About CRS
JOB DESCRIPTION
Catholic Relief Services is the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. CRS works to
save, protect, and transform lives in need in more than 100 countries, without regard to race, religion or nationality. CRS' relief and development work is accomplished through programs of emergency response, HIV, health, agriculture, education, microfinance and peacebuilding.
Job Summary
CRS’ Institutional Donor Engagement and Advancement (IDEA) department advances the agency’s strategic position by engaging new and existing institutional donors to acquire and steward resources that deliver excellent programs to advance Vision 2030, CRS’ Agency Strategy. Teams within the department focus on three main pillars: engaging donors and strategic partners, acquiring new business, and delivering on the outcomes as outlined in the institutional award agreements, in compliance with donor requirements. The Business Development Specialist (BDS), II – Proposal Writer is part of IDEA’s larger Growth Strategy and Support Unit (GSSU), which is a team that supports the department’s acquiring new business pillar by providing high-quality business development surge support to CRS country programs, regions and HQ teams on strategic funding opportunities.
More specifically, the position is part of the GSSU’s proposal writing team, which is composed of two other Proposal Writers. The BDS II – Proposal Writer will contribute to the production of persuasive, audience-focused proposals in support of CRS’ mission to serve poor and vulnerable people . The position will provide specialized assistance to cross-disciplinary and cross-functional teams, particularly in proposal writing.
Roles And Key Responsibilities
Providing Business Development Surge Support:
- Serve as lead writer for high-value, complex proposals. Develop technical narrative outlines and draft proposal sections with technical input, as agreed with the technical design lead and other proposal team members. Synthesize inputs from multiple authors, with attention to clarity, readability, sentence structure, style and voice.
- Work closely with the proposal coordinator, technical design lead and sector leads, other proposal team members and stakeholders, including partners, to develop well-written, well-organized and cohesive concept notes, expressions of interest and proposals aligned with donor requirements and CRS standards.
- Collaborate with the technical design lead to ensure local context and knowledge is fully reflected in proposal products.
- Serve as editor for complex technical proposals, editing in accordance with AP and CRS house style, focusing on improving readability by shortening sentences, eliminating redundancies, rearranging sentences to improve transitions and clarifying exhibits and references.
- Support other writing/editing tasks (including reports, marketing material, executive communication, etc.) as required (less than 10% time).
- Participate in design workshops and other proposal strategy, preparation and review activities and synthesize inputs from various data sources and stakeholders.
- Maintain close communication with the technical design lead and proposal coordinator throughout the proposal development process to ensure expectations are aligned and deadlines are met.
- Work with CRS technical and partner staff to evaluate and integrate reviewer comments, as appropriate.
Supporting Relevant CRS Communities Of Practice
- Develop key proposal writing tools and resources, including guidance, training materials and internal and external capacity statements, to support the wider CRS BD Community of Practice.
- Serve as an active member of the CRS Proposal Writer Community of Practice, collaborating on joint projects and deliverables, supporting other members with guidance and attending relevant meetings.
- Contribute to CRS' Business Development Community of Practice and advance CRS Business Development practices through contributions to other initiatives.
Qualifications
Basic Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in English, communications, international development or related field.
- Minimum five years of experience in international development, with at least three of those years writing competitive funding proposals or other persuasive, audience-focused technical communication.
- Three years' experience in a developing country preferred.
Languages
Fluency in oral and written English required. Working ability in French or Spanish a plus.
Travel
Must be willing and able to travel internationally approximately 20% of the time; generally, 1-4 times per year for 1-3 weeks at a time.
Knowledge, Skills And Abilities
- Extensive experience writing competitive proposals for a variety of bilateral and multilateral donors and across technical areas, including agriculture, food security, resilience, health, and emergency response.
- Experienced in preparing proposals for USAID and other key funding agencies such as CDC, USDA, EU, and FCDO.
- Ability to communicate complex technical concepts and ideas in compelling, audience-focused prose.
- Extensive familiarity with standard proposal requirements, including structure and content.
- Strong strategic, analytical, systems thinking and problem-solving skills, with a capacity to both see the big picture and give attention to detail.
- Extensive familiarity with Microsoft 365 suite of tools (MS Windows, Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and Teams), and information management systems.
- Exceptional knowledge of English grammar, punctuation, spelling and usage and familiarity with Associated Press Stylebook.
- Strong communication and relationship management skills.
- Demonstrated ability to contribute as part of a team to produce high-quality deliverables under tight deadlines.
- Familiar with business development terminology, standards and best practices, including win themes and discriminators
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience working full-time in a BD position for a non-governmental organization.
- Demonstrated experience, particularly as a lead writer, contributing to competitive applications and proposals in programming contexts similar to those in which CRS operates.
- Demonstrated ability to learn and write about a broad range of technical sectors.
- Experience providing remote support to diverse teams.
- Knowledge of CRS programs, justice agenda and Catholic Social Teaching principles a plus.
Agency-wide Competencies (for all CRS Staff)
Responsibilities
These are rooted in the mission, values and guiding principles of CRS and used by each staff member to fulfill his or her responsibilities and achieve the desired results:
- Integrity
- Continuous Improvement & Innovation
- Builds Relationships
- Develops Talent
- Strategic Mindset
- Accountability & Stewardship
Supervisory Responsibilities: None
Key Working Relationships
Internal: GSSU team members and IDEA colleagues, the CRS Business Development Community of Practice, country program staff; regional office staff, program quality and technical staff, management quality and finance staff.
External: Business development, proposal writing and technical staff of collaborating partner organizations.
- Our Catholic identity is at the heart of our mission and operations. Catholic Relief Services carries out the commitment of the Bishops of the United States to assist the poor and vulnerable overseas. We welcome as a part of our staff people of all faiths and secular traditions who share our values and our commitment to serving those in need. CRS’ processes and policies reflect our commitment to protecting children and vulnerable adults from abuse and exploitation.
Disclaimer: This job description is not an exhaustive list of the skills, efforts, duties and responsibilities associated with the position.
CRS' talent acquisition procedures reflect our commitment to protecting children and vulnerable adults from abuse and exploitation.
CRS is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
About Us
Catholic Relief Services is the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. CRS works to
save, protect, and transform lives in need in more than 100 countries, without regard to race, religion or nationality. CRS’ relief and development work is accomplished through programs of emergency response, HIV, health, agriculture, education, microfinance and peacebuilding.
About The Team
CRS' talent acquisition procedures reflect our commitment to safeguarding the rights and dignity of all people - especially children and vulnerable adults - to live free from abuse and harm.
CRS welcomes candidates from the countries and regions in which we work. In the event the successful candidate is an expatriate or global telecommuter, the anticipated duration of the assignment is informed by a term limit, based on the type and level of the job and the needs of the agency.
CRS is an Equal Opportunity Employer 
