COST PROPOSAL MANAGER

JOB SUMMARY:

The Cost Proposal Manager (CPM) Level 1 will report to the Cost Proposal Manager Level 2 (CPM II) of the Institutional Funding & Strategy (IFS) Unit and will directly contribute to the achievement of CARE’s goals to raise funding from the US Government for humanitarian and development assistance.

The CPM will be responsible for developing and submitting cost proposals for humanitarian and development assistance of low to medium complexity, leading key proposal team members/stakeholders across the full business development cycle (capture, live, BAFO). To be successful in this role, the CPM will need to have project management skills along with familiarity with cost and pricing concepts and technical know-how in the preparation of a cost proposal package that is competitive, responsive, and compliant to donor and CARE policies and procedures. The CPM will contribute to initiatives to strengthen systems and processes within the team including instituting best practices/standard operating procedures (SOPs), knowledge management, and capacity building. Relationship building is also critical in this role to ensure strong collaboration across a multi-functional and geographically dispersed group of proposal team members.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

Cost and Pricing Lead

• Responsible to deliver responsive and competitive cost and pricing applications on USG cooperative agreements and contracts of low to medium complexity.
• Oversee planning and organization of the cost proposal process, determine roles/responsibilities for budget inputs, identifying key deliverables and effectively set the timeline for submission.
• Lead on: (a) overall strategy, budgeting, and consolidation of cost applications highlighting issues to consider in decision to pursue the funding, (b) budget justifications, (c) gate reviews, d) as well as working with Award Management Solutions and other CARE departments as needed to obtain assurance of compliance with donor and CARE requirements including project startup, as well as exception approval for budget gaps and other implementation risks.
• Review the solicitation requirements, advise proposal team leads on the interpretation of requirements, and recommend, or when necessary, lead, responses to meet those requirements.
• Provide tailored cost/pricing templates for proposals. Conduct budget orientation for HQ Technical Assistance teams, Country Office (CO) teams, and implementing partners to ensure harmonization and consistency of assumptions and cost elements in the proposal budgets.
• Facilitate budget negotiations between the HQ Technical Assistance team and the CO as well as external partners to ensure that an appropriate level of effort for technical oversight and monitoring are included in the budget.
• Prepare and/or review budgets and collaborate with the Country Office/Regional Office to ensure CARE costs are fully recovered and all donor requirements and policies are fulfilled.
• Collaborate with the technical team to ensure the budget is aligned with the technical proposal taking into consideration design, SOWs for CARE and partners, staffing recruitment etc. Prepare and/or review the required certifications. To succeed in this work, the CPM will have critical thinking, effective problem solving and negotiation skills, as well as understanding of when to escalate issues.

Assistance with other ad hoc inputs and deliverables

• Provides assistance to other team members in the cost team and or consultants by developing supporting cost schedules, budget narratives, and other key support as maybe required.

Knowledge management and capacity building

• Supports the efforts of the cost team leadership in managing, leading, and organizing knowledge management and capacity building on cost/pricing proposal development and its interface with the overall proposal development cycle.

Donor Funding Trends, Compliance and Competitiveness

• Stays abreast of changes in donor regulations and collaborates with cost team and IFS leadership. Supports the cost team leadership in advocating for improvements in USG regulatory environment as well as in CARE processes and cost recovery policies.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor’s Degree in Finance or related field
• Over 3 years of combined experience and proven skills in budget development, agreements and contracts management, financial analysis and management accounting, project management of cost and pricing proposal development activities
• Ability to work effectively with others on a team
• Clear writing and communication skills
• Strong problem-solving and budget negotiation skills
• Excellent skills in Microsoft Office applications particularly Excel and Word
• Excellent interpersonal skills
• Ability to work in a fast -paced and extremely time-sensitive environment (can handle pressure)
• Self-starter
• Ability to understand non-profit accounting
• Ability to facilitate training and/or workshops and design/develop relevant materials
• Ability to understand the details without neglecting the bigger picture
• Familiarities with U.S. Government grant and contract regulations