Business for Health Solutions (BHS) is an innovative private sector approach to health systems strengthening in Africa. Our mission is to increase healthcare access in Africa.

We work to develop the capacity of promising African enterprises across the healthcare value chain by facilitating remote technical assistance projects delivered by highly-skilled corporate volunteers.  We aim to sustainably increase the capacity of healthcare enterprises to deliver quality, affordable and accessible health products and services to families and communities.

Following a successful pilot in 2019, BHS is now scaling-up in Tanzania and other African markets, benefiting local healthcare enterprises in distribution, drug manufacturing, health insurance and service provision.  Volunteer experts have been drawn from global employees of Novartis, Merck Group, UnitedHealth Group and other US based hospital chains.

BHS is an initiative of the Global Development Incubator (GDI), a global non-profit that launches social impact start-ups, and is supported by Fondation Botnar, a charitable foundation and catalytic funder, Partners in Food Solutions, a successful non-profit which has proven this project model in the food processing and agricultural sector, as well as other charitable foundations and corporate partners.

BHS is looking for an experienced, highly motivated funding and business development specialist to join our small global team based in Tanzania, Rwanda and Switzerland.

Applications for this position will be reviewed on an ongoing basis.  Early submissions are strongly encouraged.

The Fundraising and Partnerships Manager is responsible for managing BHS’s funding and business development activities – identifying and developing funding opportunities, responding to proposals and building new programme partnerships. The role is a unique opportunity to build sustainable partnerships alongside grant funding, ensuring  financial sustainability and future growth of BHS,  and is split approx. 50/50 as follows:

1)    Donor fundraising & grant management

The Fundraising and Partnerships Manager works closely with the Rwanda based BHS director to initiate and pursue leads with potential donors, prepare concept notes and grant applications, negotiate grant agreements and manage grant reporting requirements.

2)    Corporate partner engagement

The Fundraising and Partnerships Manager works closely with the Switzerland based BHS director to research global healthcare companies and their corporate responsibility and volunteering programs, identify target partners and initiate contact, prepare proposals and presentations, negotiate partnership agreements and manage key relationships and reporting requirements.

Key responsibilities include:

• Working closely with the BHS directors to identify opportunities, develop proposals and build relationships with prospective funders and corporate partners
• Developing and maintaining a pipeline of funder prospects and prospective corporate partners
• Preparing letters of inquiry, concept papers, and proposal submissions for new grants and grant renewals, with special attention to program narratives work plans, milestones and budgets
• Preparing pitch materials and proposals tailored to the value proposition for new corporate partners.  Preparing and presenting powerpoint presentations, virtually and in person.
• Building and managing executive and management level relationships at foundations and corporates (across multiple functions, eg. HR, volunteering, CSR, Access to Health, supply chain etc)
• Managing the business development database (simple CRM)
• Tracking BHS commitments and reporting requirements, managing deadlines and preparing reports
• Working with M&E officer to compile donor/partner impact metrics and milestone reporting
• Developing a communications program that will lead to deeper and broadened engagement with current and potential corporate partners and donors
• Representing BHS at appropriate forums including conferences and events
• Travel for donor and partner meetings in US and Europe (ad hoc, mainly virtual) and to program countries in Africa (1x pa)

• Bachelor or Masters degree in relevant field
• 5+ years of experience of institutional fundraising and corporate partnerships, ideally within Global Health
• Knowledge and experience of responding to funding calls from government funders and developing funding relationships with private and corporate foundations
• Experience of developing and maintaining partnerships with organizations to collaborate on project ideas
• Exceptional written and oral communication skills, with proven ability to write persuasively and with a high degree of professionalism
• Excellent interpersonal skills and an ability to work with diverse constituencies, including multinational corporates
• Ability to handle and prioritize multiple tasks while maintaining attention to detail
• Excellent negotiation and communications skills
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite (especially Powerpoint) and Google tools and a willingness to learn new software eg. Airtable, Salesforce

Personal characteristics include:

• Ability to learn quickly and take initiative
• Ability to move quickly between collaborative and independent work styles
• Self-motivation and resourcefulness
• Entrepreneurial mindset
• Curiosity and a sense of humor

Start date: January/February 2021

Duration: 12 months, full-time effort (renewable dependent on continued funding)

Location: Flexible (US, Europe or East Africa preferred)