Business Development & Stakeholder Engagement Officer

New loveLife Trust is an NGO that campaigns with nationwide community level outreach and supports programmes that promote healthy, HIV-free living among South African teens. loveLife has reached unprecedented scale in implementing cutting-edge comprehensive and combined social behaviour change programming face-to-face with adolescents.

The Trust is looking to recruit a suitable candidate to advance loveLife's income-generation and partnership objectives. The successful applicant would be required to fulfil the following primary functions in a professional manner and with technical excellence:

· Fundraising pipeline and opportunity development.

· Research and qualify national and international grant, tender, corporate social investment, government and foundation opportunities that align with loveLife's strategy and programme offering.

· Maintain a live opportunity pipeline, calendar and bid decision record, ensuring opportunities are prioritised, assigned and progressed from lead to submission and award.

· Prepare concise opportunity briefs, including eligibility, strategic fit, anticipated value, deadline, risks and recommended next steps.

· Proposal and tender development.

· Coordinate the end-to-end development of assigned concept notes, proposals, tenders and presentation materials, from requirements analysis through submission.

· Draft and edit compelling technical narratives, coordinate programme inputs, and work with Finance to obtain accurate budgets, costings and supporting documentation.

· Apply quality assurance checks so that each submission is complete, compliant, evidence-led, appropriately branded and delivered by the required deadline.

· Partnership and funder stewardship.

· Maintain professional relationships with an assigned portfolio of funders, prospective partners and stakeholders, providing timely follow-up and clear communication.

· Prepare meeting briefs, presentations, donor and funder updates and acknowledgement material, and support stakeholder engagements, site visits and events.

· Identify opportunities to deepen partnerships and to position loveLife as a credible, responsive investment partner for young people.

· Grant administration and reporting.

· Keep accurate records of applications, awards, contracts, memoranda of understanding, reporting schedules, conditions and key correspondence.

· Coordinate the timely preparation of narrative reports and funder feedback with programme, finance and communications colleagues; ensure submissions are accurate, relevant and aligned to contractual obligations.

· Escalate reporting, compliance or relationship risks early and support corrective action with the line manager and relevant internal teams.

· Business development operations and collaboration.

· Maintain an accurate funder and stakeholder database, opportunity tracker and monthly performance information that supports forecasting and management decisions.

· Coordinate business development leads and intelligence received from national and regional offices in line with loveLife policies and processes.

· Contribute to team planning, knowledge sharing, document quality and continuous improvement of fundraising systems and templates.

Suitable candidates will need to satisfy the following requirements:

· Relevant Tertiary qualification.

· Fluent and spoken English as well as quality public presentation skills.

· 4 to 6 years of relevant experience in fundraising, grant development, business development, stakeholder relations or resource mobilisation, preferably within the NGO or development sector.

· Strong knowledge and understanding of grant & tender processes and applications for NPO sector – nationally & internationally.

· Demonstrated record of success in generating significant commitments from grant & tender processes.

· Demonstrated ability to take primary responsibility for diverse number of projects and to complete them in a timely manner with limited supervision.

· Experience working with donor databases, reporting trackers or CRM systems, and strong proficiency in Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint and online submission platforms.

· Sound knowledge of the mechanics of fundraising through grants & tenders.

· Ability to operate in a fast changing, high demand environment.

· Ability to utilise limited resources to maximum effect.

· Demonstrated ability in proposal writing – simplifying & packaging the offering/key message.

· Strong communication skills.

· Ability to maintain a high level of poise and professionalism in all circumstances.

· Attention to detail.

· Working knowledge of the South African CSI, BBBEE and NGO funding environment; exposure to international funding opportunities is advantageous.

· Self-motivation and discipline to regularly set and achieve work goals.

· Strong organisational, interpersonal and networking skills with large groups as well as with individuals are essential.

· Ability to build constructive relationships, work independently on assigned deliverables and collaborate effectively across teams.

· A valid driver's licence and willingness to travel when required.

Pay: R18 000,00 per month

Work Location: In person