World Vision International (WVI) began emergency relief operations in Afghanistan in 2001 by addressing the urgent needs of children and families affected by natural disasters and decades of conflict. More than a decade later, World Vision Afghanistan’s (WVA) programs have expanded to development sectors such as health, nutrition, WASH, child protection, and education, empowering women to engage in civil and social change through interfaith partnership.

WVA targets the most vulnerable in its interventions; including children, women, Internally Displace Persons (IDPs), and returnee refugees, as well as the most impoverished and marginalized families. These priorities have been chosen to contribute to our Goal of: “Improved survival and well-being of Afghan girls and boys, building the foundations for a better future for Afghan children and their communities.” 

Our work is well established in Herat, Badghis, Ghor, and Faryab provinces in the western region of Afghanistan. We work closely with all levels of society including children, parents, teachers, village councils, religious leaders, ministries, provincial departments, and other national and international agencies.

Job Porpuse

The Senior Business Development Manager (SBDM) is responsible for the timely and effective management and business development of a large multi-donor grant portfolio. Within the Programs Development and Quality Department, this role oversees all aspects of business development, including proposal design, development, reporting, donor compliance, and administrative functions. The SBDM serves as a key figure, proactively identifying funding opportunities, developing high-quality concept notes and proposals, engaging with in country and external donor representatives, and coordinating concept and proposal development teams in partnership with the PDQ Director. S/he is expected to work independently with minimum supervision and is required to have strong interpersonal and intercultural skills, build capacity and act as mentor to the Business Development Team. This role requires ensuring adherence to call guidelines, close collaboration with World Vision Support Office (SO) contacts, donor communication and regular communication with the World Vision MEER Regional Office Resource Development Unit (RDU). The incumbent brings expertise in grant acquisition and commercial contracts and must have experience in integrated proposal design and development to ensure that all proposals possess quality value for money and innovation, enhancing WVA’s competitiveness in a rapidly shrinking donor landscape and maximizing grant acquisition rates while aligning with WVA’s National Strategy and WVI’s child well-being objectives. The SBDM must have experience or the willingness to learn quickly on blended funding mechanisms to ensure that WVA is fit for purpose and ready to embrace the new funding landscape. Furthermore, the SBDM provides support to project managers for portfolio projects, grant performance communication and engages with the WVA Operations on the Grant Health Tracker (GHT) facilitating the integration, execution, and strategic reporting of child well-being outcomes, targets, and indicators within grant designs, where possible.

Thee SBDM oversees a team of national Program Officers. S/he is expected to work with local partners and support their journey in business development and acquisition and give guidance to Operations and the technical sector specialists to ensure comprehension, implementation, and compliance with the WVI partnership and donor-mandated requirements. The emphasis is placed on ensuring that grants developed for new opportunities are grounded in evidence, is data driven incorporates gender and protection mainstreaming principles, and align with WVI’s Environmental Stewardship and Climate Change Adaption (ESCA) goals for the well-being of the children of Afghanistan.

MAJOR RESPONSIBILITIES

Grant Acquisition & Proposal Development

• In coordination with the Director Program Development and Quality Director (DPDQ), facilitate maintenance of donor engagement, intelligence gathering and revise/update the GAM/BDU business plan to guide resource mobilization efforts, reviewing it regularly for relevancy and donor landscape.

• Ensure timely uploading of quality acquisition data in collaboration with respective program officers

• In coordination with the PDQD, sector leads, other departments and team members, proactively identify and respond to grant opportunities that are in line with WVA Strategy and the Child Well-being Outcomes and Targets. Lead the Grant Acquisition Target setting annually and the Go-No-Go decision making for each application for the National Director approval.

• Lead the development and submission of technical, high-quality and innovative concepts and proposals to donors in coordination with the DPDQ, sector leads, other department team members.

• Work closely with the respective WVA Sector leads, MEAL team, Finance, Operations, and other teams throughout the proposal development process, ensuring all concepts and proposal sections are completed on time, are of the highest quality, and innovative ideas are identified and highlighted in the proposal.

• Work closely with the DPDQ, Technical experts, Grant Finance, and Zonal Managers to establish and maintain partnerships with local and international NGOs, e.g., support the Partnership Manager and Project Managers  in facilitating the work with partners as per WVI minimum standards (due diligence, reporting, grant compliance, etc.) and ensures continuous learning and development as well as mentoring of local partners in grant acquisition.

• Ensure project proposals address community needs, include community participation, and ensure children’s voices are heard are captured, and are in alignment with WVA strategic objectives and the WVI Child Well-Being Outcomes and Targets.

• Ensure log frames, budgets, and other project proposal documentation are in accordance with WVI and donor formats and standards and submitted to the DPDQ, Finance, Risk & Compliance, and sector lead for review prior to submission.

• In collaboration with DPDQ, ensure grant opportunities, grant projections, grant pipelines, and project tracking tools are maintained and communicated.

• Ensure that identified opportunities are across the development spectrum, including humanitarian response, early recovery, and development proposals that feature integrated programming opportunities.

• Maintain a list of current and potential donors for Afghanistan, and with the MEERO RDU, actively pursue engagements and relationships.

• Ensure that proposal development calendars are developed for each opportunity and that action reviews are completed in a timely manner. .

• Ensure that new grants connect and link with older grants while remaining relevant in a changing context.

• Facilitate Lessons Learned are captured after complex proposal development processes for constant quality improvements in cooperation with the respective Support Office.

• Ensure data entry in the WVI Knowledge Management system (IMPAQ) is tracked and accurate.

Grant Management and Compliance

• Support the PDQD to ensure Program Officers and Project Managers have a thorough understanding of new grant requirements and compliance issues, including risk.

• Build protection, GESI, and ESCA values into all new opportunities to ensure that World Vision meets the needs of the most vulnerable populations.

• For assigned portfolio projects, provide programming support to Zonal, project managers, and other staff as necessary.

• Pay particular attention to the consortium and partner-related projects that require increased grant management tools and resources, and ensure trainings are conducted.

• Coordinate the organizing and content delivery of new grant start-up workshops on time for timely project start-up and the sharing of donor compliance requirements to WVA and partners’ staff.

• Ensure that the overall reporting of donor-funded projects is collected timely, reporting requirements are met, and reports are submitted to WV Support Offices and donors on time and in high-quality written English.

• Coordinate performance and compliance reviews of ongoing project with the Operations Team to ensure that grants are implemented on time, on target, and within budget. (Monthly budget versa Actual reviews and quarterly Grant Health Tracker reviews)

• Support the operation and project team in complying with donor requirements, and planning of project modifications including obtaining prior approval from donors for any planned deviations from the approved donor project agreements (design, logframe, budget, etc.).

• In collaboration with the MEAL team, ensure that project close-out workshops are held to identify lessons learned to guide the next proposal development.

• Work closely with the communication team, Project Managers, Zonal Managers, and Sector Leads to identify success stories that are collected and shared with donors and SOs, along with periodic reports.

• Ensure data entry in the WVI Knowledge Management system (IMPAQ) is tracked and accurate.

• Build the business development and grant acquisition of local partners, identify key areas of opportunity and for growth and enhance their capacities by providing regular training, coaching and mentoring by the BDU team.

• Create guidelines for Business Development and engage with all key stakeholders to enhance their knowledge and capacities in supporting business development and grant acquisition

• Identify and facilitate research and learning and ensure that relevant grants include these.

• Work with key partners national and international and enhance WVAs skills and capacities in leading or participating in consortia to ensure maximum value for money etc that are aligned with donor demands and needs on the ground

• Initiate and build World Vision Afghanistan’s commercial contract portfolio and ensure that it is fit for purpose and has the capacity to implement as per donor guidelines.

• Partner with a variety of likeminded organizations including the private sector ensuring that World Vision diversifies its donor and partner base.

Team Management

• Manage the Business Development Team to ensure that they deliver on key assignments.

• Continuing to coach and develop the staff on grant acquisition and management, as well as donor and stakeholder engagement.

• Manage the Assignment of portfolios and tasked to POs based on workload and provide regular supportive supervision.

• Conduct regular performance management and management functions for the Business Development team.

• Identify skill gaps and suggest additional training for teams or individuals within BDM to better meet the needs of their constituents.

• Coordinate Grant Acquisition and Management learning and exchange opportunities with the regional Resource Development Unit.

• Work closely with the MEAL Unit to ensure that findings an learnings are remedied immediately and are incorporated in future funding opportunities.

• Train the POs and Operations Teams to share key stories and findings with the Communications, Advocacy and Policy unit to ensure that they are able to present these in an appropriate manner.

Representation and Networking

• Under the guidance of the PDQD, represent WVA at appropriate Donor, Cluster, NGO meetings and workshops; joint-agency assessments and task force teams.

• Ensure collaborative working relationships with World Vision Support Offices.

• Identify and pursue opportunities for pre-positioning with donors and other funding source entities and alert the PDQD, National Director and Sos when there is significant advantage for their direct involvement.

• Represent the PDQ Director or National Director at Provincial, National and International events

KNOWLEDGE QUALIFICATION FOR THE ROLE

Required Professional Experience

• Experience in leading grant acquisition/grant writing/fund raising; project design and proposal development for international donor agencies.

• Experience within cross cultural contexts.

• Minimum five (8) years of programming experience in development and/or relief work (possible flexibility on programming experience).

• Experience in integrated project design and monitoring and evaluation systems development. 

Required Education

• Bachelor’s degree/ equivalent in relevant field and applicable experience in non-profit governance, administration, grants management, including business development and compliance 

• In the case of having extensive experience related to the works, academic qualification will have flexibility.

Preferred knowledge

• Advanced written and spoken English language skills. Expressing ideas clearly and effectively, both in spoken and written English is a must for this role.

• Strong understanding of the grants cycle.

• Good Networking and Social skills

• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills.

• Familiarity with major donor funding requirements such as EU, ECHO, FCDO, GAC, DFAT, UNICEF, UNHCR, OCHA (AHF), FAO, WFP, BMZ, US gov., World Bank etc.

• Experienced in leading project designs, proposal development, M&E systems design.

• Understanding of integrated rural community development programming and processes, including the current Localisation trends and better practices

• Thorough knowledge of MS Office and outlook.

• Strong capacity building and facilitation skills.

• Cross-cultural sensitivity, flexible world view, emotional maturity, and physical stamina.

• Self-starter who can work independently under pressure and who has ability to manage work tasks without direct supervision.

• Strong ability to work with and relate to diverse personality types, to practice relational and ideological tolerance, and to contribute to a positive organizational culture.

• Ability to maintain performance expectations and healthy social interactions in psychologically stressful environments and physical hardship conditions with limited resources.

• Willing to travel as required including field travel and be prepared for the unexpected

• Able to live and work within a fragile context and restricted operating environment.

• Commitment to World Vision Core Values and Mission Statement.

Travel Requirements: Travel up to 30% of the time (Afghanistan and international).

The application closing date is 25-Nov2025. Qualified applicants can apply for the position by filling in the online application form in WV Career portal. applicants can also attach their CV and cover letter in the online system. Please note that only the applications received through the online portal will be considered for this position.

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