Assistant Manager (Professional Development Scheme)

Job Description

About the role

The Professional Development Scheme is a 12 months programme that offers you the opportunity to perform a role in business development, project management or corporate services. The scheme is designed to both challenge and support you and give you the knowledge and skills to kick-start your career in international development.

Our Assistant Managers are typically involved in:

• Writing technical and financial proposals;
• Understanding local delivery contexts and political economies;
• Managing complex delivery tasks and project risks;
• Working on corporate projects and business services.

The Assistant Manager positions we are currently recruiting for are business development roles working across our different service lines, such as; climate change; governance; inclusive markets; infrastructure; justice, security and peacebuilding; and public financial management. You will have the opportunity to collaborate with, support and learn from more experienced Managers across different teams and discover which areas of the business best align with your skillset and interest.

After successfully completing 12 months with the company, and depending on your performance, you will have the opportunity to progress into a Manager position.

In addition to a competitive compensation package and excellent benefits, we offer you a friendly and supportive team environment and the opportunity to work on a highly successful portfolio of programmes. As a certified B Corp, we care about the wellbeing and growth of our people and are committed to supporting your personal development and actively facilitating opportunities to build skills and knowledge in your areas of interest.

About you

Our work requires people with a ‘can do’ attitude tempered with insight and pragmatism. The successful candidates will not just be evaluated on their technical knowledge and skills, but also their alignment with our values and culture.

You should have demonstrated ability to think creatively about complex problems; build productive relationships with people from a wide range of professional and cultural backgrounds and work effectively in politically sensitive and challenging environments.

You should be energetic, positive, a team player and committed to achieving lasting positive change. It is this combination that ensures we deliver real societal impact and measurable results with high integrity.

Key responsibilities

• Manage the full recruitment cycle for bids (identification, approach, negotiation, agreement, write-up of qualifications)
• Perform market mapping and partner identification research, and present this to the bid manager
• Contribute written inputs to bids
• Understand the ethical considerations for conducting business development, and always conduct yourself in an ethical and compliant manner
• Gain an understanding of the company’s capabilities and experience
• Seek to further your technical knowledge in at least one sector
• Forge your own networks in the business
• Provide concise check-ins/updates to bid managers, including to flag any risks
• Analyse Terms of Reference and extrapolate key points
• Develop an understanding of commercial considerations for business development and project implementation
• Support initiatives to communicate project successes to a wider audienc
• Develop your skills in technical advisory areas identified with your line manager
• Ensure all knowledge is shared via agreed systems and processes
• Take ownership of your professional development to grow your own capability, experience and expertise

Candidate specifications

Required:

Qualifications/Experience

• Undergraduate degree in a relevant subject
• Experience in the development or consultancy sector
• Outstanding English communication skills, both written and oral

Knowledge

• Understanding of the international development sector
• Some understanding of the company’s technical services
• Some political, social and cultural understanding of the countries and regions we work in

Skills

• Ability to research and put together information needed for proposals

• Ability to build productive working relationships with internal and external colleagues
• Ability to work well in teams, and under pressure
• Ability to write clear, concise, comprehensive and persuasive proposals
• Ability to manage workload, and provide clear and concise reporting into line manager

Competencies

• High level of emotional intelligence
• Strong sense of business ethics
• Excellent relationship building skills
• Proactive, self-starter, resourceful
• Open-minded, flexible approach to problem-solvin
• Resilient to changing circumstances and challenges
• Achievement oriented
• Determination to complete work
• Trustworthy, reliable, professional, conscientious and accountable

Heard Enough? Ready to Apply?

Please submit a CV (no more than 2 pages) and short cover letter with the subject headline “Professional Development Scheme” to recruitment.asi@adamsmithinternational.com .

Shortlisted applicants only will be contacted.

Deadline for Applications will be midnight Sunday 2nd August 2020

ASI is committed to continually improving the diversity of our workforce through the attraction, retention and development of a diverse range of talented people. We want people to be comfortable bringing their whole self to work and recognise that inclusion brings further opportunities for innovation and creativity.

#We’re happy to talk flexible working

About the Organization

About Adam Smith International

Adam Smith International is a global advisory company that works locally to transform lives by making economies stronger, societies more stable, and governments more effective. We partner with governments, businesses and civil society organisations to create and deliver custom-made solutions to the big challenges facing the world.

Our service lines include education, infrastructure and climate change, inclusive markets, governance, justice, security and peacebuilding, public financial management and revenue reform, mining, oil and gas and cross cutting services.

As an employee-owned company that works in countries at all stages of development, we are a certified B Corp with a triple bottom line of financial, social and environmental accountability. By sharing our knowledge and experience, we help to improve learning in our industry, as well as the positive impact we can have on people’s lives.

ASI is owned and operated by its employees. We are committed to corporate integrity and a triple bottom line of social, environmental and financial performance.