Note: The job is a remote job and is open to candidates in USA. Catholic Relief Services is the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States, working to save, protect, and transform lives in need in more than 100 countries. The Business Development Writer will develop compelling, donor-focused proposals and provide support for strategic funding opportunities across the agency.
Responsibilities
- Serve as lead writer for concept notes, expression of interests, and proposals. Develop technical narrative outlines and draft proposal sections with input from the technical design lead and other proposal team members. Ensure local context and knowledge is fully reflected in proposal products
- Collaborate with the proposal coordinator, technical design lead and sector leads, other proposal team members and stakeholders, including partners, to develop well-written, well-organized and cohesive concept notes, expressions of interest and proposals aligned with donor requirements and CRS standards
- Participate in design workshops and other proposal strategies, support the explanations and review of activities and synthesize inputs from various data sources and stakeholders
- Manage communications with the technical design lead and proposal coordinator throughout the proposal development process to ensure expectations are aligned and deadlines are met
- Serve as editor for complex technical proposals, editing in accordance with AP and CRS house style, focusing on improving readability by shortening sentences, eliminating redundancies, rearranging sentences to improve transitions and clarifying exhibits and references
- Support other writing/editing tasks (including reports, donor facing marketing material, executive communication, etc.), less than 10% of the time
- Develop key proposal writing tools and resources, including guidance, training materials and internal and external capacity statements, to support the wider CRS BD Community of Practice
- In collaboration with other writers in the BD and Donor Engagement and Support Team, lead the development and updating of CRS’ Write to Win guidance and associated trainings
- Serve as an active member of the CRS Writer Community of Practice, collaborating on joint projects and deliverables, supporting other members with guidance and attending relevant meetings
- Support BD KML initiatives and updating as related to proposal writing
Skills
- Bachelor's degree in English, communications, international development or related field
- Minimum eight years of experience in international development, with at least three of those years writing competitive funding proposals or other persuasive, audience-focused technical communication
- Exceptional writer with expert command of English grammar and AP style
- Ability to communicate complex technical concepts and ideas in compelling, audience-focused prose
- Strong strategic, analytical, systems thinking and problem-solving skills, with a capacity to both see the big picture and give attention to detail
- Strong communication and relationship management skills
- Demonstrated ability to contribute as part of a team to produce high-quality deliverables under tight deadlines
- Fluency in oral and written English required
- Must be willing and able to travel internationally approximately 35% of the time
- Master's degree in English, communications, international development or related field
- At least three years' experience in a developing country
- Extensive experience writing competitive proposals for a variety of bilateral and multilateral donors and across technical areas, including agriculture, food security, resilience, health and emergency response
- Demonstrated experience, particularly as a lead writer, contributing to competitive applications and proposals in programming contexts similar to those in which CRS operates
- Experience leading technical writing and sectoral knowledge in one or more of the following sectors: agriculture, food security, resilience, health and emergency response
- Familiarity with key funding agencies (World Bank, EU, FCDO, USG, foundations and corporations)
- Familiarity with BD standards, terminology and best practice, such as win themes and discriminators
- Experience providing remote support to diverse teams
- Knowledge of CRS programs, justice agenda and Catholic Social Teaching principles
- Experience using MS Windows and MS Office packages, information management systems and artificial intelligence (AI) tools
Benefits
- CRS offers U.S. based staff a comprehensive benefits package, including medical, dental, life insurance, vision, and a generous retirement savings plan.
- Benefits packages for successful candidates employed outside the U.S. are based on the country of employment/in-country office where the candidate will perform the role.
- CRS´ work culture is a collaborative, mission-driven culture committed to improving the lives of the poor throughout the world.
Company Overview