The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world's worst humanitarian crises, helping to restore health, safety, education, economic wellbeing, and power to people devastated by conflict and disaster. Founded in 1933 at the call of Albert Einstein, the IRC is one of the world's largest international humanitarian non-governmental organizations (INGO), at work in more than 40 countries and 29 U.S. cities helping people to survive, reclaim control of their future and strengthen their communities. A force for humanity, IRC employees deliver lasting impact by restoring safety, dignity and hope to millions. If you're a solutions-driven, passionate change-maker, come join us in positively impacting the lives of millions of people world-wide for a better future.

The Airbel Impact Lab is the IRC’s “research & development” unit, working to maximize the impact of every humanitarian aid dollar through rigorous testing and evidence-based scaling. We have led the field in impact measurement and cost analysis, and we drive breakthrough innovations that achieve 10x scale potential, 2x greater impact, and 20% more cost-effectiveness than existing solutions. More about our work to date can be found at https://airbel.rescue.org/.

Position Overview

The Business Development Lead will play a meaningful role in furthering Airbel's funding strategy and success, driving growth across two high priority portfolios of work: 1) adapting proven and promising IRC program models for delivery at scale and 2) influencing the humanitarian sector to direct a greater share of funding to only the highest impact and most cost efficient interventions. The Business Development Lead will serve as a key partner to senior leadership in securing the funding from public and private donors needed to adequately resource these ambitions, from support around pipeline development to proposal development and project management of complex funding opportunities. This role will work in a highly cross-functional manner, both within Airbel and with other departments at IRC, and is expected to leverage cutting-edge AI tools to enhance efficiency and effectiveness across all aspects of the role. This is an exciting opportunity to directly influence two bodies of work critical to achieving Airbel’s strategic plan, and to enabling the IRC to continue to play a leadership role in advancing high impact, cost-effective solutions at a time when humanitarian need is greater than ever.

Major Responsibilities

Strategy & Pipeline Management

• Drawing on cross-functional resources, build and manage a robust pipeline of high-value institutional funding opportunities, ensuring strategic alignment and identifying emerging trends

• In partnership with the Director, identify, shape strategies, and set fundraising targets for new funding prospects. Track progress against targets and report to senior leadership and key stakeholders.

Proposal Project Management & Quality Assurance

• Project manage end-to-end proposal development processes for both portfolios, coordinating technical inputs across practice areas

• Ensure compliance with internal stage-gates, approval processes, and organizational standards

• Plan staffing and capacity requirements to support successful bid development across multiple simultaneous opportunities

• Facilitate planning meetings, internal competition processes, and compliance functions

• Coordinate with IRC's revenue teams (Awards Management Unit, External Relations) where relevant to align funding efforts

• Manage proposal timelines and deliverables, ensuring submissions meet quality standards and competitiveness requirements

Direct Proposal Development Contributions

• Generate compelling first drafts of proposal sections based on existing technical content

• Lead budget development, drawing on technical and operational inputs from cross-functional teams while maintaining accountability for final budget quality and accuracy

• Contribute substantive writing and editing to proposal sections, ensuring coherent narrative flow and strategic positioning

• Support contract negotiation processes in collaboration with legal and finance teams

Qualifications

• 6-8 years of experience in grant-writing, business development, and/or partnership development for global NGOs, preferably including experience with institutional funders (foundations, government agencies, multilateral organizations)

• Consistent track record of significant role in securing major grants ($5M+)

• Demonstrated comfort with and enthusiasm for leveraging AI tools to improve workflow efficiency, content development, and analytical processes

• Outstanding proposal writing and editing skills with demonstrated ability to craft compelling, competitive submissions from diverse source materials

• Budget development experience in grant-funded environments

• Proven ability to manage complex, multi-stakeholder projects, with strong coordination and communication skills to influence teams and build relationships without direct authority

• Experience in research-to-practice environments and evidence-based design and/or scaling preferred

Kenya:

For Kenya-based hires, occasional shifts of work day schedule approximately 2 hours later will be requested during busy proposal cycles, to increase overlap with colleagues in UK and US (East Coast) time zones.

UK:

Candidates must have the right to work in the UK.

IRC UK strives to be an equal opportunities employer. IRC UK is committed to equality of opportunity and to non-discrimination for all job applicants and employees, and we seek to ensure we achieve diversity in our workforce regardless of gender, race, religious beliefs, nationality, ethnic/national origin, sexual orientation, age, marital status or disability.

The salary range for the role is GBP 63,700-74,317 per annum

IRC UK welcomes applications from all candidates, including underrepresented groups and refugees who have the right to work in the UK.

IRC UK will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided with reasonable adjustments to participate in the job application and/or interview process, and for essential job functions if appointed to a role. Please contact us if you may need such adjustments.

Standard of Professional Conduct: The IRC and the IRC workers must adhere to the values and principles outlined in the IRC Way – our Code of Conduct. These are Integrity, Service, Accountability, and Equality.

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How to apply

https://theirc.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/External_Careers/job/Nairobi-IHUB-Kenya/Business-Development-Lead_JR00000191