Director, Business Development MENA Region

Overview

Position Location: Headquarters/ Chevy Chase, MD

Background:

Creative Associates International is a dynamic, fast-growing global development firm that specializes in education, economic growth, democratic institutions and stabilization. Based in Washington, D.C., Creative has a field presence in more than 25 countries with a strong client portfolio that includes the U.S. Agency for International Development and the State Department, among others. Since its founding in 1977, Creative has earned a solid reputation among its clients and is well-regarded by competitors and partners alike.

Position Summary:

This is a senior-level management position responsible for leading and performing specialized, complex business development work, coaching and mentoring others, and overseeing various business development activities for the Middle East and North Africa region. Responsibilities include utilizing considerable experience in developing proposals for USAID and playing a lead role in directing cross-functional proposal teams (including Education in Development, Communities in Transition, Economic Growth, Contracts and Pricing and Human Resources) for contract or cooperative agreement funded proposals. The incumbent ensures the development and delivery of competitive proposals, leads preparatory efforts for bid pursuits, develops partnerships and client relationships, manages procurement opportunities, and advises on pre-bid intelligence gathering efforts. The incumbent also takes a lead role in Creative’s knowledge management and capture of best practices and lessons learned for future business development efforts, and further assures that all work under management is within the parameters of Creative’s Business Development Policy and Procedures, including Creative’s Style Manual, and all company proposal policies, procedures and timelines.

Reporting & Supervision:

The Director, Business Development works under general direction and reports to and is typically supervised by Vice President of Capture and Bid Operations.

Expected Outcomes:

• Provides exceptional contributions to Creative’s growth strategy in MENA and global impact;
• Successfully leads the acquisition, development and delivery of winning proposals;
• Coaches and mentors mid-level staff in business development;
• Serves as a dynamic leader for business development across the company; develops and nurtures desired synergies and alliances when working on proposals;
• Serves as a key leader representing Creative within the international development industry; stays abreast latest developments, innovations, and best practices.

Responsibilities

Primary Responsibilities:

• Serves as a key leader in the end-to-end capture and proposal development within the Creative business portfolio to include quality capture plans, proposal solutioning, and bid package development;
• Oversees specific capture and proposal activities for Creative’s pipeline, including identifying capture and proposal team resource requirements and estimation of costs associated with bids;
• Coordinates with other capture and corporate support teams (e.g., pricing, field operations, marketing, human resources/recruitment) for required capture inputs, as needed;
• Performs rapid formal assessments of company’s capabilities, strengths, and weaknesses for each pursuit in the company’s pipeline; takes a lead role in capture teams’ development of the company’s win strategy.
• Ensures quality capture and bid development for bids in the company’s pipeline; manages decision gates, including early opportunity assessment and bid/no bid decision; serves as a vital color team reviewer;
• Leads high interest target captures and live proposals, when needed;
• Develops value-add-teaming strategies and competitively priced-to-win structures and solutions;
• Contributes to development of company-wide partnership strategy, including identifying new local, U.S. small business, and private sector partners for consideration;
• Envisions and contributes to company-wide recruitment strategy to staff new bid opportunities;
• Ensures marketing and positioning plans are developed and implemented to enhance win probability (including, region-wide, country level, and bid specific, as needed);
• Contributes to management of project portfolio administration; maintains quality information in internal systems and contributes to quarterly and annual reporting as necessary;
• Develops, mentors, trains and/or supervises business development and staff working on business development activities throughout the company.
• Develops and maintains strong USG and other donor/client relationships;
• Oversees Business Development Teams and spearheads efforts to ensure Creative is aligned with client and market priorities; and
• Identifies, prioritizes, and qualifies opportunities that align with Creative’s program and business objectives.**Qualifications**

Required Skills & Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in International Relations, International Development or a related field and at least 15 years of relevant experience OR a Master’s degree in a related field and at least 12 years of relevant experience;
• Extensive knowledge of business development and proposal writing expertise in winning projects of at least $35M in funding;
• Excellent skills in writing, editing, formatting, research, and communications;
• Excellent meeting facilitation skills;
• Considerable knowledge of the competitive market within Creative’s technical areas;
• Demonstrated knowledge of international development dynamics and competitive environment in the MENA region
• Proficiency in a second language, preferably Arabic

PI143847689

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