Head of Business Development and Partnerships

In this role, the successful candidate will sit on the Senior Management Team (SMT) and supervise the Business Development Officer.

The role maintains close working relationships with members of the Senior Management Team as well as technical and operational teams across the organisation, including Heads of Units, Project Coordinators, Project Officers, and other staff or consultants engaged by WaterAid Uganda (WAU).

Additionally, the role collaborates closely with external stakeholders, including WaterAid Uganda partners, the East Africa Regional team, the UK office, institutional donors, local and national government officials, line ministries, civil society organisations, and international and national NGOs.

In this role, you will:

• Lead, develop and implement a Country Programme (CP) funding strategy and annual business development plan.
  
• Use market intelligence, donor trends and competitor analysis to shape investment and funding decisions.
  
• Provide leadership to strengthen fundraising culture and donor literacy across the CP, monitoring and tracking pipeline performance against fundraising goals.
  
• Actively shape the future pipeline through donor mapping, prospecting and relationship development before opportunities are released. Ensure intelligence is regularly shared and gathered from CP key staff.
  
• Lead proactive donor and partnership engagement to position Country Programme’s as the ‘go to’ agency for WASH Programming through strong communications of its priorities, capabilities and track record.
  
• Maintain a diversified funding portfolio and identify underdeveloped donor segments and underfunded aims.
  
• Lead bid/no-bid decisions and challenge opportunities that are not strategically, operationally or financially viable.
  
• Maintain accurate pipeline data, forecasts, conversion metrics and management information in WAPS.
  
• Lead and coordinate concept notes, EOIs, proposals and pitches.
  
• Mobilise technical, programme, finance, grants and policy expertise to produce competitive submissions.
  
• Ensure strong understanding of winning bid components (e.g. win themes, compliance requirements) while not acting solely as a proposal writer.
  
• Lead contract negotiations on behalf of the CP including co-financing arrangements, risk allocation and donor terms and conditions with relevant WAUK and fundraising stakeholders.
  
• Coordinate external engagement, briefings, debriefings and follow-up actions across teams.
  
• Champion WaterAid policies and maintain personal compliance with the Global Code of Conduct and associated policies.
  
• Champion WaterAid’s commitments to equity, inclusion and safeguarding
  

To be successful in this role, you will need:

• A degree qualification in Project/ Programme Management, social sciences, Development studies, Business Administration, Public Health or equivalent professional experience. A master’s degree is an added advantage.
  
• Minimum of 7 years’ related experience in raising funds from donors such as the EU, DFID, SIDA, NORAD, DANIDA etc and managing the funds.
  
• Extensive experience raising and mobilising significant funding (e.g. multi-million contracts) from institutional, corporate, philanthropic and private sector donors.
  
• Demonstrated success shaping, positioning and securing complex funding opportunities and partnerships.
  
• Experience of consortium building, donor engagement, contract negotiation and co-financing arrangements.
  
• Experience working across country, regional and global teams to deliver a joined-up business development approach.
  

Although not essential, we’d prefer you to have:

• A proactive and entrepreneurial mindset with ability to create opportunities and influence outcomes.
  
• Excellent networking, relationship management and negotiation skills.
  
• Strong analytical, strategic thinking and market intelligence capabilities.
  
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
  
• Excellent time management skills with proven ability to handle pressure and meet deadlines.
  
• Ability to assess strategic fit, risk, full cost recovery and financial sustainability and to lead difficult discussions.
  
• Strong coordination and leadership skills across multidisciplinary teams.
  
• Commitment to WaterAid values and collaborative ways of working.
  
• Strong IT fluency and use of emerging technological options.