Lead, Gulf Business Development

Save the Children International has an exciting opportunity for a Lead, Gulf Business Development to join our global team.

Team and Job Purpose

The newly established Gulf Development Unit will o provide strategic leadership and direction on Gulf partnerships and engagement across Save the Children. The unit will be responsible for positioning Save the Children for long term programme funding growth- optimising and aligning our local-to-global programme funding portfolio and driving continuous improvements in Gulf donor partnerships, practices and capabilities. The Gulf Development Unit will lead a coordinated, regionally driven strategy to position Save the Children to unlock programme funding and influence across priority Gulf markets in line with our organisational rebound strategy in response to the US EO impacts. The Unit is being established to address current fragmentation and under-leveraged Gulf engagement, consolidating growing donor interest into a coherent long-term programme funding and influence strategy for Save the Children.

Role purpose

Drive business development in the Gulf Development Unit, in line with the Gulf Market Development and Engagement strategy —identifying, tracking and actively pursuing opportunities, managing the pipeline, securing member backing for and coordinating high-quality concept notes and proposals in alignment with established Programme Funding systems and processes. This role will work closely with the MENAEE Regional Director, MENAEE Program Funding team, Members and Global Teams to ensure timely conversion of strategic Gulf opportunities into funded awards, while helping to ensure alignment with donor compliance and affordability considerations. 

Reporting to the Head of Gulf Partnerships & Engagement, the role contributes to the delivery of quarterly workplans for the Gulf Development Unit in line with the Gulf Market Development & Engagement approach. Technical oversight and integration support will be provided by the MENAEE Head for Programme Funding and the Global Programme Funding Team, ensuring alignment with wider initiatives and core Programme Funding systems and governance

Job Title: Lead, Gulf Business Development

Reports To: Head of Gulf Partnerships and Engagement

Work Pattern: Hybrid/Remote with flexible working options available 

Contract Length: Fixed Term Contract 2 years

Grade: P5

Location: Any existing SCI office location in MENAEE. For a full list of locations that Save the Children International can hire in, please visit: SCI Careers

Time Zone (that the role holder must be available to work in):

Right to Work: The successful candidate must possess the unrestricted right to work in their current or preferred location for the duration of employment. 

Language Requirements: English and Arabic required

International Travel Requirements: Yes, up to 20% 

Principal Accountabilities

• Lead and manage the Gulf opportunity pipeline, ensuring real-time capture, AMS integration, digital tracking, and quality of opportunity data across KSA/UAE/Qatar.
• Drive capture planning, including donor and partner intelligence, eligibility screening, strategic positioning, match viability, and engagement briefs ahead of key donor interactions.
• Convene and coordinate cross-functional input through agreed Gulf coordination mechanisms, engaging Members, Regional PF team and technical leads without duplicating CO advisory roles (operating model to define workflows).
• Lead internal proposal preparation and submission processes, ensuring compliance with affordability, risk, safeguarding, visibility and branding requirements, and enabling rapid approvals.
• Shape and package Gulf donor-facing materials, including concept notes, pre-positioning decks, and engagement documents tailored to Gulf philanthropy and institutional preferences.
• Support partner and consortium formation, negotiating roles with internal and external actors (UN, INGOs, local, private sector) in line with positioning strategy.
• Track performance and learning, monitoring conversion metrics, submission quality, and Horizon B-aligned KPIs, organising debriefs and feeding back into future positioning.

Experience and Skills

Essential

1. Experience in business development, partnerships and proposal leadership with institutional/private donors
2. Experience with Gulf donors preferred (EAA/EAC, QC, QFFD, KSrelief, foundations).
3. Demonstrated success coordinating multi-million, multi-country proposals with cross-functional teams.
4. Experience working in environments where donor influence, relationships and (pre)positioning matter more than responding to calls for proposals 
5. Experience in Market and stakeholder mapping, partner scoping, win-themes, resourcing plans and pre-positioning.
6. Experience in leading cross-functional teams (PDQ/MEAL/Finance/OPS/Awards, Members and COs) to produce donor-compliant narratives, logframes/Theory of Change, budgets.
7. Experience working within ICR/overhead ceilings and match/co-finance structures; early affordability checks and risk/return trade-offs.
8. Practical familiarity with requirements such as EAA (e.g., high match expectations, scale/low unit cost, visibility) and QFFD (e.g., tranche-based payments, quarterly reporting, strict branding).
9. Experience in front-loading eligibility checks; integrating safeguarding, visibility/branding, and compliance in capture and proposal design.
10. Prior Save the Children experience and familiarity with Programme Funding systems, tools and process will be a significant advantage.

Skills

1. Strong writing/editing skills; ability to develop compliant, compelling narratives, logframes and budgets.
2. Fluency with Programme Funding systems and tools.
3. Excellent stakeholder coordination, partner negotiation and time management skills.
4. Clear, persuasive communicator; tailors messages and presentations to senior external and internal audiences.
5. Operates effectively across Gulf contexts (KSA/UAE/Qatar), with tact and sensitivity to local norms and protocols.
6. Fluent English and Arabic required.

Education and Qualifications

Essential

• Degree or equivalent experience in international development, business or related field.

Desirable

• Postgraduate qualification; Arabic language certification; or similar.

Working at Save the Children International

Save the Children is the world's leading organisation for children, employing ~25,000 staff. We save children's lives. We fight for their rights. We help them fulfil their potential. Through our work in 116 countries, we put the most deprived and marginalised children first.

We know that great people make a great organisation, and that our employees play a crucial role in helping us achieve our ambitions for children. We value our people and offer a meaningful and rewarding career, along with a collaborative and inclusive environment where ambition, creativity, and integrity are highly valued.

The work here is challenging but is also immensely rewarding. At Save the Children, you will be in good company, working with talented, like-minded individuals who are determined to ensure that all children survive, learn, and are protected. Your contribution will help ensure children's voices are heard at the highest levels, and that we achieve our global strategy, Ambition for Children 2030, and reach every last child.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and Equal Opportunities

DEI is core to our vision, values and global strategy. Save the Children is committed to creating a truly diverse, equitable and inclusive organisation, and one which will support us in our vision to ensure every child attains the right to survival, protection, development, and participation.

We are committed to equal employment opportunities, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, race, colour, ethnic origin, nationality, disability, marital or civil partnership status, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, caring or parental responsibilities, age, or beliefs and religion. We are committed to diversifying our staff to better represent the communities we serve and actively welcome underrepresented groups to apply.

Reasonable adjustments will be made should any candidate invited to interview require this.

Application Information

Please attach a copy of your CV and cover letter with your application. A full copy of the role profile can be found here via the job listing. It is recommended that you save a copy of the role profile as it will no longer be available after the advert closes.

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis and the job advert may be closed earlier than advertised subject to the volume of suitable applicants. Please submit your application at your earliest convenience to avoid disappointment.

Due to the high volume of applications we receive, only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. Candidates who are successfully shortlisted should expect to hear from us within 2 weeks of the advert deadline.

Our recruitment process:

1. Application review by our recruiting team based on your CV and cover letter
2. Two-stage competency-based interviews with the hiring team
3. Some recruitment may include an additional assessment or case study stage, or a third stage interview
4. If successful, you will receive a conditional offer of employment, followed by your contract subject to passing background checks

We need to keep children and adults safe so our selection process includes rigorous background checks and reflects our commitment to the protection of children and adults from abuse. All employees are expected to carry out their duties in accordance with our Code of Conduct and all policies and procedures relating to Anti-harassment, Health and Safety, Safeguarding, and DEI and Equal Opportunities.

Save the Children does not charge a fee at any stage of the recruitment process.