Costing/ Budgeting consultant – Office of Business Development

About IFDC

The International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC) is a public international organization that advances soil health and strengthens agricultural systems through science-based innovation. For over 50 years, IFDC has translated research into practical solutions that improve nutrient use efficiency, restore degraded soils, strengthen local agricultural markets and expand opportunity for smallholder farmers, especially women and youth. We work with farmers, governments and private sector partners to build resilient farming systems that produce nutritious food, improve livelihoods and safeguard natural resources for future generations.   

Our Values

We are guided by four core principles:

Collaborate – We work across teams, countries and partners to create lasting impact.
Innovate – We apply evidence and continuous learning to design practical and responsible solutions.
Include – We promote equity and meaningful participation for women, youth and underrepresented groups.
Act with Integrity – We steward resources responsibly, uphold transparency and remain accountable to the communities, partners, staff and donors who place their trust in us.

About Project/Program 

IFDC is pursuing strategic growth across an evolving donor landscape that increasingly requires stronger financial competitiveness, donor compliance alignment, performance-based contracting readiness, and improved proposal pricing strategies. An internal assessment identified the need to strengthen IFDC’s financial proposal development systems, budgeting frameworks, pricing methodologies, and institutional coordination.

IFDC seeks a consultant to implement this consultancy in two phases: 1) Short-term – establish a shared foundation for budget development, and 2) Medium-term - Develop and Institutionalize standardized guidance for key cost-drivers.

Purpose of the Consultancy

The purpose of this consultancy is to strengthen IFDC’s institutional capacity to develop competitive, donor-compliant, financially sound, and strategically aligned financial proposals through standardized systems, tools, templates, workflows, and governance structures.

Objectives

·        Strengthen IFDC’s financial proposal development processes and governance structures;

·        Develop standardized budgeting and pricing guidance across donor mechanisms;

·        Improve financial risk analysis and go/no-go decision-making capacity;

·        Modernize budget templates and financial proposal tools;

·        Standardize key cost assumptions and pricing methodologies;

·        Strengthen subcontractor and consortium financial engagement frameworks;

·        Build institutional capacity and improve cross-functional coordination.

Scope of Work

The Consultant shall perform, at minimum, the following tasks in two phases:

Phase 1: Short-term analysis

Financial Proposal Process Review and Workflow Mapping to address known functional gaps and align to organizational risk priorities

·        Review of IFDC’s existing proposal development and budget preparation processes;

·        Conduct consultations with relevant departments and regional teams;

·        Map current workflows, approvals, and decision points;

·        Identify process inefficiencies, duplication, bottlenecks, and compliance gaps;

·        Assess accountability structures and ownership responsibilities;

·        Benchmark IFDC’s current processes against industry best practices.

Budget Template Modernization

·        Review current IFDC budget templates and functionality;

·        Update IFDC’s budget templates to be more adaptable across donor types and contract mechanisms;

·        Improve automation, usability, and reporting functionality;

·        Integrate dashboards and key financial metrics;

·        Ensure templates support:

o   Cost-reimbursable budgeting;

o   Fixed-price budgeting;

o   Milestone-based budgeting;

o   Multi-country proposals;

o   Consortium structures.

Development of Financial Proposal Governance Framework

·        Develop a standardized financial proposal governance framework;

·        Review and revise existing cost proposal development policy;

·        Refine roles and responsibilities across departments based on revised policy;

·        Review and refine proposal approval protocols and escalation procedures;

·        Define financial review and sign-off requirements;

Phase 1: Deliverables

·        Draft work plan (inception)

·        Financial proposal workflow and gap analysis report;

·        Financial proposal governance framework and SOPs;

·        Standardized pricing and cost assumptions guidance;

·        Modernized budget templates.

Phase 2: Once the cost proposal process is in place, the consultant will assist IFDC to develop and institutionalize standardized guidance for key cost drivers. Anticipated activities include:

Align cost structure with IFDC’s market positioning and growth strategy

·        Review IFDC’s strategy and market analysis;

·        Review IFDC’s current client and donor list and current donor requirements and performance.

Standardization of Cost Assumptions and Pricing Guidance

·        Review and assess current institutional cost structures;

·        Develop standardized guidance for Dutch and EU donors that addresses:

o   Salary scales;

o   Compensation benchmarks;

o   Project support staff allocations or assumptions

o   Fringe benefit calculations;

o   Level-of-effort assumptions;

o   Travel assumptions;

o   Procurement assumptions;

o   Office and operational setup assumptions;

o   Indirect cost rates;

o   Fee and markup strategies.

Financial Risk Assessment and Pursuit Decision Framework

·        Review and refine criteria for go/no-go decision-making;

·        Incorporate analysis of:

o   Working capital exposure;

o   Payment mechanism risks;

o   Subcontractor dependency risks;

o   Cash flow implications;

o   Indirect cost recovery;

o   Donor compliance exposure;

o   Profitability and sustainability considerations.

·        Develop “back-of-envelope” pricing and financial modeling tools.

Subcontractor and Partner Financial Engagement Framework

·        Develop standardized subcontractor financial engagement procedures;

·        Design due diligence and risk assessment tools;

·        Develop pricing negotiation guidance;

·        Establish documentation standards and compliance protocols;

·        Develop cost-sharing and pass-through guidance.

Capacity Building and Institutionalization

·        Conduct training workshops for Finance, Programs, and Business Development staff;

·        Develop training materials and SOPs;

·        Support pilot implementation on selected proposals;

·        Provide recommendations for long-term institutionalization.

Knowledge Management and Continuous Improvement Framework

·        Design a framework for capturing lessons learned from proposal development and implementation;

·        Develop a system for analyzing budget-versus-actual project data;

·        Recommend mechanisms for integrating donor feedback into future proposal pricing strategies;

·        Develop a continuous improvement roadmap.

Phase 2 Deliverables

·        Revised cost and pricing assumptions

·        Subcontractor engagement framework;

·        Completion of 3 online capacity-building sessions;

·        Final implementation roadmap and consultancy report

Requirements

·        Minimum 10 years of experience supporting donor-funded international development organizations;

·        Demonstrated expertise in financial proposal strategy, pricing, and donor compliance;

·        Experience with USAID, USDA, EU, IFAD, and multilateral donor mechanisms;

·        Strong expertise in performance-based contracting and financial risk analysis;

·        Experience developing institutional budgeting tools and governance systems.

Duration

The consultancy is expected to be implemented over an estimated period of 3-6 months.

Expected Outcome

The assignment is expected to result in a standardized, competitive, and institutionally aligned financial proposal development framework that strengthens IFDC’s donor competitiveness, financial risk management, and operations

Diversity Clause

IFDC is committed to fostering a culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion. We believe in the value of bringing together people with a broad range of backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives. All employment decisions at IFDC are made on the basis of ability, performance, and organizational need, in alignment with our values of fairness, respect, and opportunity for all.