Amref Health Africa was founded in 1957 and has since grown to become the largest African-based international health development organisation; currently implementing more than 180 programs, reaching more than 40 million people across 35 African countries; and a staff complement of over 2,000. Headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, Amref Health Africa has offices in ten countries in Africa – Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Guinea (Conakry), Kenya, Malawi, Senegal, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. An additional eleven advocacy and fundraising offices are located in Europe and North America. 

Amref Health Africa is driven by its vision of ‘Lasting health change in Africa’ and its mission ‘To catalyze and drive community-led and people-centred health systems while addressing social determinants of health’. We believe that the power to transform Africa's health lies within its communities, and therefore strive to ensure that health systems are not only functional but that communities are empowered to hold these systems accountable for the delivery of quality and affordable health care.

Job Purpose

The Senior Manager, Business Development provides strategic leadership for resource mobilization, partnerships, and growth for Amref Health Africa in Ethiopia. Reporting to the Director, Program Strategy and Growth, the role is responsible for proactively positioning the organization for sustainable growth through strategic market intelligence, pre-positioning, capture management, consortium development, and high-quality proposal leadership.

The position plays a critical role in diversifying funding sources beyond traditional grant mechanisms, strengthening strategic partnerships, and enhancing Amref Ethiopia’s competitiveness with institutional donors, foundations, multilateral agencies, private sector actors, and innovative financing partners.

As a senior member of the Business Development and Partnerships Unit, the role contributes directly to achieving Amref Ethiopia’s growth targets, advancing strategic partnerships, strengthening internal systems, and supporting senior-level external engagement.

Key Responsibilities

1. Strategic Growth & Market Positioning

• Lead the development and implementation of a forward-looking business development and resource mobilization strategy aligned with Amref’s corporate and country strategy.
• Develop and maintain a rolling 12–24-month funding pipeline with clear pre-positioning strategies.
• Conduct strategic market intelligence analysis to identify emerging donor priorities, investment trends, and policy shifts.
• Advise the Senior Leadership Team on strategic growth opportunities, competitive positioning, and go/no-go decisions.
• Drive diversification into non-traditional funding streams, including private sector partnerships, innovative financing mechanisms, and domestic resource mobilization.
• Contribute to positioning Amref Ethiopia in national policy, financing, and sectoral discussions to enhance visibility and influence.

2. Pre-Positioning & Capture Management

• Identify, track, and assess upcoming funding opportunities and grant forecasts.
• Lead donor intelligence gathering and competitive landscape analysis.
• Initiate and maintain early strategic engagement with donors and partners to shape funding priorities and influence concept development.
• Lead capture planning for priority opportunities, including win strategies, value propositions, and partnership alignment.
• Develop and manage structured partnership engagement plans for high-value stakeholders.

3. Proposal Leadership & Quality Assurance

• Oversee and lead end-to-end proposal development processes for priority bids.
• Ensure timely submission of high-quality, compliant, and donor-responsive proposals.
• Lead proposal design workshops and technical solution development in collaboration with program, finance, M&E, and communications teams.
• Ensure strong alignment between technical narratives, budgets, and results frameworks.
• Lead consortium-building efforts and partnership negotiations for complex, multi-partner bids.
• Facilitate post-submission reviews and institutional learning processes to improve competitiveness and win rates.

4. Partnerships & External Engagement

• Build and maintain strategic, long-term partnerships with government entities, development partners, foundations, multilateral agencies, NGOs, and private sector actors.
• Lead negotiations with local and international consortium partners.
• Represent Amref Ethiopia in donor meetings, technical working groups, and strategic forums.
• Strengthen Amref’s external positioning through capability statements, strategic briefs, and marketing materials aligned with growth priorities.
• Promote alignment between communications, visibility efforts, and resource mobilization objectives.

5. Systems Strengthening & Capacity Development

• Strengthen internal business development systems, processes, and standard operating procedures (SOPs).
• Build internal capacity across technical and field teams in proposal development, capture management, and strategic partnerships.
• Supervise, mentor, and support business development staff.
• Strengthen partner relationship management and knowledge management systems.
• Collaborate with HQ and regional business development teams to align with global fundraising strategies and best practices.

Academic Qualifications

• Master’s degree in Business Administration (MBA), Economics, Development Finance, Public Health (with specialization in Health Economics or Health Financing), International Development, or a related strategic discipline is required.
• Additional professional training or certification in strategic management, grant acquisition, capture management, fundraising, proposal development, grant management, project management, or partnership development is an added advantage.

Experience

• Minimum seven (7) years of progressively responsible experience in business development, strategic resource mobilization, or grant management within the development sector.
• Proven track record of securing multi-year, multi-million-dollar grants from institutional, foundation, and/or private sector donors.
• Demonstrated experience leading complex, multi-partner proposal development processes.
• At least three (3) years of supervisory or team management experience.
• Strong experience in donor engagement, partnership development, and negotiation.
• Excellent English writing, editing, and communication skills.

Knowledge, Skills, and Competencies

• Strong understanding of institutional donor requirements, funding cycles, and compliance standards.
• Strategic thinking with demonstrated ability to position opportunities ahead of funding calls.
• Strong financial literacy and ability to align technical design with budgeting.
• Excellent partnership-building, negotiation, and stakeholder engagement skills.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities and deliver high-quality outputs under tight deadlines.
• Strong analytical and decision-making skills.
• High level of professionalism, integrity, discretion, and accountability.

Key Performance Indicators (Indicative)

• Annual resource mobilization targets achieved.
• Value and diversity of pre-positioned funding pipeline.
• Proposal win rate and quality compliance score.
• Number and quality of strategic partnerships formalized.
• Strengthened internal BD systems and staff capacity.

Your application should include a cover letter detailing why you are the best fit for this position and your CV with relevant skills and experience. Closing date will be on Friday, 13 March 2026. 

Amref Health Africa does not require applicants to pay any money at whatever stage of the recruitment and selection process and has not retained any agent in connection with recruitment. Although Amref may use different job boards from time to time to further spread its reach for applicants, all open vacancies are published on our website under the Vacancies page and on our official social media pages. Kindly also note that official emails from Amref Health Africa will arrive from an @amref.org address.

Amref Health Africa is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff to share this commitment. Amref Health Africa is is dedicated to diversity and is an equal-opportunity employer with a non-smoking environment policy.