Business Development Lead

Mary Dinah Foundation (“MDF”) is the largest NGO in the world preventing malnutrition in local communities through the distribution of specialized nutritious foods. The Foundation provides emergency food relief and water sanitation, improves access to healthcare for infants and pregnant women, protects women and girls from gender-based violence, enhances education for refugees, and offers mental health support to individuals affected by conflict-induced displacement. As recipients of ongoing multi-million-dollar grants, we are at an exciting juncture and are seeking an experienced and driven Business Development Lead with a solid track record in personally securing 6 – 7 figure grants from new donors, whether government, institutional, INGOs, and/or large trusts and foundations, to join our team. This role is on track to Chief Operating Officer (COO), contingent on exceptional performance and results.

The successful candidate will be able to demonstrate a proven ability to:

• Conduct prospect research to identify and qualify high-quality new donor leads for MDF and proactively track and respond to large funding opportunities and RFPs, helping us continuously build and enhance our prospect pipeline.
• Carry out detailed research and mappings to identify existing links with potential donors, whether through our leadership, Board, donors, etc., and recommend pathways to relationship building.
• Lead and manage the full proposal development process - from identification of the funding opportunity and detailed review of eligibility/suitability to assess our likelihood of success, through to creating buy-in around responsibilities and timelines, motivating and organizing internal stakeholders, guiding players through every step in the proposal process, gathering inputs from technical leads, working with finance teams on budget development, creating supplementary materials, to rolling up your sleeves and writing the proposal and supporting documents as required (Theories of Change, Risk Matrices, Log Frames, etc.).
• Deliver significant funding from new donors (candidates will be expected to show evidence of winning funding of a minimum of 6 figures).
• Create high-quality fundraising materials tailored to the needs of specific donor audiences (e.g., concept notes, slide decks, etc.)

About You
You have a deep passion for using your skills in leveraging funding to make the world a better, more equitable place, and an ability to balance big picture, strategic thinking, and design with getting tangible activities operationalized. Specifically:

• You are an exceptional writer, with an ability to produce compelling proposals tailored to the specific needs and interests of different donors. These might be technical, institutional bids requiring ToCs, logframes, etc., ‘Big Bet’ pitches relying on powerful storytelling, or applications to large foundations.
• Sitting within a growing team, you are nonetheless comfortable working autonomously (with the role being majority remote) while building the connections needed across our global team to get the information you need to raise funds for MDF.
• You are comfortable working in an organization that is fast-paced and experiencing significant growth. You show flexibility and resilience as structures, processes, and ways of working evolve.
• You are confident in managing competing priorities while meeting both internal and external deadlines and flexible enough to juggle your work where opportunities come in at the last minute.
• You are an excellent communicator, able to effectively tell our story and market our offerings in a compelling way, engaging partners and donors, and inspiring them to support MDF.

Experience and Eligibility Criteria

• Minimum 5 years’ experience in a fundraising role(s), with a preference for experience in institutional, trust/foundation, and/or Big Bet philanthropy, and evidence of personal track record in bringing in new funding.
• Experience working for an international development NGO is desirable, particularly in the space of Nutrition, Maternal and Infant Health, SGBV, and/or women and girls’ rights more broadly.
• Willingness to join the team in the local office ideally one day per week and for occasional international travel (1-2 weeks per year).

About Mary Dinah Foundation
Mary Dinah Foundation (“MDF”) is the largest NGO in the world preventing malnutrition in local communities through the distribution of specialized nutritious foods. Its Zero Hunger Program is a full-spectrum health and nutrition intervention that provides emergency food relief and water sanitation, improves access to healthcare for infants and pregnant women, scales up refugee education programs, and protects women and girls from gender-based violence. MDF operates across Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, Ghana, Liberia, USA, and the UK. Globally, our team consists of 200+ enthusiastic, international colleagues.

The Foundation is committed to creating global change through local impact, with 85% of its team members coming from the communities where they work. MDF brings a comprehensive approach to every challenge, addressing problems from multiple angles. Furthermore, we go beyond emergency aid, partnering with local governments, forward-thinking corporations, social entrepreneurs, and people living in fragile communities to develop bold solutions that make lasting change possible.

The Rewards
At MDF, we believe in being open, especially when it comes to salaries. The gross salary brackets for this position are £40,000 - £60,000/year in the UK. We will offer you a salary in this bracket depending on your level of experience and how it relates to your future colleagues.

In addition to your competitive salary, we offer:

• Opportunities for growth within the organization.
• A chance to shape our work, leaving your mark as we grow and refine how we operate.
• A flexible and empowering environment that promotes independence and autonomy, enabling you to excel on a global stage.

Additional Information

• MDF is dedicated to building an inclusive workforce where diversity is valued and promoted.
• We are an Equal Opportunity Employer (EOE), where all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, disability, or protected veteran status.
• This job posting summarizes the main duties of the job. It neither prescribes nor restricts the exact tasks that may be assigned to carry out these duties.
• This document is intended to outline the main duties of the job and does not constitute a contract of employment. Management reserves the right to review and revise this document at any time.