Program Development Manager

Role overview

The Program Development Manager will support the Impact, Innovation and Influencing Director and wider country office teams in expanding funding and partnerships in Kenya, helping resource the Country Strategic Plan. The position is responsible for steering proposal development end to end, ensuring submissions are timely, competitive, and aligned to strategic priorities. It also involves working closely with Program Quality and Development, Operations, and Finance teams to shape proposals, build budgets, and strengthen donor engagement and learning.

This role is based in Nairobi and includes travel to field locations as needed. It is a 1-year national contract. In the event of a major humanitarian emergency, the post holder may need to work beyond normal duties and adjust working hours accordingly.

Child safeguarding

This is a Level 3 safeguarding role. The post holder will have frequent or intensive contact with children and/or young people, either through country programme work, visits to country programmes, or responsibility for vetting and police-check processes.

Reporting and relationships

The role reports to the Impact, Innovation and Influencing Director and has one direct report: the Program Development Officer. It requires close coordination with senior management, technical specialists, MEAL, operations, finance, awards, human resources, supply chain, security, partnerships, members, and other relevant stakeholders to deliver a strong proposal process.

Key accountabilities

The position plays a central part in resourcing the Kenya Country Office portfolio and requires agile leadership, strong attention to detail, and the ability to work across multiple priorities. It also carries responsibility for ensuring that programme designs are innovative and aligned with the organisation’s three global breakthroughs for children: preventing avoidable deaths before age five, improving access to quality basic education, and ending violence against children.

Fundraising strategy

• Work with the Impact, Innovation and Influencing team and Program Operations to implement fundraising plans for the country office’s five strategic goals for 2025–27.
• Support quarterly tracking of fundraising progress by strategic goal and help capture lessons for ongoing improvement.

Proposal management

• Lead proposal development for all funding opportunities in line with country office procedures, coordinating with technical specialists, MEAL, operations, security, awards, finance, and HR.
• Create proposal schedules, manage timelines, and keep the various teams aligned throughout the design process.
• Support budget development together with Finance, Program Quality and Development, Operations, Supply Chain, and other relevant teams.
• Draft standard proposal sections such as capability statements, country context, and programme experience, drawing on inputs from subject matter experts.
• Build country office capacity to run effective in-person and virtual design workshops, and facilitate them when required, including preparation of workplans and lesson learning.
• Represent the organisation in proposal development discussions and meetings as a generalist alongside PDQI colleagues.

Donor engagement and capture planning

• Collaborate with the existing Program Development Specialist to prepare proactive donor engagement plans for priority donors in Kenya.
• Work with the Impact, Innovation and Influencing team and Program Operations to analyse donor, partner, and internal intelligence linked to upcoming opportunities.
• Develop member engagement approaches that strengthen fundraising support for the Kenya Country Office.
• Lead domestic fundraising planning and execution in coordination with the Impact, Innovation and Influencing Director.

Continuous learning and knowledge management

• Keep donor opportunities and engagement records updated in shared information management systems.
• Ensure relevant staff have access to donor and organisational tools, templates, and guidance, along with a clear understanding of donor requirements.
• Maintain effective knowledge management on platforms such as OneNet, SharePoint, and Teams to support communication and continuous learning.
• Ensure proposals and related documents are stored and circulated appropriately, and work with Awards and Operations to share programme results and lessons learned.

Humanitarian response

• Support coordinated resource mobilisation for Category 1 and 2 emergencies in the country.
• When needed, deploy rapidly to assist with funding coordination during the first phase of major regional responses.

Behavioural expectations

The role is expected to reflect the organisation’s values in practice, including accountability, ambition, collaboration, creativity, and integrity.

Qualifications and experience

An advanced university degree is required, with a master’s preferred, in Development Studies, International Relations, Social Development, Business Administration, or a related discipline. The position calls for 7–10 years of progressive experience in programme development, proposal management, or fundraising within an INGO, NGO, or similar environment, plus a strong senior-level background in proposal development, coordination, and donor engagement.

Required experience and skills

The ideal candidate will have extensive experience developing large, high-value proposals for institutional donors, multilateral agencies, corporate donors, and foundations. Experience with funding mechanisms for development programming, including innovative financing approaches, is important, along with substantial exposure to NGO/nonprofit operations and programme issues. The role also requires a solid record of building budgets with finance and programme teams, writing persuasive and compliant proposals, solving complex problems, leading proposal processes under pressure, and working across cross-functional teams.

Strong networking, stakeholder engagement, organisation, time management, prioritisation, communication, influencing, and negotiation skills are essential. The post holder should be adaptable, comfortable in dynamic or emergency-prone settings, culturally aware, and able to work effectively in diverse international environments. Experience with project or change management involving organisational development is also needed. Fluency in English, both written and spoken, is required.

Additional responsibilities

The duties listed are not exhaustive, and the post holder may be asked to undertake other reasonable tasks within the scope of their experience and skill level.

Equal opportunity and safeguarding

The post holder must follow the organisation’s equal opportunities and diversity policies, child safeguarding procedures, anti-harassment policy, and health and safety requirements. The recruitment process includes rigorous background checks to support child protection.

Job details

Job identification: 16706. Job category: Programme, Development and Quality. Posting date: 06/08/2026, 12:31 PM. Apply before: 06/22/2026, 11:59 PM. Schedule: Full time. Location: CO - Nairobi.