Senior Business Development Specialist

Management Sciences for Health • Arlington, VA

11d • $71,100 - $80,000 • Onsite

About The Position

The Senior Business Development Specialist is part of MSH’s business development team and helps the organization meet account targets and long-term revenue goals. The role supports new business development by serving as an Opportunity Manager when assigned, helping teams develop responsive, high-quality proposals, supporting positioning activities and strategies, and improving business development processes, tools, training, and resources. The specialist also assists with other tasks and initiatives as needed.

The position manages opportunity and proposal development activities in collaboration with global and country staff, account teams, proposal leads, partners, consultants, and other stakeholders. It supports pipeline planning, bid decisions, proposal strategy, compliance, schedules, budgets, partner cultivation, proposal writing and editing, and donor feedback. The role also contributes to team planning, internal data quality, process improvement, staff training, and the evaluation of AI use cases for proposal teams.

The selected candidate is expected to work from one of MSH’s offices in the United States. The expected salary range for U.S. locations is $71,100–$80,000 annually.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree.
• Six years of related experience.
• Knowledge of donor-funded program requirements.
• Ability to initiate and organize work, set priorities in a time-sensitive environment, and meet deadlines with attention to detail and quality.
• Knowledge of the full business development lifecycle and skill in capture and positioning; experience filling other proposal roles such as manager, coordinator, or writer.
• Strong written and verbal English-language communication skills.
• Ability to cultivate and maintain productive relationships across the organization, including with senior leadership and technical experts, and with current and potential donors and partners inside and outside the United States.
• Strong analytical and organizational skills, with the ability to work independently and as part of a team.
• Ability to lead cross-departmental teams toward outlined goals.
• Successful experience in a fast-paced, multicultural, results-driven environment.
• Mission-driven, self-directed, and characterized by passion, integrity, and a positive attitude.
• Ability to work effectively in a highly matrixed and complex environment.
• Ability to coach and mentor others.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to handle the high-stress business development environment with diplomacy and a sense of humor.
• Ability to think critically, make decisions, prioritize multiple tasks, and proactively follow through.

Nice To Haves

• Expertise working with U.S. Government agencies, Gavi, United Nations agencies, The Global Fund, and other private funders.
• Experience in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).
• Knowledge of a second language, preferably French.

Responsibilities

• Serve as Opportunity Manager when assigned; maintain knowledge of potential funders and the global health landscape, manage relationships with staff, partners, and consultants, and identify new business leads.
• Collaborate with global and country staff, account teams, and external stakeholders on intelligence gathering, trend analysis, and positioning strategies.
• Support business development team members, account teams, and Proposal Leads in proposal preparation and other activities.
• Contribute to development of a multi-year pipeline, budget, and targets aligned with organizational strategy and goals.
• Facilitate presentation and review of new opportunities through the bid decision process or summary communications.
• Work with the Proposal Lead and proposal team to develop competitive proposals, including win, technical, theory of change, partner, recruitment, and pricing strategies.
• Monitor proposal responsiveness and compliance with solicitations.
• Manage proposal development processes using business development systems, processes, approved AI use cases, and best practices.
• Develop and manage proposal calendars; monitor deadlines, quality standards, investment costs, and spending against budget, and work with the Proposal Lead to resolve issues.
• Assist Proposal Leads with staffing strategies and best-value costing strategies, ensuring alignment between technical and costing strategies.
• Identify and cultivate partnering opportunities, establish institutional partners, manage existing partnerships, coordinate communications, and develop pre-teaming and teaming agreements.
• Write assigned proposal sections and copyedit proposals and annexes.
• Solicit and register donor feedback and coordinate proposal and donor debriefs or feedback meetings.
• Facilitate proposal team and donor feedback on processes and proposals, including after-action reviews and donor questionnaires.
• Train MSH staff in business development processes, tools, and approaches.
• Participate in annual corporate work planning and development of goals and targets.
• Ensure timely, accurate data entry and effective use of internal systems such as CRM and SharePoint.
• Contribute to developing and continuously improving business standards and processes; keep current with industry practices and lessons learned through relevant forums and networks.
• Explore, test, and identify AI use cases for approval and use by proposal teams and MSH staff.
• Support other staff and activities as assigned.

Benefits

• Substantial vacation, sick, and holiday policies.
• Training and development programs.
• Competitive health, vision, dental, life, short-term disability, and long-term disability insurance coverage.
• 401(k) plan.
• Flexible Spending Account.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior