Partnerships and Business Development (BD) Manager (Salary 550k-650k)

Partnerships and Business Development (BD) Manager (Salary 550k-650k)

BrighterMonday Consulting

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Nairobi

Full Time

Confidential

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Job summary

The post holder will play a key role in building client relationships and winning new work for NIRAS.

Min Qualification

Bachelors

Experience Level

Mid level

Language Requirement

English

Work Type

Full Time

Working Hours

8 to 5

Applicant Location

Kenya

Job descriptions & requirements

LocationNairobi, Kenya

Reporting toHead of Business Development, UK

Role level in NIRAS Architecture:  Business Development Manager Level 2

Background

NIRAS is an international consultancy firm founded on Nordic values, focused on sustainable development for over 50 years. With 64 offices in 34 countries, NIRAS delivers solutions across diverse areas to drive positive change and innovation, collaborating with clients and partners worldwide.

NIRAS International Consulting (NIC) is a division within NIRAS specialising in development cooperation. NIC designs and manages projects that support economic growth, reduce inequality, improve education, and foster environmental resilience. Serving multilateral agencies, bilateral partners, NGOs, and private sector clients, NIC operates via a matrixed structure based on client, competence, and country, providing comprehensive project management and technical assistance throughout the project cycle. NIC implements around 400 projects annually, with over 400 staff based in Europe and regional offices in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

NIC is currently organised into 1 Division Management Team and 4 Business Units with focused client focused responsibilities around tier 1 to 3 clients and geographic accountabilities.

• Business Unit 1 (BU1) provides a client platform for ADB, AFD, EU, EIB, MFA Finland and Sida. It consists of NIC offices in Denmark, Finland, Sweden, France, Belgium, Poland and Serbia and Asia. It is the home of the EU framework unit.

• Business Unit 2 (BU2) provides a client platform for UKAid, Millennium Challenge Corporation, and the World Bank. It consists of NIC offices in the UK and Africa.

• Business Unit 3 (BU3) provides a client platform for Danida, GIZ, KfW and SDC. It consists of NIC offices in Denmark, Germany and Switzerland.

• Business Unit 4 (BU4) Syspons, based in Germany, is focused on strategy, management and monitoring and evaluation services for public institutions, federal ministries, foundations and non-profit organisations, primarily in Germany.

Each BU has their own management team covering the core functions of management, Business Development (BD), operations (project delivery, quality, risk processes), finance and administration. Each BU is organised through a combination of technical/market oriented teams that undertake BD, consultancy and project management supported by a dedicated core BD team. Staff are responsible for winning bids and delivering projects covering all of NIC’s technical areas and across global geographies. Staff work with colleagues from all BUs on a routine basis.

The Role

The post holder will play a key role in building client relationships and winning new work for NIRAS. The focus will primarily be on the East Africa countries covered by the NIRAS Africa office in Nairobi (Kenya, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Sudan, Somalia and Rwanda) but may also be required to work with clients and bids for other countries across southern, central, west and north Africa. The role will work with the Head of BD for BU2 (based in the UK) and with project and BD staff based in NIRAS’s Kenya office. The postholder will foster strategic relationships with key clients, partners, and experts based in the region, including foundations. They will also provide hands-on guidance and support to project and BD staff based in the Kenya office (and beyond) for all aspects of business development, as well as be directly involved in positioning, partnership development, bid writing and budgeting. Additionally, the role supports NIC-wide reforms, system improvements, and capacity-building initiatives to strengthen business development across the organisation.

Responsibilities

The primary responsibility for this role is to build and maintain client relationships, and to work directly on bids. The role may also be required to manage small number of projects run from the NIRAS Kenya office. The approximate anticipated split of time for the post holder across this and other responsibilities, is as follows:

Market engagement and strategic relationships (35%)

• Build and nurture relationships with Regional Bodies, Foundations/Philanthropies, Development Finance Institutions and NIC clients in the East Africa region and beyond. This will require some travel around the region.
• Build and nurture relationships with key experts and potential partner organisations based in the region, ensuring that key expert profiles on NIRAS’s internal BD platform are accurate.
• Maintain a current database of key clients, partners and experts for Kenya, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia and Rwanda.
• Represent NIRAS at conferences and industry events in Kenya and neighbouring countries to enhance brand visibility across the region.

Bid leadership and operations (35%)