Posted October 14, 2026 Listing expires October 20, 2026

Concern Worldwide is a non-governmental, international, humanitarian organisation dedicated to the reduction of suffering and working towards the ultimate elimination of extreme poverty in the world’s poorest countries

Founded in 1968, Concern works in 25 countries in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean with its headquarters in Ireland. Concern started working in Malawi in 2002 and currently focuses on climate and environment, social protection, gender and social inclusion, sustainable food systems for food security and partnerships. For sustainability and lasting change, our advocacy and influence, people centred and evidence-based approaches focus on system strengthening and resilience building as we seek to address the root causes of poverty.

Concern invites applications from interested candidates qualified for the following position;

Business Development Coordinator – (1 Vacancy) Duration: 1 Year
Duty Station: Lilongwe

The Business Development Coordinator will report directly to the Programme Director and work closely with the Country Director, Programme Coordinator, Programme Managers, MEAL, Finance, Systems, Partnership and technical colleagues, as well as relevant HQ teams. He/she will also maintain effective working relationships with donors, UN agencies, international and local NGOs, consortium partners and other external stakeholders. He/ She will lead and coordinate Concern Malawi’s business development and grant management functions, supporting a strong and diversified funding portfolio and the development of high-quality, strategically aligned programmes. The role will identify and assess funding opportunities, coordinate donor engagement, lead proposal development processes, strengthen grant management and donor reporting, and support programme teams to meet donor and organisational requirements.

Responsibilities and Tasks

Business Development, Funding and Donor Engagement

• Lead and maintain a country business development and donor engagement approach aligned with the Country Strategic Plan and programme priorities.
• Proactively research and identify funding opportunities from institutional donors, UN agencies, foundations, trusts, private sector and other relevant sources, assessing strategic fit, eligibility, competitiveness and resource requirements.
• Maintain an up-to-date funding pipeline and opportunity tracker, monitor likely funding gaps and provide regular analysis and updates to the Programme Director and Country Management Team.
• Support donor intelligence and relationship management, including preparation for donor meetings, mapping donor priorities and maintaining relevant engagement records.
• Represent Concern in donor, consortium, business development and other external meetings as requested, and ensure relevant information and follow-up actions are shared internally.

Proposal and Programme Development

• Lead and coordinate the development of high-quality concept notes, expressions of interest and proposals from opportunity assessment through to submission, ensuring alignment with Concern strategies, donor requirements and identified needs.
• Develop proposal workplans, timelines and responsibilities, and coordinate inputs from programme, MEAL, finance, systems, technical, partnership and HQ colleagues.
• Draft, edit and quality-assure proposal narratives and supporting documents, ensuring alignment with donor guidance, coherence, strong evidence, clear results frameworks and consistency across narrative, budget and annexes.
• Work closely with Finance and programme teams to ensure budgets are realistic, competitive, adequately resourced and consistent with the proposed design and donor rules.
• Facilitate programme design and proposal development workshops and support teams to develop innovative, evidence-based and contextually appropriate interventions.
• Coordinate internal review and approval processes and ensure all submissions meet agreed deadlines and quality standards.
• Where external proposal development support is required, coordinate the sourcing, briefing and management of consultants or other specialist resources.

Grant Management, Compliance and Donor Reporting

• Maintain oversight of Concern Malawi’s grants portfolio and country grants matrix, ensuring key contractual requirements, reporting schedules, compliance obligations and amendments are tracked and communicated to relevant teams.
• Maintain and update Concern’s Grant Management System and ensure key grant and business development documentation is complete and current.
• Coordinate grant opening, review and closing processes, ensuring programme, MEAL, finance and systems teams have a shared understanding of donor requirements, deliverables and timelines.
• Coordinate and quality-assure donor reports, working with programme and support teams to ensure timely, coherent and evidence-based reporting that clearly demonstrates progress, results, challenges and learning.
• Support the review and development of donor, consortium and partner agreements and amendments, in coordination with the Programme Director, Finance, Systems, Partnership and HQ colleagues as appropriate.
• Support teams to understand and comply with donor requirements, including finance, procurement, visibility, communications and reporting obligations, and facilitate grant-specific briefings or training where needed.

Partnership Scoping for Business Development

• In coordination with the partnership manager, map and scope potential local, national and international NGO partners for strategic funding opportunities and consortium development.
• Assess prospective partners’ strategic and technical complementarity, geographic presence, comparative strengths, donor positioning and potential roles in joint bids, while ensuring appropriate due diligence and partnership processes are followed.
• Support early engagement with prospective partners to explore consortium configurations, lead/sub-partner roles, division of responsibilities and opportunities for equitable collaboration and localisation.
• Maintain a practical overview of potential business development partners and relevant networks, and ensure partnership choices are informed by Concern’s partnership principles, programme priorities and donor requirements.

Learning, Communication and Capacity Strengthening

• Capture and share learning from proposal processes, donor feedback and grant implementation to strengthen future programme design and business development practice.
• Work with MEAL and programme teams to ensure relevant evidence, research, results, case studies and programme learning are available and appropriately used in proposals, donor engagement and reporting.
• Support the production of concise programme updates, briefing materials and donor information packs as required for business development and external engagement.
• Identify and respond to capacity-building needs among Concern and partner staff in proposal development, donor reporting, grant management and donor compliance, including through coaching, tools and training.
• Promote effective internal coordination and information sharing across programmes, finance, systems, MEAL, partnership and HQ functions to strengthen the quality and efficiency of business development and grant management.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in International Development, Project Management, Social Sciences or a related discipline; a relevant Master’s degree is desirable.
• At least five years’ relevant experience in an INGO or comparable development/humanitarian organisation, including at least two years in business development, programme development, grants or a closely related role.
• Demonstrated experience leading or coordinating successful concept notes and proposals for institutional donors and/or foundations.
• Strong knowledge of key humanitarian and development donors and their proposal, reporting and compliance requirements, for example FCDO, EU/ECHO, Irish Aid, UN agencies and other institutional donors.
• Excellent written and spoken English, with proven proposal writing, editing, analytical and report-writing skills.
• Strong planning and coordination skills, with the ability to manage multiple deadlines and complex inputs across different teams.
• Good understanding of programme design, results frameworks, budgeting and monitoring, evaluation, accountability and learning processes.
• Strong interpersonal, networking, facilitation and negotiation skills, with the ability to work effectively across departments and with donors and partners.
• High attention to detail and ability to work independently in a dynamic, results-focused environment.
• Experience working in consortium arrangements and/or with local or national partner organisations is highly desirable.
• Experience in Malawi and/or Southern Africa, and knowledge of relevant sectors such as food systems and livelihoods, climate resilience/DRR, humanitarian response, health and nutrition, WASH, gender equality or natural resource management, is desirable.

How to Apply

Interested candidates, who meet the above qualifications, should send their CV (3 pages maximum including contacts of 3 referees) and Cover Letter to [email protected] with the subject of the email as Business Development Coordinator.

The deadline for applications is Friday, 23 October, 2026. Only short-listed candidates will be contacted for interview.

Safeguarding at Concern: Code of Conduct and its Associated Policies

Concern has an organisational Code of Conduct (CCoC) with three Associated Policies; the Programme Participant Protection Policy (P4), the Child Safeguarding Policy and the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Policy. These have been developed to ensure the maximum protection of programme participants from exploitation, and to clarify the responsibilities of Concern staji, consultants, visitors to the programme and partner organisation, and the standards of behaviour expected of them. In this context, staff have a responsibility to the organisation to strive for, and maintain, the highest standards in the day-to-day conduct in their workplace in accordance with Concern’s core values and mission. Any candidate offered a job with Concern Worldwide will be expected to sign the Concern Staff Code of Conduct and Associated Policies as an appendix to their contract of employment. By signing the Concern Code of Conduct, candidates acknowledge that they have understood the content of both the Concern Code of Conduct and the Associated Policies and agree to conduct themselves in accordance with the provisions of these policies. Additionally, Concern is committed to the safeguarding and protection of vulnerable adults and children in our work. We will do everything possible to ensure that only those who are suitable to work or volunteer with vulnerable adults and children are recruited by us for such roles. Subsequently, working or volunteering with Concern is subject to a range of vetting checks, including criminal background checking.

During this job application, you will provide Concern with your personal data. Concern takes its responsibilities towards this personal data very seriously and is committed to complying with all relevant data protection legislation.

Concern is an equal opportunities employer and encourages applications from qualified individuals regardless of religion, colour, sex, age, disability, sexual orientation, marital status, personal appearance, political affiliation, family status or responsibilities, gender identity or expression, pregnancy or related medical conditions. Concern maintains zero tolerance for child abuse, sexual abuse or exploitative acts or threats by our employees, consultants, volunteers, contractors or anyone associated with the delivery of our programs and services, and take seriously all complaints of misconduct brought to our attention. Anyone with complaints or concerns in relation to safeguarding can submit them via email to [email protected]. Local reporting channels are also available via WhatsApp: +265 885981990 or our Toll free line: 4848