Manager, Proposal Development

Manager, Proposal Development – Conservation International

Location:

Cape Town, South Africa;
Johannesburg, South Africa; or Nairobi, Kenya.

Conservation International protects nature for the benefit of humanity. Through science, policy, fieldwork, and finance, we spotlight and secure the most important places in nature for the climate, biodiversity, and for people. With offices in 30 countries and projects in more than 100 countries, Conservation International partners with governments, companies, civil society, Indigenous peoples, and local communities to help people and nature thrive together.

CI is launching an initiative to strengthen the financial stability of Africa’s Keystone Protected Areas (KPAs). These KPAs are critical for biodiversity conservation and serve as the core of larger ecological systems in landscapes. Your role will lead and support the design, writing, and coordination of high‑quality proposals across public and corporate philanthropic funding streams (including corporate foundations) to advance CI’s fundraising priorities in Africa and globally.

• Lead grant prospecting and identify potential funding partners across public and corporate philanthropic donors (including corporate foundations).
• Draft clear and persuasive project descriptions, problem statements, objectives, outputs, and activities.
• Develop tailored proposals, concept notes, budgets, pitches, and due diligence forms for diverse donor audiences.
• Support the Director in cultivating and stewarding relationships with public‑private donors, leveraging networks to secure large financial commitments.
• Coordinate with CI’s global government, corporate, and public funding teams to integrate Africa opportunities into global pipelines.
• Provide thorough copy edits and ensure proposals meet donor templates, formats, and submission requirements.
• Proofread all documents for accuracy, consistency, and completeness before submission.

• Collaborate with finance teams to ensure budgets align with proposal narratives.
• Prepare and refine budget justifications and narratives as required by donors.
• Check coherence between activities, timelines, human resources, and financial allocations.

• Work with program and M&E staff to define results frameworks (outputs, outcomes, indicators).
• Integrate donor-required logframes, results chains, or theories of change into proposals.
• Ensure Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning components are clearly articulated in all submissions.

• Maintain and update CI’s stock text, boilerplate language, and past performance reports.
• Keep proposal development processes on track by scheduling meetings and ensuring internal deadlines are met.
• Provide project management support for large proposals and manage smaller grant/contract submissions independently.
• Communicate with project staff to obtain information for proposals and support work plan development.

• Maintain a live database of global and regional public and corporate donors engaged in CI’s focus areas.
• Track trends in corporate philanthropy (including corporate foundations) and public funding to inform fundraising strategy.
• Use CRM tools for pipeline management and revenue forecasting.
• Support reporting on fundraising progress and coordination with key partners.

• Typical office environment with occasional extended hours.
• Local and/or international travel may be required.
• Ability to work in remote locations or under difficult working conditions.
• Flexible working hours will be discussed during the interview process, aligned to the requirement to be available to work across time zones.
• This is a fixed‑term assignment, expected to last 2 years initially, with potential for extension, based on performance and funding.

• Bachelor’s degree in environmental sciences, international development, or related field.
• 4 to 6 years of experience in proposal development and grant writing, including public and private funding streams.
• Excellent command of written and spoken English at first‑language…