Proposal Budget and Costing Specialist

TITLE: Proposal Budget and Costing Specialist

LOCATION:  Kinshasa (40% field work)

CONTRACT LENGTH: 12 months

CHILD SAFEGUARDING:

Level 3: The role holder will have contact with children and/or young people either frequently (e.g., once a week or more) or intensively (e.g. four days in one month or more or overnight) because they work in country programs; or are visiting country programs; ore because they are responsible for implementing the police checking/vetting process staff.

ROLE PURPOSE:

The main purpose of a Proposal Budget and Costing Specialist is to accurately estimate the costs associated with a project or contract and develop pricing proposals that are competitive, profitable, and meet the needs of the children and their families. 

By analysing project requirements, assessing costs, and understanding market trends, the Proposal Budget and Costing Specialist will ensure that the pricing strategy is aligned with Save the children DRC goals and objectives. S/he will support the NBDs, Finance, RH and project management teams in securing profitable contracts and driving business growth through effective cost management and pricing strategies.

In the event of a major humanitarian emergency, the role holder will be expected to work outside the normal role profile and be able to vary working hours accordingly.

KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABLITY:

• Review solicitations/calls that provide opportunities for funding and provide expert advice and analysis on donor instructions, compliance, and requirements;
• Developing budget proposals to ensure that all funding gaps are factored into the proposal budgets;
• Work closely with technical advisors to identify and cost for project activities;
• Provide support and guidance to finances, PDQ and Ops teams on pricing strategies and cost management;
• Work closely across all units such as Operations, Human Resource, Security, Logistics and Finance, to identify and budget for operational costs;
• Work with the CO Senior Finance Managers and Finance Director to review and maintain a gap analysis that provides a detailed breakdown of costs and allocations of CO programme and support personnel working across all or many projects;
• Improve and maintain budgeting tools and processes within the Save the Children DRC CO, in line with Save the Children International and donor guidance;
• Ensure that realistic, comprehensive, and accurate donor-compliant budgets accompany all proposals;
• Work closely with ER/CAM focal person to ensure full recovery of Country Office operational cost by reviewing and ensuring that all CAM cost allocations are utilised within the relevant period;
• Make appropriate estimation/projection of foreign exchange rates to be applied in proposal budgeting, taking into consideration, annual inflationary adjustments;
• Build the capacity of staff involved in proposal development, when necessary, in budget development and budget-related areas of donor compliance; preferably including commercial contracts;
• Analyse proposal budget allocations for SCI’s essential program inputs like Child Safeguarding, SBCC, MEAL, ACCM, Gender Equality and inclusion, partnership, and Security; and periodically disseminate these to relevant teams for tracking and reporting purposes;
• Develop and harmonize cost estimates and price proposals based on project scope, timeframes, and resource requirements in accordance with the Save the Children budgeting principles;
• Present cost estimates, LOEs and pricing proposals to internal stakeholders (all key functions) and external partners;
• Negotiate budget proposals and pricing agreements with members, partners, and donors to secure profitable contracts;
• Maintain accurate and up-to-date pricing data in internal databases and systems;
• Monitoring project costs and budgets to ensure profitability and cost-effectiveness;
• Any other roles/duties that may be assigned.

BEHAVIOURS (Values in Practice)

Accountability:

• holds self-accountable for making decisions, managing resources efficiently, achieving and role modelling Save the Children values.
• holds colleagues accountable to deliver on their responsibilities.

Ambition:

• sets ambitious and challenging goals for themselves and takes responsibility for their own personal development. 
• widely shares their personal vision for Save the Children, engages and motivates others.
• Future orientated, thinks strategically and on a global scale.

Collaboration:

• builds and maintains effective relationships with colleagues, Members and external partners and supporters.
• values diversity, sees it as a source of competitive strength.
• Approachable, good listener, easy to talk to.

Creativity:

• develops and encourages new and innovative solutions.
• Willing to take disciplined risks.

Integrity:

• honest, encourages openness and transparency; demonstrates highest levels of integrity.

QUALIFICATIONS 

A professional qualification or master’s degree in accounting or financial management will be an added advantage.

EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS

Essential

• Strong background in accounting, finance, or business administration, or equivalent area of study;
• Minimum 2-3 years’ experience developing budgets for development and humanitarian projects;
• Proven experience in leading in the development of budgets for proposals for donors such as USAID, FCDO, other bilateral, foundations and/or corporations with a knowledge of their rules and regulations;
• Experience with non-profit accounting, budget analysis and development;
• Proven experience in strategic cost modeling, cost estimation and pricing analysis;
• Excellent experience of computerized accounts packages and in particular of complex spreadsheets, Power Point and Words;
• Ability to communicate effectively with partners, donors, and internal teams, with bilingual skills;
• Proven ability to multitask between multiple budgets with efficiency and accuracy;
• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills;
• A keen attention to detail;
• Commitment to delivering high-quality proposals;
• Strong influencing skills and experience in advocacy;
• Experience or knowledge of working and living in DRC.