Proposal Writer Cameroon AFD

Request for Proposal for

Consulting Services

NATURE OF SERVICES: Proposal Writer to lead the successful development of the technical components of a proposal for a nutrition activity in Cameroon that is funded by Agence Française de Développement (AFD).

CONTRACTING ENTITY: Helen Keller International.

Guided by the remarkable legacy of its co-founder, Helen Keller, Helen Keller Intl partners with communities striving to overcome longstanding cycles of poverty. By delivering the essential building blocks of good health, sound nutrition and clear vision, we help millions of people create lasting change in their own lives. Working in more than 20 countries – across Africa, Asia, Europe and the United States – and together with a global community of supporters, we are ensuring every person has the opportunity – as Helen did – to reach their true potential.

BACKGROUND

Helen Keller has been preselected to submit a full proposal to AFD in response to a competitive call for proposals to fund civil society organizations. The proposed activity will implement critical interventions during the first 1000 days to support children’s growth and development in selected regions of Cameroon. The proposal is due in October 2023.

PLACE of PERFORMANCE: Flexible

Vendor must be available to overlap with standard business hours in both the US and Cameroon on a flexible basis.

DURATION and TIMEFRAME

Total duration of engagement has been estimated to be 20 (twenty) days; however, this is indicative in nature and subject to change as the assignment may demand higher or reduced involvement.

SCOPE of WORK

The scope of work will include, but is not limited to:

Lead the content development and copywriting of the technical narrative (activity design) and specified annexes by closely working with country office staff, and relevant members of the global Program Technical, Business Development and Finance teams.
Engage with consortium partners to collect and incorporate their feedback into the proposal.
Maintain an overall oversight of the proposal process and provide the necessary day to day support for this opportunity.
Review the donor guidelines for proposal development and ensure that the proposal package meets the necessary requirements.
Gather key resource documents and reference materials for the proposal development and synthesize relevant information for the proposal.
Analyze available assessments and secondary literature concerning context/problem analysis and guide the proposal development team on gaps in the available data so that all required data is readily available for populating different sections of the proposal.
Participate/Assist in facilitating program design meeting(s) (# of days to be confirmed) involving key program, technical, partner and operational staff to gain an in-depth understanding of the context, needs/gaps and proposed project design.
Provide necessary directions to program and technical staff in order to produce/develop the primary content for the proposal.

Consolidate the content received from program and technical teams and write first draft of the technical narrative and specified annexes as per the donor’s guidelines. Provide review and input to other annexes as needed.
Address comments from internal/external technical reviewers on the technical narrative and annexes prior to final technical narrative, ensuring the final proposal is responsive to the donor’s technical concerns and complies with all requirements.
Support in conceptualizing and selecting graphics and other visuals to support proposed strategies in relevant proposal sections.
Submit all drafts of the proposal as per the proposal calendar dates.
As needed, ensure that the budget matches the activities described in the technical narrative and annexes and that it is technically sound and competitive.

DELIVERABLES

The final deliverable will be a technical narrative and annexes for the proposal with key milestones and intermediate deliverables to be defined throughout the process.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS and EXPERIENCE

Proven track record of writing technical sections of successful proposals for AFD, the European Union or ENABEL.
Specific technical expertise and training experience in an area relevant to the proposal as represented by:
- Master’s degree in public health or other field directly related to the program, such as nutrition, or food policy; and
- at least 8 to 10 years of relevant operational experience in the development field, with emphasis on program design and implementation in Sub-Saharan Africa in the areas of the consultant’s expertise; or
- equivalent combination of education and experience.
Strong proposal management skills and ability to establish proposal timelines and manage multiple tasks on strict deadlines.
Knowledge of donor trends and strategies.
Creative thinking and a problem solving with ability to work well in team settings and compile input from multiple sources into one coherent document.
Excellent writing skills in French are required.
Fluency in English preferred
Comfortable using Microsoft Teams and other platforms for virtual collaboration.

SPECIFIC REQUESTS for INFORMATION

Please describe the nature of your education and experience and why it is well suited to the nature of the work described above. Please be sure to address the qualifications and experience listed above and comparable project work.

In addition, please provide:

Your CV
Sample work product
Three references who may be contacted by Helen Keller Intl. These references should be clients or employers for whom you have provided similar services.
Pricing/Price Sheet:a pricing list for the services that you/your company is interested and able to offer based on the activities listed above.

Please submit your proposal to consultants.recruitment@hki.org, noting the title “Proposal Writer Cameroon AFD” in the subject line.

Submissions will be accepted and reviewed on a rolling basis.

EVALUATION and AWARD PROCESS

This RFP is open to all persons or entities that are deemed capable of implementing the scope of work, with a solid record of integrity and business ethics.

The award will be made to the Seller representing the best value to the project and to Helen Keller. For this RFP, price, delivery, technical and past performance are of equal importance for the purposes of evaluating and selecting the “best value” awardee.

In the spirit of our founder and namesake,

Helen Keller places diversity and partnership at the core of our work.

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We encourage small minority, women, or veteran-owned businesses to submit proposals.