Business Development Manager

The Organisation

Plan International is an independent development and humanitarian organisation that advances children’s rights and equality for girls. We believe in the power and potential of every child but know this is often suppressed by poverty, violence, exclusion and discrimination. And it is girls who are most affected.

Working together with children, young people, supporters and partners, we strive for a just world, tackling the root causes of the challenges girls and vulnerable children face. We support children’s rights from birth until they reach adulthood and we enable children to prepare for and respond to crises and adversity. We drive changes in practice and policy at local, national and global levels using our reach, experience and knowledge.

For over 85 years, we have rallied other determined optimists to transform the lives of all children in more than 80 countries.

We won’t stop until we are all equal.

The Opportunity

The Business Development Manager will lead Plan International Nigeria’s institutional fundraising and business development efforts, focusing on donor intelligence, early positioning, opportunity development, and pipeline conversion. The role involves managing a structured funding pipeline, coordinating proposal development, and engaging with donors, partners, government stakeholders, and internal teams to deliver high-quality and timely submissions.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead institutional business development strategy implementation in line with the Country Strategy and organisational priorities.
• Identify, analyse, and track institutional funding opportunities, ensuring early donor positioning.
• Manage and grow a structured institutional funding pipeline to improve conversion rates.
• Build and maintain strategic relationships with donors, partners, consortia, and key stakeholders.
• Lead donor engagement, consortium development, and partnership negotiations.
• Coordinate cross-functional proposal development to deliver high-quality, compliant submissions.
• Ensure alignment of technical design, budgets, logframes, and donor requirements.
• Provide strategic donor intelligence and guidance on funding trends and positioning.
• Lead and manage the business development team while ensuring compliance with safeguarding and PSHEA standards.

About You

We are looking to recruit person (s) with:

• A graduate of social sciences, development studies, economics, business administration or related discipline; preferably post-graduate (master’s degree or higher).
• Minimum of 7–8 years of progressive experience in business development, institutional fundraising or partnership development within international development or related sectors.
• At least 3 years of supervisory or team leadership experience.
• Proven track record of securing institutional funding and contributing to successful proposal development processes.
• Strong understanding of donor landscapes, funding trends and institutional priorities.
• Demonstrated experience in donor engagement, opportunity positioning and pipeline management.
• Strong analytical skills, including the ability to interpret donor signals and translate them into positioning strategies.
• Experience in consortium building, partner negotiation and stakeholder engagement.
• Strong financial literacy and ability to align technical design with budget development.
• Excellent writing, communication and presentation skills.
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple processes and meet tight deadlines.

Please respond to the requirements of the role in your cover letter.

Only CVs and cover letters in English will be accepted.  

Location: Abuja

Closing Date: 23rd April 2026

Equality, diversity and inclusion is at the very heart of everything that Plan International stands for.

We want Plan International to reflect the diversity of the communities we work with, offering equal opportunities to everyone regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation.

Plan International is based on a culture of inclusivity and we strive to create a workplace environment that ensures every team, in every office, in every country, is rich in diverse people, thoughts, and ideas.

We foster an organisational culture that embraces our commitment to racial justice, gender equality, girls’ rights and inclusion.

Plan International believes that in a world where children face so many threats of harm, it is our duty to ensure that we, as an organisation, do everything we can to keep children safe. This means that we have particular responsibilities to children that we come into contact with and we must not contribute in any way to harming or placing children at risk.

A range of pre-employment checks will be undertaken in conformity with Plan International's Safeguarding Children and Young People policy. Plan International also participates in the Inter Agency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme. In line with this scheme we will request information from applicants previous employers about any findings of sexual exploitation, sexual abuse and/or sexual harassment during employment, or incidents under investigation when the applicant left employment. By submitting an application, the job applicant confirms their understanding of these recruitment procedures.

Please note that Plan International will never send unsolicited emails requesting payment from candidates.