Senior Associate, Business Development & Training, LEAD at Krea University

Type of Employment: Full-time 

Employer: LEAD at Krea University

Location: Chennai 

Reporting to: Partnerships & Outreach Director, LEAD

Salary: Commensurate with qualifications and experience

About LEAD at Krea University: 

LEAD is an action-oriented research centre of IFMR Society (a not-for-profit society registered under the Societies Act), leverages the power of research, innovation and co-creation to solve complex and pressing challenges in development. LEAD specialises in developing in-depth granular understanding of socio-economic contexts and harnessing actionable insights that have a wide range of applications in industry, policy, and academia. LEAD is a collaborative hub that brings experts from diverse disciplines and sectors together to develop innovative solutions by harnessing innovation, technology and analytics. 

About the Position:

We are seeking a Senior Associate, Business Development & Training to identify fundraising opportunities for the organisation and manage the end-to-end proposal development and review process of the organisation. The candidate will be required to work in close coordination with research verticals at LEAD right from the identification of funding opportunities until the final submission of the proposals and provide all support in terms of document preparation, liaising with different departments for information gathering, coordinating timelines and so on. They will also be required to assist in creating written proposals and other materials that are required as per the donor requirements. The ideal candidate must be able to write in a detailed, factual and convincing manner. They must also anchor the process of tracking and documenting the proposal submissions and updating the internal systems frequently as per established protocols. 

Moreover, the candidate will anchor and update LEAD’s internal learning management system called Journeybook. This involves conceptualising and creating targeted courses with subject matter experts (SMEs), onboarding and assigning courses to LEAD employees on an ongoing basis, monitoring the uptake of courses by employees and overall management and administration of the platform in coordination with the Director – Partnerships & Outreach.

They will work out of the Chennai office and will report to the Director – Partnerships & Outreach. Travel may be required to conduct research and to meet with involved parties. This is a networking role that requires the ability to work efficiently and meet project deadlines.

Responsibilities:

• Identify funding opportunities on an ongoing basis;
• Develop databases of potential funding organisations across different types, such as corporate, bilateral, multilateral, academic, government and so on;
• Assist in identifying opportunities for core funding and preparing relevant materials to ‘sell’ the organisation and its activities;  
• Ensure that the proposal development process is anchored centrally from end to end;
• Make sure that every section of the proposal is developed meticulously, with no gaps;
• Ensure uncompromised quality of proposals/concept notes/expressions of interest submitted by LEAD;
• Understand LEAD’s strengths and areas of improvement in terms of expertise and experience to filter funding opportunities pursued; 
• Develop and maintain a ready folder of project summaries, profile summaries, detailed projects and CVs, and a list of key experts;
• Researching, writing and organising ideas;
• Conducting interviews, reviewing products or services, creating strategies, working with graphic designers and presenting proposals;
• Assist the relevant vertical heads in developing a proposal structure;
• Identify and re-work existing pre-written content where relevant;
• Deliver completed written proposal responses to the project head against agreed RFP deadlines, escalating issues as required;
• Re-write/edit proposal responses from a variety of stakeholders, typically involving contributions from technical, finance, legal and operational teams;
• Prepare other materials, such as PowerPoint presentations, concept notes, brochures and so on, as required per the particular stakeholder;
• Proactively develop and manage a network of subject matter experts and partners;
• Conceptualise and develop a list of training courses relevant to the requirements of the team;
• Work closely with the SMEs to create content, provide voiceovers and finalise modules for uploading on the platform;
• Work with HR to constantly update the users on the platform and assign courses based on skill mapping;
• Work with managers to monitor the performance of employees; 
• Develop quarterly targets and work plans and show deliverables against such targets.

Required Experience/Skills:  

• 4+ years of demonstrated business development, training and development sector experience;
• Master’s degree in Economics, Business Administration, Communications or related field required;
• Outstanding networking skills and the ability to write persuasively and articulately are essential; 
• Excellent communicator with the ability to express complex technical issues in plain language without losing the important points;
• Detail-oriented with excellent interpersonal, computer and organisational skills;
• Previous experience in proposal writing, which may be gained through internships, as part of college course projects and through volunteer opportunities with awareness groups, community programmes and other non-profit organisations;
• Past experience in winning huge grants from reputed national/international organisations and raising funds from different types of organisations;
• Previous experience in coordinating training programmes or managing LMS platforms is preferred;
• Strong time management/prioritisation skills and attention to detail;
• Dynamic and collaborative team player;
• Strong oral and written communication skills;
• Ability to efficiently track timelines and adhere to guidelines.

Application Instructions:

Deadline: Applications are being accepted and reviewed until 30 September, 2024. To apply, please collate your resume, a cover letter and a writing sample in a single PDF and apply in the form here. Female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply. 

Note: Due to the large volume of applications we receive, we are unable to contact each candidate individually regarding the status of their application. Only shortlisted applicants will be contacted for interview purposes.