Childfund Work Location Nairobi, Kenya
Childfund Division Global Impact
ChildFund Department Business Development
Job Details
Position title: Specialist II, Education and Proposal Management Location: Flexible
ChildFund office: Africa Region Manager/Supervisor title: Manager Sr., Regional Business Development
Position type: Full-time regular Work environment: On-site
About ChildFund
ChildFund is a child-focused international development organization that connects children with the people, resources and institutions they need to grow up healthy, educated, skilled and safe, no matter where they are. We work directly in 23 countries, with extended reach to more than 60 countries through our global partnership network.
ChildFund’s Values
We aspire for every person in our organization program, participants, supporters, staff, and volunteers alike to feel free, safe, and confident to be themselves. In our culture of connection, you will have ample opportunity to grow, learn, and lead while contributing your talents and innovations to our inspiring mission.
ChildFund’s Commitment
ChildFund International has a zero-tolerance policy regarding sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment (SEAH) and all other forms of harm by its staff, partners, and other representatives in the delivery of its mission and services for children. ChildFund is committed to creating a safe environment in the workplace as well as in the communities where it delivers programs and services. ChildFund expects every staff member, partner, and representative to adhere to this commitment and to ensure all organizational policies and standards are followed. This position is subject to a range of vetting checks, including a criminal records check and/or disclosure to ensure program participants are safeguarded.
About This Role
This is a full-time ( Fixed-term) position open to internal candidates in any ChildFund office location and external candidates in Ethiopia, Guinea, Gambia Kenya, Mozambique, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Uganda and Zambia. To be eligible, candidates must have current residence and work authorization in one of the above countries.
The Specialist II, Education & Proposal Management will lead and support the development of high-quality, donor-ready proposals and technical documents for education programming across Africa. Combining strong proposal management and coordination skills with technical expertise in education, the role will contribute to the identification of strategic funding opportunities and the development of competitive, evidence-based, and compelling proposals for donors and partners.
The Specialist will also strengthen the organization’s education approach across country offices, analyze donor priorities and funding trends, and cultivate strategic partnerships within the education sector. Serving as a bridge between technical education expertise and regional donor engagement, the role will support the sustainability, growth, and impact of education programming acrossAfrica
Required Experience And Education
- Bachelor’s degree in Education, International Development, Social Sciences or a related field; Master’s degree preferred.
- At least 5–7 years of progressively responsible experience in education programming, education technical advisory, or related roles within international development
- Demonstrated experience coordinating education-focused proposals, concept notes, technical narratives, and donor-facing materials.
- Strong understanding of education programming in the Africa region, including approaches that improve education quality, teaching and learning practices, equitable learning opportunities, and learning outcomes.
- Experience managing proposal development processes , coordinating cross-functional teams , and ensuring high-quality, compliant submissions within tight deadlines .
- Proven experience in donor engagement, fundraising, business development or partnership development within the education sector.
- Demonstrated knowledge of major education donors and funding mechanisms in Africa, including bilateral, multilateral, foundation, and corporate donors.
- Experience supporting education initiatives across multiple African countries and collaborating effectively with country offices, technical teams, and external partners in multicultural and geographically dispersed environments.
Primary Responsibilities
Proposal Coordination and Management
- Lead and coordinate proposal development processes for education-focused funding opportunities, ensuring submissions are well structured, compliant, and submitted on time.
- Serve as the proposal lead and coordinator, managing inputs from program, education, finance, grants, compliance, and country office teams to ensure high-quality and competitive submissions.
- Develop clear proposal workplans, calendars, review timelines, and submission checklists.
- Ensure all proposals meet donor requirements, evaluation criteria, formatting instructions, and internal quality standards.
- Maintain proposal templates, reusable education content, capability statements, past performance references, and standard proposal language.
- Document lessons learned from proposal submissions and apply feedback to improve future education proposals.
- Lead and coordinate the development of concept notes, expressions of interest, full proposals, and other funding submissions for education opportunities across Africa.
Technical Expertise in Education
- Provide technical leadership during proposal design, ensuring submissions are evidence-based, contextually relevant, and aligned with regional education priorities.
- Provide technical guidance informed by global and regional best practices in areas such as foundational learning, inclusive education, early childhood development, life skills, and youth learning pathways across humanitarian and development contexts.
- Translate education program models, country office experience, and evidence into strong technical approaches for donor proposals.
- Translate education programme models, country office experience, and evidence into strong technical approaches for donor proposals.
- Work with education specialists and country teams to define outcomes, indicators, activities, assumptions, and learning questions.
- Support the development and refinement of regional education strategies, technical frameworks, and value propositions for priority funding opportunities.
Donor Engagement and Sector Mapping
- Conduct research and analysis to identify donor trends, priorities, and opportunities in the education sector.
- Support the cultivation and management of strategic relationships with donors, partners, and education stakeholders, presenting compelling cases for investment in education programming
- Support country offices in donor engagement planning, opportunity positioning, partnership development, and business development capacity strengthening.
- Track and disseminate information on donor priorities, funding trends, and strategic opportunities relevant to education programming across Africa.
Regional Collaboration and Capacity Strengthening
- Collaborate with country offices to strengthen the quality and consistency of education programme design and proposal development.
- Facilitate knowledge sharing, learning, and the dissemination of promising practices across education teams in the region.
- Provide mentoring and technical support to country office staff involved in education program design, proposal development, and donor engagement.
Child Safeguarding:
- Remain alert and responsive to child safeguarding risks; acquire relevant knowledge and skills to promote strong safeguarding practices; understand the child safeguarding policy and procedures; and conduct oneself in a manner consistent with ChildFund’s Child Safeguarding Policy .
Required Competencies
ChildFund’s Core Competencies
- Teamwork: the ability to work effectively and collaborate with others; values and respects individual differences.
- Communication: demonstrates empathy and tact when communicating with others and uses a storytelling approach when appropriate.
- Results orientation: gets things done; takes proactive steps to achieve organizational goals and quality standards.
- Decision making: uses good judgement, critical thinking, and non-traditional ways to evaluate problems and opportunities; reflects and innovates to improve decisions and outcomes.
- Resilience: thrives and grows in rapidly changing, demanding, and complex environments.
- Digital literacy: adopts and champions new technology to relevant contexts, stays aware of technological trends and embraces technological solutions to business challenges.
Other Required Competencies
- The ability to read, write, and speak fluently in English.
- Strong networking and relationship-building skills.
- Ability to work collaboratively in a diverse, multicultural team environment.
- Ability to work effectively across multiple countries and cultures, supporting geographically dispersed teams within a regional environment.
- Strong facilitation, coordination, and influencing skills, with the ability to work across functions and manage competing priorities without direct authority.
- Demonstrated flexibility and commitment to achieving results under varying circumstances.
- Excellent proposal, technical writing, and communication skills, with the ability to translate technical concepts into clear, persuasive, evidence-based, and donor-compliant content.
- Demonstrated ability to build and maintain effective relationships with donors, partners, country office teams, and other key stakeholders.
- Strong analytical and strategic thinking skills, including the ability to assess donor priorities, funding trends, and emerging opportunities.
- Excellent project management and stakeholder coordination skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities simultaneously.
- Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Office applications, particularly Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook, with the ability to produce high-quality donor-facing documents and presentations.