Specialist II, Education and Proposal Management

ChildFund is seeking a Specialist II, Education and Proposal Management to support education programming, proposal development, donor engagement, and business development across Africa. The full-time fixed-term position is open to internal candidates in any ChildFund office and external candidates who currently reside and have work authorization in Ethiopia, Guinea, Gambia, Kenya, Mozambique, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Uganda, or Zambia.

Key Job Information

• Job Title: Specialist II, Education and Proposal Management
• Employer: ChildFund, Africa Region
• Location: Flexible, subject to eligible ChildFund office locations and countries specified in the vacancy
• Division: Global Impact
• Department: Business Development
• Employment Type: Full-time, Fixed Term
• Work Environment: On-site
• Reports To: Manager Sr., Regional Business Development

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. The organization works directly in 23 countries and has an extended reach to more than 60 countries through its global partnership network.

ChildFund promotes a culture where program participants, supporters, staff, and volunteers can feel free, safe, and confident to be themselves. Staff are encouraged to grow, learn, lead, and contribute their talents and innovations to the organization’s mission.

ChildFund International maintains a zero-tolerance policy regarding sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment (SEAH) and other forms of harm. The position is subject to vetting checks, which may include criminal records checks and/or disclosures to support safeguarding of program participants.

About the Role

The Specialist II, Education and Proposal Management will lead and support the development of high-quality, donor-ready proposals and technical documents for education programming across Africa.

The role combines proposal management and coordination with technical expertise in education. It contributes to identifying strategic funding opportunities, developing evidence-based proposals, strengthening ChildFund’s education approach across country offices, and supporting strategic partnerships within the education sector.

The Specialist will also analyze donor priorities and funding trends and serve as a link between technical education expertise and regional donor engagement to support the sustainability, growth, and impact of education programming.

Key Responsibilities

Proposal Coordination and Management

• Lead and coordinate proposal development processes for education-focused funding opportunities.
• Coordinate inputs from program, education, finance, grants, compliance, and country office teams.
• Develop proposal workplans, calendars, review timelines, and submission checklists.
• Ensure 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.
• Coordinate concept notes, expressions of interest, full proposals, and other funding submissions across Africa.
• Document lessons learned and apply proposal feedback to strengthen future submissions.

Technical Education Expertise

• Provide technical leadership during proposal design to ensure submissions are evidence-based and contextually relevant.
• Provide technical guidance on foundational learning, inclusive education, early childhood development, life skills, and youth learning pathways.
• Translate education program models, country 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 regional education strategies, technical frameworks, and value propositions for priority funding opportunities.

Donor Engagement and Sector Mapping

• Research donor trends, priorities, and funding opportunities in the education sector.
• Support strategic relationships with donors, partners, and education stakeholders.
• Support country offices with donor engagement planning, opportunity positioning, partnership development, and business development capacity strengthening.
• Track and share information on donor priorities, funding trends, and strategic education opportunities across Africa.

Regional Collaboration and Capacity Strengthening

• Collaborate with country offices to strengthen education programme design and proposal development.
• Facilitate knowledge sharing, learning, and dissemination of promising practices across regional education teams.
• Provide mentoring and technical support to country office staff involved in education programme design, proposal development, and donor engagement.

Child Safeguarding

• Remain alert and responsive to child safeguarding risks.
• Develop relevant safeguarding knowledge and skills and understand applicable ChildFund policies and procedures.
• Conduct professional activities consistently with ChildFund’s Child Safeguarding Policy.

Required Qualifications and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Education, International Development, Social Sciences, or a related field.
• Master’s degree is preferred.
• 5–7 years of progressively responsible experience in education programming, education technical advisory, or related international development roles.
• Demonstrated experience coordinating education-focused proposals, concept notes, technical narratives, and donor-facing materials.
• Strong understanding of education programming in Africa, including education quality, teaching and learning practices, equitable learning opportunities, and learning outcomes.
• Experience managing proposal development processes and coordinating cross-functional teams under tight deadlines.
• Experience in donor engagement, fundraising, business development, or partnership development within the education sector.
• 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 working with multicultural and geographically dispersed teams.

Required Competencies and Skills

• Fluency in spoken and written English.
• Strong networking and relationship-building skills.
• Excellent proposal writing, technical writing, and communication skills.
• Ability to translate technical concepts into clear, persuasive, evidence-based, and donor-compliant content.
• Strong facilitation, coordination, influencing, and stakeholder management skills.
• Ability to manage competing priorities and work effectively without direct authority over other teams.
• Strong analytical and strategic thinking skills, particularly when assessing donor priorities, funding trends, and emerging opportunities.
• Excellent project management and coordination skills.
• Ability to collaborate effectively across countries, cultures, and functions.
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Office applications, particularly Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook.
• Strong teamwork, communication, results orientation, decision-making, resilience, and digital literacy.

Eligibility

The position is open to internal candidates in any ChildFund office location and external candidates in Ethiopia, Guinea, Gambia, Kenya, Mozambique, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Uganda, and Zambia. External applicants must have current residence and work authorization in one of the specified countries to be eligible.

How to Apply

Eligible candidates interested in the Specialist II, Education and Proposal Management position should apply through the ChildFund careers portal. Applicants should ensure that their application accurately demonstrates their education sector experience, proposal management background, donor engagement capabilities, and relevant international development experience.