1.    Background to the Assignment:

SNV is a not-for-profit international development organisation that applies practical know-how to make a lasting difference in the lives of people living in poverty. The SNV Global Business Development team supports SNV’s sector and country teams to bring in new project funding.
The capture phase is key to increasing the win chances of an opportunity. During this phase, the success drivers are defined: a winning consortium, a winning implementation team, a winning value proposition and technical approach, a clear understanding of competitor landscape, strong positioning, etc.
Our team has a profound understanding on the ‘what’ and the ‘why’ of the capture process. We are seeking to deepen our knowledge of the ‘how’ in relation to capture planning and management. We want exposure of concrete suggestions and tools to carry out and improve the capture process; what exactly can we do to gain more intelligence, how do we define a strong win strategy, and how is this structured in a capture plan?

1.    Objectives of the Assignment:

SNV’s Global BD Team is looking for a hands-on trainer who will provide an in-depth and customised Capture Management Training, covering in particular:
A.    A brief refresher of the capture management process (10% of the training)
B.    Practical guidance on how to address important aspects of Capturing Planning and Management (70% of the training).
The content of the modules should be tailor-made to equip the team with techniques and tools that enables it to transition from information extraction (from official documents and statements – something the team already masters) to intelligence gathering (from engagement with stakeholders) that can inform the design and implementation of winning bid strategies.
The modules should contain a brief theoretical framework but should be mostly practical. Main aspects to address during the modules should be:

B.1. Lead Research

·       How to do a stakeholders mapping
·       How to identify a donor’s needs: What are the challenges that the donor wants to address? What are their main priorities and hot buttons? What are the main challenges the donor found during the implementation of similar projects? Can we influence the donor? Who can help us to clarify these issues and how should we approach these actors?
·       How can we understand a donors’ organisational setup (beyond organigram): Where are key decisions makers? Where are the decisions on project’s formulation and procurement laid out and approved? How does the donor’s country representation relate to its Head Office? Who can help us to clarify these issues and how should we approach these actors?
·       How to make sense of a donor’s procurement & evaluation process: What does the customer’s procurement process look like? How & when will this prospect be procured?  How and where will this prospect be evaluated? Do we know who the evaluators will be? What criteria, weighting, and scoring is (typically) used by the donor? Who can help us to clarify these issues and how should we approach these actors?
·       How to identify and assess the competitors/partners landscape: How to develop a list of potential competitors? How to identify “hidden competitors”? How to access information on competitors’ profiles beyond publicly available information (e.g., market approach & position, products & services, technical approaches, pricing perception, bidder patterns, donor relations, track record, staff performance)? Who can help us to clarify these issues and how should we approach these actors?
·       How to support country offices and sectors to engage with donors, competitors and partners effectively, and gather on-the-ground information?

B.2. Strategy & Action Plan

·       How to transform information/intelligence into action in order to advance the opportunity (tools & techniques)? How to deal with a non-linear process of information/intelligence gathering? How to factor in uncertainty during the capture process?
·       How to facilitate an Internal Gap Analysis (technical, managerial, institutional, and budgetary)?
·       How to assess partners & competitors: Tools & techniques, accurate identification.
·       How to define a winning strategy and value proposition: How to highlight strengths?          How to mitigate weaknesses? How to downplay the competitors’ strengths? How to            emphasize competitors’ weaknesses?
·       From Strategy to Action Plan:

-      Capture Plan & Action Plan drafting: Management of timelines, Capture team composition & LoE
-      How to define and implement a Consortium setup strategy
-      The scoping mission(s): When/Who/How, Collaboration with SNV Countries & Sectors
-      Definition of a winning implementation team
-      How to keep SNV countries engaged during the process
-      Deliverables of the Capture phase

C.    Role and skills of the Capture Manager (20% of the training)

-      How to enhance the role & skills of the Capture Manager in the context of SNV

2.    Specific Tasks of the Assignment:

-      Development of a training programme and materials that are tailored to SNV’s business development procedures and SNV Global BD team. This will be done in close coordination with the appointed BD Team focal person.

It is expected that the tailoring process of the training will entail several meetings/calls and interchanges between the consultant and SNV’s focal person. The estimated days for the consultations and development of the training programme content and materials should be indicated in the proposal of the consultant.

-      Delivery of ±1-2 day in-person (if covid-regulations permit) training, with flexibility to spread these trainings over a number of days if deemed more effective, that covers the principles of capture planning and management in brief, provides examples of how to lead, conduct and support effective capture planning so that it can be applied in the BD Team’s day-to-day prospect development in order to increase winning chances, and provides ample space for practical exercises/activities for training participants to engage in.

Post-training follow-up. It is expected that after the training the consultant devotes maximum of 0.5 day to supporting SNV to document outputs, conclusions, and recommendations.

The above topics should be dealt with differently in the context of tenders and grants.

1.    Minimum qualifications of the trainer:

·       Qualification (preferably post graduate) in international development, international business, or related technical field of expertise.
·       Minimum of 8 years of work experience in new business development or in institutional fundraising in an international non-profit or consultancy firm.
·       Sound understanding of funding mechanisms and procurement procedures in the international development sector.
·       Proven track record of planning and leading multi-million Euro proposal submissions with at least 2 of the following donors DGIS/EKN, European Union, FCDO, USAID, SDC, SIDA, ENDEV.
·       Minimum of 2 years of experience as trainer
·       Strong written and verbal communication skills in English are a must
·       Working experience in developing countries is highly desirable.

2.    Technical & Financial Proposal

Technical Proposal:

-      CV of the proposed trainer
-      2-5 pages outlining the consultant’s methodological approach on how the proposed training will address the different objectives mentioned in the ToR

Financial proposal:  

-      Proposed distribution of training days
-      Proposed number of days to create tailored training programme
-      Proposed number of days for implementing the Capture Planning and Management Training. Approximate days defined by ToR: 2 days.
-      Follow-up for documentation of outputs, conclusions, and recommendations: Maximum # of days defined by ToR: 0.5 day.

The consultant will propose a daily fee exclusive of Dutch VAT (but inclusive of any other taxes, if applicable).

3.    Evaluation
The evaluation will follow the following criteria:
Technical scoring 80%:
- CV of proposed trainer 40 points
- Consultant’s methodological approach 20 points
- Interview with procurement panel of the trainer 40 points
Financial scoring 20%:
- Daily fee (lowest fee receive 100 points) 100 points max.

Expected Timeline of Assignment:
The training is expected to take place in-person in September 2022. Exact dates will be agreed with the consultant. 

Deadline Proposal Submission: 2 May 2022

Contact Details
Please submit your technical and financial proposal to Claire Belilos at [email protected]