Director, Program Design (US Based)

About TechnoServe:

At TechnoServe, we believe that everyone deserves the opportunity to build a better life. For over 50 years, we have given smallholder farmers and entrepreneurs the skills, connections, and confidence to lift themselves out of poverty. We leverage the power of markets and the private sector to create sustainable economic growth to benefit people and the planet. Our unique mix of business solutions, deep knowledge of local contexts, and data-driven insights is helping to fight poverty across Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

TechnoServe staff are local-95% are from the countries in which they work. We put a high premium on collaboration and entrepreneurship. We hold ourselves and each other to the highest standards of integrity and transparency. And we focus on delivering lasting impact for our mission.

Job Summary:

The Program Development team drives TechnoServe's new business growth with priority public funders and foundations, securing new projects through competitive bids and co-creation. The Director of Program Design leads the team's efforts to design and deliver winning proposals for complex, high-priority opportunities that generate meaningful impact.

The Director is a key contributor on TechnoServe's most challenging proposals, including design facilitation, technical writing, and advisory. Beyond individual contributions, the role manages a team of technical writers and builds institutional capacity for high-quality program design and writing through delivery of training and the promotion of design and writing tools. Additionally, the Director supports stronger collaboration across teams and individual mentorship in support of program design.

The Director is:

• A facilitator, channeling the collective knowledge of dispersed teams into programs designed to create meaningful opportunities for farmers, small businesses, and other beneficiaries.
• A connector, enhancing the collaboration between Program Development and other teams, particularly technical practices, in promoting a culture of design and writing excellence.
• A coach and mentor, working with motivated colleagues to elevate the overall quality of technical design and writing across proposals.

Evidence of these capabilities should be clearly conveyed in the applicant's CV, cover letter, and through references.

Primary Functions and Responsibilities:

• Lead design and writing on high-priority proposals

The Director serves as lead designer and writer on 3-5 complex, high-priority proposals annually. In many cases, the Director takes on a visible role in shaping design in external co-creation sessions and donor discussions. Other direct contributions include facilitating design sessions and reviewing proposals.

Estimated level of effort: 40%

• Build organizational capacity for high-quality design and writing

The success of the Director goes beyond individual contributions. S/he is tasked with helping raise the standard of design quality and writing in TechnoServe's proposals. The Director leads training efforts in support of program design (e.g., Logframes, Results Frameworks, Theories of Change, etc.) and identifies, develops, and promotes tools to improve design and writing ( e.g., market system mapping, key informant interviews, research templates, etc.).

S/he develops and promotes AI-driven tools to improve design efficiency, encouraging a mindset of experimentation and learning.

Estimated level of effort: 30%

• Strengthen collaboration on program design across teams

The Director acts as a conduit between Program Development and other teams involved in program design, most notably our technical areas: Agri-food Systems, Coffee, Entrepreneurship, and Women and Youth. S/he ensures that programs are designed to reflect best practices and other learnings from past and ongoing TechnoServe interventions as well as other relevant trends in the economic growth sector.

Estimated level of effort: 15%

• Mentor and support staff and consultants

The Director deploys her/his design and writing skills in support of other proposal writers, coaching and mentoring a direct report and other colleagues developing proposals. The Director also works with external consultant writers, providing a functional backstop to help ensure their success with navigating proposal teams, accessing helpful tools and resources, and troubleshooting. S/he fosters an "open door" approach to design and writing support.

Estimated level of effort: 15%

Basic Qualifications:

• A Bachelor's degree in a relevant field such as international development, economics, agriculture, business administration, public policy, or a related discipline with 12 years of progressively responsible experience in program design, business development, or technical leadership roles within international development; Or a Masters degree with 8 years of experience.
• Demonstrated track record in leading design and writing of successful, large-scale donor-funded proposals.

Required Languages: Proficiency in English is required and French or Spanish encouraged.

Travel: Travel up to 30%

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience collaborating with geographically dispersed teams.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Strong command of program design tools (e.g., logframes, results frameworks, theories of change).
• Demonstrated technical writing excellence with ability to communicate complex ideas persuasively.
• Strong analytical skills to build a business case for TechnoServe clients in approaches to program design.
• Familiarity with TechnoServe's core technical areas: Agri-food Systems, Coffee, Entrepreneurship, and Women and Youth.
• Proven ability to lead cross-functional design teams and influence without direct authority.
• Strong facilitation, communication, and coaching skills.
• Excellent communication skills

We encourage all qualified individuals who share TechnoServe's vision of improving the lives of others through proven business solutions to apply.

With our commitment to diversity, we are proud to be an equal opportunity employer and affirmative action employer and do not discriminate on the basis of gender, race, color, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, HIV/AIDS status, protected veteran status, disability and all other protected classes.

We are also proud of our commitment to protecting staff, partners, and beneficiaries from abuse and exploitation and thoroughly vet all final candidates through rigorous background and reference checks.