Job Description
Job Description
01 BACKGROUND
CARE Zimbabwe's 2026-2030 Country Strategy commits the Country Office to transition from a traditional
project implementer into a market catalyst, systems actor, and network convener capable of leveraging
private sector partnerships to advance resilience, food security, women's economic empowerment, climate
adaptation, and inclusive economic growth.
CARE Zimbabwe is pursuing a deliberate strategy to diversify its revenue base through private sector
engagement, co-investment partnerships, corporate shared-value arrangements, and other commercially
structured collaborations.
CARE Zimbabwe has already established a pipeline of active private sector opportunities across
agribusiness, financial services, social enterprise, and inclusive market systems. These opportunities have
progressed beyond initial relationship-building and now require dedicated commercial capacity to convert
them into signed agreements. Engagement with investors, commercial banks, and financing facilities has
reinforced a consistent message: capital is available, but well-structured, socially inclusive, investment-
ready propositions remain scarce.
CARE Zimbabwe therefore seeks to engage a Private Sector Partnerships and Business Development Advisor
to open, shape and convert commercial opportunities, and to position CARE Zimbabwe as a trusted partner
for community-centred investment.
02 PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT
The consultant will support CARE Zimbabwe to:
Objective 1: Convert the existing pipeline
Prioritise and advance CARE Zimbabwe's partnership pipeline through to signed agreements, with an initial
focus on agribusiness and food systems, financial services, renewable energy, climate resilience, and
women's economic empowerment.
Objective 2: Shape and pitch commercial propositions
Develop the commercial rationale, business case and social impact case for priority opportunities, and
package them for presentation to prospective partners and financiers.

Objective 3: Open and convert new relationships
Identify and reach senior decision makers across the Zimbabwean and regional private sector, including
corporates, commercial banks, investors, financing institutions, and renewable energy and infrastructure
project developers.
Objective 4: Negotiate and structure workable arrangements
Negotiate terms and, where appropriate, structure co-investment, cost-sharing, risk-sharing, outcome-
based or blended-finance arrangements, guided by CARE specialist financial, legal or technical support
where a particular transaction requires it.
Objective 5: Build internal capability
Transfer practical skills and systems for pipeline management, partner assessment, proposition
development, pitching, negotiation and partnership management.
Duties and Responsibilities
03 SCOPE OF WORK
The consultant shall undertake the following tasks:
A. Origination and partnership development
■ Review, prioritise and assess CARE Zimbabwe's existing private sector opportunity pipeline.
■ Identify prospective partners and open relationships with senior commercial decision makers.
■ Develop a short transaction roadmap for each priority opportunity.
■ Conduct partner and market assessments.
■ Develop, price and pitch partnership propositions.
■ Lead or support negotiations through to memoranda of understanding, partnership agreements,
financing agreements, or co-investment arrangements.
■ Support internal review and approval processes.
B. Proposition development and investment readiness
■ Develop business cases and partner-facing or investor-facing materials.
■ Strengthen the commercial and social impact proposition for each priority opportunity.
■ Build financial and partnership models where required.
■ Identify key risks and practical de-risking options.
■ Flag where specialist financial, legal or technical structuring support should be brought in, and help
CARE Zimbabwe scope that support.
C. Investor and financing engagement
■ Map relevant investors, commercial banks, development finance institutions, and financing facilities.
■ Facilitate introductions and support engagement meetings and pitches.
■ Identify opportunities to draw on existing blended-finance facilities and technical assistance
platforms.
D. Project developer engagement (renewable energy and infrastructure)
Unlike the financiers and investors covered under section C above, project developers sit upstream in the
deal chain. They originate and structure projects, through site identification, feasibility work, financial
modelling, permitting and offtake agreements, before taking them to lenders. A strong developer relationship
can generate a pipeline of larger, bankable projects for eventual referral to financiers complementing rather
than duplicating direct commercial deals such as last-mile distribution partnerships.
■ Identify a shortlist of at least three to five credible renewable energy and infrastructure project
developers already active or expanding in Zimbabwe.
■ Assess and test, for each shortlisted developer, whether CARE could become their preferred
community and last-mile partner, offering community access, demand aggregation, local
implementation, safeguards, social and gender design, and evidence of impact, and where relevant
support building the productive-use case around the infrastructure.
■ Recommend one to two priority developers for deeper engagement and support the negotiation of a
memorandum of understanding or equivalent partnership framework with at least one.
■ Where useful, draw on CARE's broader network, including other Country Offices with prior developer
engagements, to inform the assessment and approach.
E. Institutional capacity building
■ Mentor and coach designated CARE Zimbabwe staff through joint partner engagements and practical
on-the-job support.
■ Deliver structured learning sessions on origination, pitching and negotiation.
■ Develop practical partnership tools and systems for continued use by the team.
04 REPORTING AND MANAGEMENT
The consultant will report directly to the Country Director. Technical oversight will be provided by the Head of
Programs, the Resource Mobilisation Partnerships Manager and relevant Project Leads.
The consultant will participate in weekly pipeline review meetings, monthly progress reviews, and quarterly
strategic review sessions.
CARE Zimbabwe will provide sector and programmatic knowledge, community access, safeguarding and
technical content from within its own team, and will contract specialist financial, legal or technical
structuring support where an individual transaction requires it.
05 REQUIRED PROFILE
Core profile
The strongest candidate/s will be a commercially minded business development and partnerships
professional with a demonstrated ability to originate and close opportunities.
Candidates should be able to show that they have personally:
■ identified prospective clients or partners;
■ opened relationships with senior decision makers;
■ understood the commercial need;
■ developed and pitched a proposition;
■ negotiated terms; and
■ moved opportunities through to signed agreements or revenue.
Candidates may come from business development, strategic partnerships, professional services, banking or
financial services, agribusiness, energy, technology, investment, advisory services, or another commercially
oriented environment. Prior NGO experience is an advantage but not required.
Qualifications and Experience
Essential
■ At least 10 years of relevant commercial experience in business development, partnerships, or a
comparable role.
■ A demonstrable personal track record of originating and closing commercial partnerships or
transactions.
■ An active network in the Zimbabwean private sector and the ability to reach senior commercial
decision makers.
■ Ability to shape, pitch, price and negotiate commercial propositions.
■ Ability and willingness to identify credible renewable energy and infrastructure project developers and
to test whether CARE could serve as their community and last-mile partner.
■ Strong written and verbal communication, including the ability to present credibly at executive and
board level.
Useful
■ Transaction, investment or financing experience, including blended finance, climate finance,
guarantees, or co-investment structures.
■ Familiarity with how project developers operate, including site and feasibility assessment, financial
modelling, permitting, offtake agreements, and the routing of projects to lenders or investors.
■ Exposure to one or more of CARE Zimbabwe's priority sectors: agriculture and food systems, financial
services, renewable energy, climate adaptation, market systems development, or women's economic
empowerment.
■ Experience coaching or building capability within a commercial team.
Education
A master’s degree in business, finance, economics, or a related field. Equivalent practical commercial
experience will be an added advantage.
How to Apply
06 APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS
Interested consultants should submit:
1. A detailed curriculum vitae.
2. A description of at least three comparable assignments or deals completed within the last five years,
stating clearly the candidate's personal role in originating and closing each, and noting any that involved
engaging project developers or similar transaction intermediaries.
3. Evidence of partnerships, transactions, investments, or revenue secured.
4. Contact details for three professional references, including at least one counterparty or client.
Applicants are encouraged to focus on what they have originated, negotiated and closed. Only
suitably qualified and experienced candidates are encouraged to apply. Please respond with the application requirements on section 06 via email to zim.procurements@care.org by Sunday, 4 October 2026.