CAFOD: Senior Business Development Lead (Africa) | Up to USD 55,706 / KES 7.62 Million / NGN 32.76 Million | 2026

CAFOD is hiring a Senior Business Development Lead (Africa) to support business development, institutional fundraising, donor engagement, proposal development and resource mobilisation across Africa.

The CAFOD Senior Business Development Lead position is a full-time opportunity based in Abuja, Harare, Kinshasa or Nairobi. The role is offered on a 2-year fixed-term contract, with the successful candidate required to have the right to work in one of the four locations.

The CAFOD Senior Business Development Lead Africa role is particularly suited to experienced NGO, international development, humanitarian and institutional fundraising professionals with a strong track record of securing major donor funding and managing complex, multi-country programmes.

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Senior Business Development Lead 2026 – Job Overview

The Senior Business Development Lead (Africa) will work closely with CAFOD programme and funding teams to develop high-quality programmes and projects that help maximise income from institutional donors.

The successful candidate will support CAFOD’s Africa programmes and the Integrated Funding & Business Innovation (IFBI) Unit by identifying funding opportunities, strengthening donor relationships, developing proposals, managing contracts and supporting resource mobilisation.

CAFOD Senior Business Development Lead Job Details

Job Detail	Information
Organisation	CAFOD
Position	Senior Business Development Lead (Africa)
Job Type	Full-time
Contract	2-year fixed-term contract
Locations	Abuja, Harare, Kinshasa or Nairobi
Salary – Zimbabwe	USD 55,706 starting salary
Salary – Kinshasa	USD 52,141 starting salary
Salary – Nairobi	KES 7,621,509 starting salary
Salary – Abuja	NGN 32,760,664 starting salary
Closing Date	31 August 2026
Work Pattern	Full-time
Sector	International Development / NGO / Humanitarian
Experience	Significant business development and institutional fundraising experience

Senior Business Development Lead Salary 2026

The CAFOD Senior Business Development Lead salary depends on the country where the successful candidate is employed.

The advertised starting salaries are:

• Zimbabwe: USD 55,706 per year
• Kinshasa, DRC: USD 52,141 per year
• Nairobi, Kenya: KES 7,621,509 per year
• Abuja, Nigeria: NGN 32,760,664 per year

The salary will be paid in US dollars in Zimbabwe and Kinshasa, while the equivalent will be paid in local currency in Abuja and Nairobi.

Terms and conditions will depend on the country of registration.

Senior Business Development Lead Location

The CAFOD Senior Business Development Lead Africa vacancy can be based in one of four locations:

• Abuja, Nigeria 🇳🇬
• Harare, Zimbabwe 🇿🇼
• Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo 🇨🇩
• Nairobi, Kenya 🇰🇪

Applicants must have the right to work in one of these four locations.

The position may also involve international travel to support country programmes and partners with proposal development and contract management activities.

What Does a Senior Business Development Lead Do?

The Senior Business Development Lead will play an important role in CAFOD’s resource mobilisation strategy.

The position involves working with programme teams, funding colleagues, thematic advisers, finance teams and other departments to identify opportunities and develop high-quality funding proposals.

The Senior Business Development Lead will also establish and maintain relationships with institutional donors and contribute to the development of donor engagement strategies.

The role covers three main areas:

1. Donor engagement, proposal development and contract management – 60%
2. Shared learning, new business development and innovation – 25%
3. Strategy, planning, monitoring and reporting – 15%

Senior Business Development Lead Key Responsibilities

1. Donor Engagement, Proposal Development and Contract Management

Approximately 60% of the role will focus on donor engagement, proposal development and contract management.

Responsibilities include:

• Supporting or leading large-scale, complex, single-country and multi-country funding opportunities.
• Leading proposal development and programme design.
• Providing expert technical input into programme design.
• Task-managing staff involved in proposal development where required.
• Acting as CAFOD’s donor lead for designated donors.
• Developing and coordinating donor funding engagement strategies.
• Supporting internal project selection processes.
• Providing donor-specific technical and compliance advice.
• Improving the quality of funding proposals and contract management.
• Providing surge support to international programme colleagues.
• Representing CAFOD externally with priority donors.
• Building and maintaining strategic donor relationships.
• Attending relevant external forums.
• Supporting donor registration, due diligence and framework agreements.
• Leading contract management when required.
• Preparing and reviewing financial and narrative reports.
• Supporting external evaluations.
• Ensuring donor compliance and quality standards.
• Working with Finance and International Operations teams on donor requirements.
• Supporting financial and supply-chain management requirements.
• Ensuring appropriate document retention, audit, transparency and accountability.
• Travelling when required to support country programmes.

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2. Shared Learning, New Business Development and Innovation

Approximately 25% of the CAFOD Senior Business Development Lead role will focus on new business development, innovation and organisational learning.

Key responsibilities include:

• Identifying potential new donors.
• Prospecting for innovative funding streams.
• Developing pipelines of new funding opportunities.
• Prioritising funding prospects.
• Maintaining CAFOD’s prospect management systems.
• Developing professional relationships with allocated donors.
• Researching donor priorities and funding opportunities.
• Sharing donor updates with programme and funding colleagues.
• Monitoring changes in donor policies and sector trends.
• Representing CAFOD through relevant professional networks.
• Organising and co-chairing the Institutional Funding Community of Practice.
• Reviewing donor feedback and trends.
• Preparing learning documents and presentations.
• Supporting Partner Direct Funding initiatives.
• Identifying institutional, crowdfunding and community-based fundraising opportunities.
• Strengthening staff and partner capacity in institutional fundraising.
• Supporting proposal writing and programme development.
• Supporting monitoring and evaluation capacity.
• Capturing and sharing learning across CAFOD’s international programmes.

3. Strategy, Planning, Monitoring and Reporting

Approximately 15% of the role will focus on strategy, planning, monitoring and reporting.

The Senior Business Development Lead will:

• Contribute to CAFOD’s Integrated Funding & Business Innovation Approach.
• Support implementation of the Institutional Funding Strategy.
• Monitor donor funding trends.
• Support organisation-wide prospect management processes.
• Support reporting and planning processes in designated countries.
• Contribute to annual planning processes.
• Provide donor-specific data and analysis.
• Support income projections and cost recovery targets.
• Contribute to country resource development plans.
• Analyse country funding contexts.
• Maintain accurate institutional funding information.
• Ensure project information and documentation are accessible.
• Support monitoring of institutionally funded contracts.
• Contribute to quarterly and annual institutional funding reports.

Senior Business Development Lead Requirements

Candidates applying for the CAFOD Senior Business Development Lead job should have substantial experience in business development, institutional fundraising, programme development and donor engagement.

Essential Qualifications and Experience

Applicants should demonstrate:

• Excellent written and spoken English communication skills.
• Project and process management experience.
• Planning and monitoring and evaluation skills.
• Familiarity with programme cycle management tools and methods.
• Experience with budget development for institutionally funded programmes.
• Significant cross-organisational working experience.
• Strong internal and external relationship-building skills.
• Significant resource mobilisation experience within an NGO environment.
• Demonstrable experience securing large seven-figure contracts.
• Experience working within Humanitarian/Development/Peace Building Nexus contexts.
• Experience leading large multi-country bids.
• Experience representing organisations and engaging donors at embassy or mission level.
• Experience managing professional relationships remotely.
• A strong record of developing successful institutional donor proposals.
• Experience producing high-quality donor reports.
• Experience leading bid development teams.
• Experience task-managing or line-managing staff.
• Experience building staff capacity in theories of change.
• Experience with project cycle management in proposal development.

Desirable Experience for the CAFOD Job

The following experience would be advantageous:

• Experience with commercial contracting with institutional donors.
• Experience working in large consortia.
• Experience with partnership-based development and humanitarian programmes overseas.
• French language proficiency.

CAFOD Senior Business Development Lead – Skills

The ideal candidate should demonstrate strong skills in:

• Business development
• Institutional fundraising
• Donor engagement
• Proposal writing
• Bid management
• Contract management
• Resource mobilisation
• Programme management
• Project cycle management
• Monitoring and evaluation
• Budget development
• Strategic planning
• Donor relationship management
• Partnership development
• Humanitarian programming
• Development programming
• Peacebuilding
• Communication
• Negotiation
• Leadership
• Team management
• Capacity building
• Risk management

CAFOD Senior Business Development Lead and Institutional Donors

A major component of this position is institutional donor engagement.

The successful candidate will develop expertise across an allocated portfolio of donors and work with CAFOD colleagues to strengthen funding relationships and increase institutional income.

Examples of donors CAFOD works with include:

• UK Government
• United Nations
• START
• DEC
• European Union
• Various governments and institutional donors

The Senior Business Development Lead will help CAFOD identify funding opportunities, develop donor strategies, prepare competitive proposals and manage donor-funded contracts.

CAFOD Senior Business Development Lead – Working Environment

The position requires extensive collaboration across CAFOD.

The successful candidate will work with:

• Programme teams
• Funding colleagues
• Thematic advisers
• Finance teams
• Fundraising colleagues
• Advocacy teams
• Education teams
• International Operations
• Country representatives
• Partners
• Institutional donors

The position may also involve matrix management and supervision of staff, consultants or volunteers, although the Senior Business Development Lead is not a budget holder.

CAFOD Senior Business Development Lead – International Travel

International travel may be required as part of the CAFOD Senior Business Development Lead Africa role.

Travel may involve:

• Supporting country programme teams.
• Supporting partners with proposal development.
• Supporting contract management.
• Meeting institutional donors.
• Participating in relevant external meetings.
• Collaborating with international NGOs.
• Working with sister agencies within the Caritas Internationalis confederation.
• Providing cover for other Business Development Leads.

CAFOD Values and Person Specification

CAFOD is looking for candidates who understand the organisation’s context, values and approach to international development.

Understanding CAFOD’s Context

Candidates should demonstrate:

• Understanding of Catholic identity.
• Commitment to and understanding of the Catholic Church’s role in development.
• Understanding of CAFOD’s mission and values.
• Ability to communicate CAFOD’s distinctive mission and approach.
• Strong understanding of international development.
• Understanding of development funding across humanitarian, advocacy and development settings.

Working Together

The successful candidate should be able to:

• Take initiative and deliver results.
• Share knowledge and expertise.
• Adapt quickly to new ideas and concepts.
• Build collaborative relationships.
• Influence colleagues without direct authority.
• Work effectively across distance and different locations.
• Communicate complex issues clearly.
• Develop convincing proposals and reports.
• Maintain strong professional relationships with donors and partners.
• Keep up to date with sector developments.

Making Change Happen

Candidates should also demonstrate the ability to:

• Monitor budgets and expenditure.
• Use information systems effectively.
• Improve monitoring and reporting processes.
• Identify ways to use resources efficiently.
• Set clear objectives and achieve results.
• Identify and mitigate risks.
• Manage performance.
• Address problems and conflicts constructively.
• Provide direction to colleagues.
• Work effectively with organisational leaders.
• Respond quickly to emerging challenges.
• Identify solutions and drive positive change.

CAFOD Safeguarding Requirements

CAFOD places strong emphasis on safeguarding children, young people and vulnerable adults.

All CAFOD staff share responsibility for maintaining a strong safeguarding culture.

Successful candidates will be expected to comply with CAFOD safeguarding policies and its Code of Behaviour.

The role involves contact with children, young people and vulnerable adults, or responsibility for people who may have such contact. Applicants may therefore be subject to relevant safeguarding and screening checks.

Offers of employment are subject to satisfactory references and appropriate screening checks. These may include criminal records and terrorism-finance checks.

CAFOD also participates in the Inter Agency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme.

CAFOD Staff Benefits

CAFOD describes itself as a welcoming and supportive workplace committed to creating a safe and inclusive environment where everyone is respected.

The organisation also states that reasonable adjustments will be made throughout the recruitment process to support candidates with disabilities or individual needs.

Candidates can review the organisation’s full staff benefits information through the official CAFOD careers information.

Who Should Apply for the CAFOD Senior Business Development Lead Job?

The CAFOD Senior Business Development Lead job is ideal for experienced professionals who have worked in:

• NGOs
• International development organisations
• Humanitarian organisations
• Development programmes
• Institutional fundraising
• Resource mobilisation
• Donor relations
• Programme development
• Business development
• Multi-country programmes
• Peacebuilding programmes

This is a senior-level opportunity and is particularly relevant to candidates who have successfully secured major institutional funding and have experience leading complex bids.

Why Apply for the CAFOD Senior Business Development Lead Africa Job?

The CAFOD Senior Business Development Lead Africa 2026 position offers an opportunity to contribute to major international development programmes while working directly on institutional fundraising and resource mobilisation.

The successful candidate will help develop programmes and funding partnerships that enable CAFOD and its partners to increase their impact among vulnerable communities.

The role also provides opportunities to:

• Work with major international donors.
• Lead complex funding proposals.
• Support multi-country programmes.
• Develop donor engagement strategies.
• Strengthen institutional fundraising.
• Work across Africa.
• Collaborate with international development professionals.
• Contribute to humanitarian, development and peacebuilding initiatives.

CAFOD Senior Business Development Lead 2026 Closing Date

The CAFOD Senior Business Development Lead application deadline is 31 August 2026.

Candidates are encouraged to submit their applications before the closing date rather than waiting until the final day.

Closing Date: 31 August 2026

How to Apply for the CAFOD Senior Business Development Lead Job

Interested candidates should review the full job description and person specification carefully before applying.

Applicants should ensure that they meet the essential requirements, particularly the requirements relating to institutional fundraising, large-scale resource mobilisation, multi-country bids, donor engagement and programme development.

The candidate must also have the right to work in Abuja, Harare, Kinshasa or Nairobi.

Official Application

To apply for the CAFOD Senior Business Development Lead Africa 2026 vacancy, visit the official CAFOD careers page and follow the application instructions for the position.

Final Thoughts

The CAFOD Senior Business Development Lead Africa 2026 vacancy is a strong opportunity for an experienced international development and NGO professional with a proven record in institutional fundraising, donor engagement and large-scale resource mobilisation.

With positions available in Harare, Abuja, Kinshasa and Nairobi, the role is particularly relevant to qualified professionals already authorised to work in one of these locations.

If you have experience developing successful institutional donor proposals, securing major contracts, leading multi-country bids and building strategic donor relationships, the CAFOD Senior Business Development Lead job could be an excellent opportunity to advance your international development career.

Remember: The CAFOD Senior Business Development Lead application deadline is 31 August 2026.