BRAC is a development success story, spreading innovative poverty solutions born in Bangladesh to 10 other countries, and is considered by most measures to be the largest international development organization in the world. BRAC is headquartered in Dhaka, Bangladesh with 115,000 full-time staff reaching an estimated 138 million people through its holistic approach to alleviating poverty. BRAC’s core values are innovation, integrity, inclusiveness, and effectiveness.
BRAC USA was founded in 2007 as an independent affiliate that supports BRAC. Our mission is to empower people and communities in situations of poverty, illiteracy, disease, and social injustice. Our purpose is to raise awareness, mobilize resources, and make grants to reduce poverty, improve health, provide education, and empower women and girls.
BRAC USA seeks a highly motivated candidate to work with a dedicated team based in New York City. The Program Manager (PM) will report directly to the Vice President, coordinate with the BRAC UK Senior International Program Advisor, be supported by a shared Associate-level staff member, and work as an integral member of an intimate, highly effective team to support fundraising, strategic and program services, grant making, and communications and outreach.
The Program Manager will mobilize resources for, and design and advise on, programs that can generate economic and food security, as well as nutrition outcomes for vulnerable rural groups, especially women. The PM will be expected to stay abreast of research and best practices, and disseminate knowledge to the BRAC family. The PM will also support strategies to encourage partners and policy makers to adopt interventions proven to be effective, based on BRAC’s research and experience. The PM will be expected to share his/her expertise with BRAC USA colleagues on proposal and relationship management for securing US government funding. The PM will be expected to travel domestically and internationally up to 30% of the time.
Primary responsibilities
Program and Resource Development:
- Work with BRAC and BRAC International staff, as well as the BRAC UK Senior International Program Advisor, to identify the funding needs for agriculture and rural livelihoods programs, and develop proposals and budgets, ensuring alignment with defined strategies, capacities, and comparative advantages;
- Support Asian and African country teams to develop new project ideas, innovations, concept notes and research to assist in the development of new projects and initiatives;
- Research and identify donors and funding opportunities for portfolio development and craft resource mobilization strategies, especially from US and Canadian governmental and multilateral sources;
- Keep project records and capacity statements up-to-date and work with Communications staff to build awareness of BRAC and BRAC International’s agriculture programs; and
- Support BRAC UK Senior International Program Advisor in coordinating efforts across the two affiliates in order to minimize redundancy in work, strategy, and requests to BRAC International and BRAC Bangladesh.
Partnership development
- Identify and build relationships with peer organizations and strategic partners in North America and countries in which BRAC operates that facilitate access to donor funding and resources, as well as development and implementation of agricultural interventions, with a strong focus on positioning with US and Canadian governmental funding sources; and
- Represent BRAC at relevant meetings, conferences, and events that relate to agriculture and rural livelihoods.
Grant management
- Manage key portfolio-focused donor relationships to ensure they are well-stewarded and receiving the level of attention needed to keep the relationship sustainable and active; and
- Lead grant management and reporting for agriculture and rural livelihoods focused projects funded through BRAC USA.
Qualifications
Education and experience
- Master’s degree in Agriculture, Natural Resource Management, Agricultural Economics, Rural Development, or related field is preferred; and
- A minimum of seven years of rural livelihood experience, including two years of direct field-based experience, is essential.
Knowledge and skills
- Expertise in agricultural and livestock development, rural livelihoods, women’s rural economic empowerment or food security programming, especially in sub-Saharan Africa;
- Track record in mobilizing resources and growing agriculture and rural livelihoods programs, especially from US and Canadian governmental sources;
- Expertise in agriculture value chains, M4P, social enterprise and similar ‘Agriculture as a Business’ models for smallholder farmers;
- Track record in driving agricultural innovation;
- Fluency in English required, and proficiency in Bengali or French a plus;
- Competent in applying best practices in monitoring and evaluation;
- Demonstrated skills at report and proposal writing;
- Extensive knowledge of, and experience with, bi-lateral and multi-lateral donor funding preferences, expectations, and requirements, especially the US government;
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with meticulous attention to detail;
- Creative and strategic thinker with strong capacity to execute;
- Ability to manage and prioritize multiple tasks in a dynamic environment;
- Professional demeanor and ability to interact with a wide range of individuals; and
- Diplomatic and highly effective on an interpersonal level, in addition to cross-cultural sensitivity, knowledge, and understanding.
Find the original job advert on the Devnet jobs website.