International Development Research Jobs in Virginia

Deputy Director, Business Development, Social Impact, Arlington, VA

Social Impact (SI) is a Washington, DC‐area international development management consulting firm. SI’s mission is to improve the effectiveness of international development programs in improving people’s lives. We provide a full range of management consulting, technical assistance, and training services to strengthen international development programs, organizations, and policies. SI serves clients globally in monitoring and evaluation, strategic planning, project and program design, organizational capacity building, gender and social analysis, across all sectors including democracy and governance, health and education, the environment, and economic growth. SI’s clients include US government agencies such as USAID, the Millennium Challenge Corporation, the US Department of State, bilateral donors, multilateral development banks, foundations, and non‑profits.

Position Description Responsibilities Strategic Leadership and Personnel Management

• Play a lead role in strategic planning for the business development team, helping to define strategy, budget and resource allocation for the department.
• Support the Vice President of BD and other VPs in determining strategic directions and identifying priority opportunities and countries.
• Serve as a resource for executive leadership for developing practice areas and strategy, relationship management, analysis of SOPs, staff capacity building, and client diversification.
• Lead a Smart Diversification Working Group to develop and implement a market capture and outreach strategy for one target client.
• Lead the development of a BD manual and training program, in conjunction with the BD VP.
• Play a key role in BD team management by overseeing an assigned set of approximately 3‑5 BD staff, including Managers, Associates, Assistants, and Interns.
• Serve as a coach and mentor to assigned staff, providing career advice and advocating for staff interests.
• Provide advice, training, and support on general capture and proposal management, relationship management, recruitment, and pricing.
• Provide oversight to assigned staff’s capture and proposal management responsibilities.
• Conduct goal setting, coaching and performance reviews and appraisals for assigned staff.
• Align staff interests and expertise with geographies, donor agencies, proposals and organizational needs.
• Assess workloads, identifying personnel resource needs through forecasting, and making recommendations to implement resource leveling or hiring decisions.
• Recommend realignment of workload as necessary to optimize high quality service delivery, staff professional development and work life balance.
• Participate in the recruitment, hiring, and onboarding of new BD team staff.

Capture and Pre‑Positioning

• Provide guidance and mentoring to BD staff regarding their Capture Management responsibilities.
• Identify and track new business opportunities from government sources, SI HQ employees, field offices, consultants, and competitor analysis.
• In coordination with the BD VP, allocate resources for capture work.
• Serve as the Capture Manager for strategically important bids.
• Lead and support efforts to identify and lock international and local partners.
• Assist the recruitment team in identifying, interviewing and vetting potential Key Personnel.
• Work with the BD VP to develop and refine Capture Management procedures and practices.
• Conduct and/or oversee research on competition, foreign assistance trends, and potential partners.

Proposal Management

• Provide guidance and mentoring to BD staff regarding their Proposal Management responsibilities.
• Develop tools and guides to facilitate the proposal process.
• Lead the proposal development process for select, strategically important bids, transitioning from the Capture Manager role to include proposal management responsibilities.
• Assist the BD Managers, Associates and Assistants in the proposal development process for other bids.
• Serve as pink, red, and/or gold team reviewer on select proposals.
• Work with the BD VP to develop and refine Proposal Management procedures and practices.

Marketing

• Build relationships with USG and other clients and with potential partner organizations.
• Attend BD networking opportunities, including think tank events, international development policy events, career fairs, workshops, seminars, and SID Gala.
• Assist in marketing and public relations efforts to promote company services and capabilities to current and potential clients, partners, and consultants.

Information Management

• Liaise with Program units, respective Deputy Directors and the Senior Management Team, to coordinate internal initiatives, staff assignments, and other responsibilities.
• Manage knowledge management process and components for the BD unit.
• Facilitate BD learning companywide, including tracking and analyzing lessons and best practices from individual proposal efforts, client debriefs, and client and competitor trends.

Qualifications

• Master’s degree in international development or other related field, or equivalent work experience.
• Minimum 5 years of experience in business development and proposal management.
• Thorough knowledge of government and/or donor contracting practices.
• Demonstrated ability to understand and implement pertinent company and client policies and procedures clearly and accurately.
• Demonstrated ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with supervising personnel, co‑workers, donors, supervisors, business professionals, and the general public.
• Demonstrated ability to oversee and manage multiple complex projects simultaneously and provide advice and guidance in a timely fashion.
• Demonstrated ability to exercise good judgment and communicate effectively orally and in writing.
• Proficiency in a foreign language is a plus.
• Technical expertise in one or more sectors (e.g. health, environment, education, economic growth, democracy and governance) is a strong plus.
• Strong leadership, interpersonal, entrepreneurial, management, and writing skills are required.
• Ability to work effectively in a fast‑paced, growing business environment.
• Willingness to travel on assignment up to 25% of the time.

EEO Statement

SI is an EEO/AA/ADA Veterans Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, or protected veteran status.