Save the Children

The Resource Development & New Business Development (NBD) Manager – Zimbabwe is a pivotal role in supporting Save the Children Zimbabwe and the wider Malawi-Zimbabwe Cluster to anticipate, adapt, and respond to the changing development and humanitarian funding landscape.

Duties

1. Strategic Resource Development & Donor Engagement (25%)
• Identify, map, and track new and emerging sources of funding, including climate finance, green bonds, ESG-aligned funding, blended finance, and social impact capital, serving as the cluster focal point for these streams.
• Lead the development of tailored donor engagement strategies and account management plans for high-potential donors (e.g. Green Climate Fund, Adaptation Fund, corporate foundations, high-net-worth individuals, private investors).
• Cultivate relationships with development finance institutions (DFIs), social enterprises, foundations, and non-traditional funders to explore shared value and co-investment models.
• Represent Save the Children in relevant climate finance and innovation investment forums in Zimbabwe and the region.
• Play leading roles in the development and regular updating of the donor engagement strategy, in line with the funding strategy, to assist in growing the Zimbabwe portfolio, consistent with the Country Strategy;
• Cultivate excellent working relationships with donor agencies at regional and country level as appropriate and in close collaboration with the PDQM.
• Participate in any donor visit to project(s) within the country office portfolio, as needed.
• Support regular donor check-in/update visits with major institutional donors in Zimbabwe.
• Work with technical advisors and SMT colleagues to set ambitious targets for donor engagement and to influence donor strategies.
• Support the PDQM and other members of the SMT to represent SCI Zimbabwe in relevant donor forums, workshops and conferences as needed.
2. Proposal Design and Development (35%)
• Lead or support the development of high-quality, innovative concept notes and proposals for strategic funding opportunities, with a focus on climate and resilience, education, child protection, and localisation.
• Work closely with the Partnerships, Technical, MEAL, Finance and Operations teams to develop fundable and contextually relevant programmatic solutions that respond to donor priorities and emerging development challenges.
• Ensure meaningful and early engagement of local and national partners in proposal design in line with Save the Children’s localisation and partnership principles.
• As assigned by the Senior NBD Manager , support in the management of the development of high-value, complex proposals or bids, building on global, regional and national SCI Technical and Thematic expertise, ensuring the highest quality products are submitted to the member and the donor.
• Coordinate closely with Save the Children members to kick-off, plan and effectively carryout the proposal development process, supporting the coordination and implication of technical and awards staff in both offices, ensuring regular communication and updating of members throughout the process.
• Drive inter-departmental coordination for programme and proposal development, including ensuring the identification of a Technical Advisors lead and in close cooperation and inclusion of the Operations, particularly the field office team implementation and technical teams, Supply Chain (procurement and other logistical needs), Security, Awards Management (risk management and compliance), Finance (activity and support costings, etc), and HR (for staffing requirements).
• Ensure full internal review and sign-off as per the proposal development process.
• Participate in the drafting of key sections of the proposals, particularly the standard inputs – e.g. capacity and capability statements; country context and programme experience, while drawing on the expertise of technical advisors, operations, finance, HR and security.
• With the PDQM, MEAL and members, ensure that the SMT, Programmes and Partnerships Leads and Project Managers receive regularly updated information on local, national and regional context analysis, recent and relevant research findings, assessments (HEAs, DHIS, partner research, etc.). This activity is closely linked with the data and knowledge management function of technical advisors, MEAL and Members.

Qualifications

•​Master’s degree in international development, climate policy, finance, business development, economics, or related field.
•​Minimum 7 years of experience in resource mobilisation, business development, or investment advisory roles in the development, humanitarian, or impact investment sectors.
•​Proven track record in designing and securing funding from non-traditional donors including climate finance mechanisms, private sector partners, or development finance institutions.
•​Strong proposal writing skills, with demonstrated success in securing funding from both public and private donors.
•​Deep understanding of climate resilience, localization, and development finance trends.
•​Strong interpersonal, facilitation, and negotiation skills.
•​Experience working in partnership with national/local NGOs and familiarity with locally led funding approaches.
• Strong experience in commercial contracting as a mode of resource mobilization in NGOs.

Application Procedure

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