has led the writing efforts (of 12 months old or less). Any applications which do not meet the criteria as outlined above, for example, missing documents, lack of adherence to page limits etc. will be automatically disqualified.
Please submit these documents in PDF format and do NOT submit a cover letter in addition to the documents listed.
Application documents should be sent to syr.coprocurement@care.org by no later than October 13, 2024 by 2:00 PM Jordan time, with the subject line ‘CARE Syria Expression of Interest – Pool of Business Development and Proposal Writer Consultants.