Strategic Pursuit Director

International Coaching Federation

About the Organisation

ICF is a global consulting services company with over 9,000 employees, but we are not your typical consultants. Working at ICF means applying a passion for meaningful work with intellectual rigor to help solve the leading issues of our day. We believe in collaboration, mutual respect, open communication, and opportunity for growth.

As a key member of the Business Development team, you will be responsible for the identification, strategic positioning, and bidding of opportunities in E&A growth areas. Key target Clients will include the European Commission (EC) and its Agencies. You will be helping ICF expand upon an already successful ICF portfolio of established and growing customer programs across the European Union.

ICF is a global advisory and technology services provider, but we’re not your typical consultants. We combine unmatched expertise with cutting-edge technology to help clients solve their most complex challenges, navigate change, and shape the future.

About the role

Strategic Pursuit Director at ICF leads the acquisition of high-value contracts by developing and executing strategies to secure new business opportunities. This role requires high business acumen, hands-on capture experience, resourcefulness, and an internal/external customer relations-oriented individual. The successful candidate must have a proven record of winning new business of significant size (>5M EUR) and leading large BD/capture opportunities.

Responsibilities

Strategic Guidance and BD/Capture Implementation:

• Demonstrated success leading the capture of large business development programs - as a prime contractor on net new or takeaway programs.
• Market focus on one or more key solutions: Energy, Climate, Environmental Security, Employment, Education, Research and Innovation, Health, Justice and Home Affairs, and Gender Equality. Client focus: European Commission (EU) and EU Agencies;
• Prioritise service contracts and single award and cascade Frameworks. On average, be responsible for 3-5 opportunities at any point in time;
• Partner with market researchers, external stakeholders as well as client-facing teams to identify/assess which opportunities should progress/be pursued;
• Present opportunities to the leadership team and determine if they align optimally with the E&A growth strategy. Qualify tenders with senior staff to determine an informed bid/no bid decision;
• Provide strategic direction and guidance to ICF teams through all phases of the capture and bid lifecycle including refining win strategy, business case, and value proposition; identifying critical path items to advance ICF’s win rate; elevating risks and implementing mitigation strategies; devising creative scenarios to identify/implement winning technical, management, staffing and pricing solutions.

Technical Lead  and Pursuits:

• Provide hands-on leadership for specific pursuits as needed, including all aspects of capture strategy and implementation;
• Develop the content plan with senior contributors from different parts of the business. Draft or provide key contributions to sections of the technical proposal and lead the pricing;
• Work with all levels of internal staff, including executive-level leadership, technical experts, client-facing staff, corporate resource teams, external stakeholders, and partner organizations;
• Ensure the proposal is internally coherent, reflects our winning strategy, and adheres to ICF’s quality standards.

Capture/Bid Process Management and Continuous Improvement:

• Follow and enhance E&A’s BD and Capture processes and train others to ensure a rigorous repeatable process. Conduct training on BD and EC bid processes, best practices, and lessons learned as necessary and/or requested by leadership;
• Prepare high-quality materials and talking points for executive audiences that convey key updates, decisions required, or resources needed.

Collaboration and Resource Management:

• Meet weekly/monthly with the VP, BD Operations, and the other Strategic Pursuit Leaders to discuss active/upcoming efforts; Strategize as needed to advance activities. Report on progress and identify resource needs on active efforts; Work with business leaders and internal partner functions to meet resource needs;
• Leverage strategic partner input and synthesize input and direction into winning tactics and actions. Partner with marketing to develop marketing materials to support ICF’s positioning and visibility in key areas;
• Develop and enhance EC Client awareness of ICF’s capabilities and profile in conjunction with SMEs and Executive Leadership through meetings, conferences, publications, etc.

Skills, Competencies & Experience

• 10+ years of experience in Business Development related activities. Demonstrated success leading the capture of large business development programs (as a prime contractor on net new and takeaway programs), Managing proposals, and leading them efficiently in a dynamic, multi-task, fast-paced environment;
• Demonstrable ability to understand EU institutions’ unique mission, technologies needed, and pain points.
• Significant experience with all aspects of EC business development activities: opportunity identification, solution development, proposal preparation, and submission. Thorough understanding of how EC bids are evaluated, and a proven track record of leading the development of successful, winning proposals for EU institutions (significant, sustained contract win rates of 90%+ success on re-competes; 40+% on new bids or takeaways);
• Excellent communication skills demonstrated through written and oral presentations, and the development of technical papers, volumes, and similar products.
• Demonstrated expertise in creating compelling content in proposals that speak to a range of audiences. Strong proficiency in the Microsoft Office Suite;
• Excellent negotiation skills, highly developed persuasiveness skills, and a positive, collaborative attitude, even when under pressure:
• Ability to appropriately challenge the status quo and “hold one’s own” in internal BD discussions to ensure the best solution is developed in response to client requirements and the agreed bid strategy;
• Fluency in written and spoken English; fluency in French would be a bonus, but not essential.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree and Equivalent;

Compensation & Benefits

• Competitive Benefits Package

Conditions of employment

• You need to have the right to work in the EU

Working locations

• Hybrid model, working in the Brussels office and remotely

How to apply

• Send an email to [email protected] with a CV and a cover letter by 5th February 2025 at 5 PM

Interviews

• Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted for an interview

Policies

• At ICF, we are committed to ensuring a fair and equitable interview process for all candidates based on their skills and knowledge. As part of this commitment, the use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools to generate or assist with responses during interviews (whether in-person or virtual) is not permitted. This policy is in place to maintain the integrity and authenticity of the interview process.

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