Head of Business Development, WACAR

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world's worst humanitarian crises, helping to restore health, safety, education, economic wellbeing, and power to people devastated by conflict and disaster. Founded in 1933 at the call of Albert Einstein, the IRC is one of the world's largest international humanitarian non-governmental organizations (INGO), at work in more than 40 countries and 29 U.S. cities helping people to survive, reclaim control of their future and strengthen their communities. A force for humanity, IRC employees deliver lasting impact by restoring safety, dignity and hope to millions. If you're a solutions-driven, passionate change-maker, come join us in positively impacting the lives of millions of people world-wide for a better future.

This position is open to candidates in the WACAR Region, or other IRC locations in GMT and EAT time zones, who have significant experience working in West and Central Africa countries. Candidates based in these countries are encouraged to apply.

The Crisis Response, Recovery and Development (CRRD) Department

The Crisis Response, Recovery and Development (CRRD) Department has a growing portfolio of humanitarian relief, post-crisis recovery, and development programs under their remit. This work focuses support in five key areas: ensuring safety from harm, improving health, increasing access to education, improving economic well-being and ensuring people have the power to influence decisions that affect their lives. In all these programs, there is a drive to address the unique needs of women and girls (who represent the majority of those displaced) – and the universal barriers they face.

The Awards Management Unit (AMU)

Established in January 2016, the Awards Management Unit (AMU) is a global department with the responsibility for identifying, securing, and managing all funding from statutory/government donors. The AMU is a bridge between donors and country programs: providing expert technical advice to the country teams, while maintaining portfolio-level visibility to ensure consistency and compliance and manage risk. This unit ensures that donor compliance policies and procedures are implemented consistently and supports all staff working across the award management cycle for all restricted funding from global government sources.

West and Central Africa Regional Overview:

The West and Central Africa Region (WACAR) supports effective, efficient, and high-quality programming by strengthening capacity around client outcomes, program quality, strategic positioning, and business development. It addresses overlapping humanitarian and development challenges—conflict, weak governance, and environmental degradation—through integrated, impactful approaches.

WACAR prioritizes cross-learning, innovation, and harmonized technical strategies, especially in high-need areas. It ensures continuity of care and coordinated service delivery for clients on the move, while advancing strategic donor engagement through cohesive fundraising and regional collaboration.

The region responds swiftly to country program needs, filling critical gaps and navigating access constraints, emergencies, and security shifts. It amplifies client and frontline voices to inform global advocacy and fosters strong team cohesion to enhance program delivery. WACAR focuses on cost-efficient and adaptive approaches to the evolving humanitarian and donor landscape, with a clear focus on resourcing country programs.

WACAR comprises Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon and CAR, Chad, Cote d’Ivoire, DRC, Mali, Niger, Nigeria.

The Purpose of the Role

Reporting to the Director, Awards Management (DAM) and working in close collaboration with BD leadership, the Head of Business Development (HBD), WACAR leads IRC’s business development efforts in support of the WACAR region’s country programs and is a key part of IRC’s global business development team, serving as the Region's representative in developing and implementing IRC’s global business development strategy. HBD plays a strategic role in the planning, identification, and successful pursuit of new business in line with country Strategy Action Plans (SAP). HBD support includes all phases of the business development process, including strategic planning, donor outreach and engagement, pre-positioning (capture), partnering, proposal development, due diligence, issues letter and agreement negotiation.

The HBD is responsible for maintaining regional level oversight of all business development for institutional donors in the IRC’s WACAR.

Scope and Accountability

The Head of Business Development exercises overall leadership for business development in the region and line management of the regional Program Development Advisor (PDA). The role oversees the regional pipeline and supports country business development strategies and planning, including reviewing the pipeline and individual opportunities and ensuring appropriate resourcing for successful bid submissions, in coordination with the Senior Program and Award Advisor, (SPAA) as relevant. The HBD provides development oversight of regionally assigned opportunities and serves as a key regional focal point for global opportunities, which are supported by the Business Development team.

Key Working Relationships

The HBD manages the regional Program Development Advisor(s) (PDA) and works closely with the regional management team (RMT), all Regional Program and Award Support (RPAS) team members, and the wider Global Business Development Team. The HBD also works closely with country program teams, collaborates with other teams within the Awards Management Unit, including the Compliance and Policy (C&P), and Awards management Systems (AMS) teams; the wider Crisis Response Recovery and Development Department including Technical Excellence; External Relations; Finance; Global Supply Chain; Finance; Office of General Counsel; and other key departments within IRC who contribute to regional business development efforts. The HBD serves as point of contact with external donor and partner stakeholders during the pre-award stage, as applicable per region.

Direct Reports:

-Program Development Advisor (PDA)

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Planning and Strategic Leadership

• •Provide strategic vision on regional BD efforts in support of country program Strategy Action Plans (SAP), in collaboration with regional and AMU leadership.
• •Maintain visibility on the overall pipeline across all public and institutional donors, in collaboration with regional Program Development & Awards Advisors as well as private donors, in close collaboration with the Senior Advisor, Private Partnerships
• •Maintain up to date knowledge of donor funding priorities and geographical interests relevant to IRC’s areas of work.
• •Provide advice, analysis and guidance to AMU, Regional and Country leadership on BD trends, target-setting, donor engagement, and support needs in the region, ensuring leaders have the right level of information to make decisions.
• •Lead and support BD strategy development efforts and planning at regional and country level, to establish clear funding priorities and targets, to support decision making and enable effective positioning and resource planning.
• •Coordinate support to country teams in the identification, tracking and pursuit of new business opportunities across a variety of technical sectors and donors, including ensuring that technical brainstorming, partner, and competitor landscape analysis and win theme sessions with technical and country staff are occurring.
• •Support country BD strategy development, BD and donor engagement planning and delivery.
• •Maintain regional pipeline information and analysis. Lead pipeline monitoring routines at regional level, including but not limited to Quarterly Pipeline Calls. Coordinate with Regional Finance Director on and contribute to the Operating Budget process ahead of Business Developmen