Business Development & Project Planning Expert _Job @Kerchanshe Group, Ethiopia

Job Purpose

– The Business Development & Project Planning Expert is responsible for identifying, evaluating, structuring, and planning strategic business and investment opportunities across the Group and converting them into well-defined, commercially viable, financially sound, and implementation-ready projects. The position will support the Corporate PMO in the development of project concepts, feasibility studies, business cases, investment proposals, financial models, project implementation strategies, budgets, schedules, and management decision papers.

Key Responsibilities

Business Development & Opportunity Identification

• Identify and assess new business, investment, expansion, diversification, and strategic partnership opportunities aligned with the Group’s strategy.
• Conduct preliminary market, industry, competitor, customer, supplier, and investment opportunity assessments. ▪ Develop and maintain a pipeline of potential strategic projects and investment opportunities.
• Evaluate business opportunities based on commercial attractiveness, strategic fit, investment requirements, risks, returns, and implementation feasibility.
• Support the development of new business concepts and investment propositions. ▪ Coordinate with business units to identify opportunities for expansion, optimization, integration, and value creation.
• Prepare preliminary opportunity assessments and recommendations for management consideration.
• Support strategic partnership, joint venture, technology transfer, and investment opportunity assessments where required.

Project Concept Development & Planning

• Translate approved business opportunities into structured project concepts.
• Develop project concept notes, project charters, preliminary scopes, objectives, deliverables, assumptions, and implementation approaches.
• Define project requirements, major work packages, milestones, dependencies, resources, and critical success factors.
• Develop high-level project implementation strategies and roadmaps. ▪ Prepare preliminary project schedules and implementation plans.
• Establish project planning assumptions, constraints, risks, and dependencies.
• Ensure project concepts are sufficiently developed before progressing through the CPMO Stage Gate process.

Feasibility Study & Business Case Development

• Coordinate and/or prepare pre-feasibility and feasibility studies for strategic projects. ▪ Conduct commercial, technical, operational, financial, and economic assessments.
• Develop comprehensive business cases for proposed projects.
• Assess project alternatives and recommend the most viable option.
• Develop project investment requirements, operating assumptions, revenue projections, operating costs, and cash-flow requirements.
• Conduct sensitivity and scenario analysis. ▪ Assess key project risks and their potential impact on project viability.
• Coordinate with technical, finance, procurement, legal, commercial, and operational teams to ensure completeness of feasibility studies.
• Review consultant-prepared feasibility studies and provide technical/business comments and recommendations.

Financial & Investment Analysis

• Develop and/or review project financial models.
• Prepare CAPEX and OPEX estimates in coordination with relevant technical and finance teams.
• Analyze project profitability, cash flow, payback period, NPV, IRR, ROI, and other relevant investment indicators.
• Assess financing requirements and potential financing structures.
• Support preparation of bankable project proposals for commercial banks, development finance institutions, investors, and strategic partners.
• Evaluate project financing assumptions, debt/equity structures, repayment capacity, and financial sensitivities.
• Identify financial gaps and recommend appropriate financing strategies. ▪ Support management in investment decision-making through robust financial and commercial analysis.

Project Budgeting & Cost Planning

• Develop preliminary and detailed project budgets in coordination with project teams.
• Establish cost structures and cost breakdowns for proposed projects.
• Review project cost estimates, quotations, supplier proposals, and major cost assumptions.
• Conduct cost benchmarking and reasonableness assessments where applicable. ▪ Establish project cost baselines and planning assumptions.
• Identify major cost drivers and opportunities for cost optimization. ▪ Support value engineering and cost optimization initiatives during project development.
• Ensure alignment between project scope, budget, schedule, and expected business benefits.

Project Scheduling & Implementation Planning

• Develop integrated project implementation schedules covering major project phases.
• Establish milestones, critical activities, dependencies, and project completion targets.
• Develop Work Breakdown Structures (WBS) for major projects.
• Support development of resource-loaded schedules where appropriate.
• Identify critical path activities and potential schedule risks. ▪ Develop project mobilization and implementation strategies.
• Support project teams in establishing realistic baseline schedules.
• Monitor planning assumptions and recommend corrective actions when project plans deviate from approved objectives.

CPMO Stage-Gate & Project Governance Support

• Support the CPMO in applying the Group’s Project Governance Framework and Stage-Gate process.
• Prepare project documentation required for concept approval, feasibility approval, investment approval, implementation approval, and project closure.
• Ensure projects meet required documentation and decision criteria before progressing to the next stage.
• Maintain a structured pipeline of projects at different development stages.
• Support project prioritization based on strategic importance, financial attractiveness, risk, urgency, and resource requirements.
• Prepare management dashboards and reports on project development status. ▪ Identify projects that require escalation, additional analysis, restructuring, or management intervention.

Market Research & Commercial Analysis

• Conduct market research and industry analysis for proposed projects.
• Assess market demand, supply, pricing, competitors, customer segments, and market trends.
• Develop market sizing and demand forecasts.
• Evaluate commercial assumptions used in project feasibility studies.
• Identify market risks and opportunities affecting project viability.
• Support development of commercial strategies, pricing assumptions, sales projections, and go to-market approaches.

Stakeholder & Cross-Functional Coordination

• Coordinate with Group business units, Finance, Procurement/Supply Chain, Engineering, Construction, Legal, HR, Operations, and other relevant functions.
• Coordinate external consultants, technical experts, financial advisors, suppliers, investors, banks, and other stakeholders as assigned.
• Facilitate project development workshops and planning sessions.
• Ensure timely collection, validation, and consolidation of information required for project development.
• Maintain clear communication and documentation throughout the project development cycle. J. Management Reporting & Decision Support
• Prepare executive-level project proposals, investment papers, business cases, presentations, and decision memos.
• Provide management with concise analysis of project opportunities, risks, costs, returns, and implementation requirements.
• Prepare periodic reports on the strategic project pipeline. ▪ Develop project development dashboards and KPIs.
• Highlight critical decisions, risks, assumptions, gaps, and required management actions.
• Support the CPMO in preparing materials for Executive Management and Board-level reviews.

Key Deliverables

The position will be expected to produce or coordinate the following:

• Business Opportunity Assessment Reports
• Project Concept Notes
• Project Charters
• Pre-Feasibility Studies
• Feasibility Study Review Reports
• Bankable Business Cases
• Project Financial Models
• CAPEX/OPEX Estimates
• Investment Appraisal Reports
• Project Implementation Plans
• Project Master Schedules
• Work Breakdown Structures (WBS)
• Project Risk Assessments
• Investment & Financing Proposals
• Project Stage-Gate Documentation
• Strategic Project Pipeline Reports
• Executive Management Presentations
• Project Development Dashboards
• Project Cost and Schedule Analysis
• Recommendations for project approval, modification, prioritization, or rejection

Qualification and Skills:

Education:

• Minimum: Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration, Economics, Finance, Project Management, Engineering, or a related field.
• Preferred: Master’s Degree in Business Administration, Project Management, Finance, Economics, Engineering Management, or a related discipline.

Professional Certifications

• Relevant professional certification is an advantage but not mandatory where equivalent practical experience is demonstrated.

Required Experience

• Minimum 8 years of relevant professional experience, preferably in business development, investment analysis, project development & appraisal, project planning, feasibility studies, consulting, project finance, or corporate planning.
• Demonstrated experience in developing or evaluating investment/business projects.
• Experience preparing bankable business cases and financial models. ▪ Experience in project planning, budgeting, scheduling, and implementation strategy.
• Experience coordinating multidisciplinary teams is highly desirable. ▪ Experience working with banks, DFIs, investors, consultants, or major suppliers is an advantage.
• Experience in an integrated industrial, agricultural, construction, manufacturing, real estate, infrastructure, or other capital-intensive projects is highly desirable.

Technical Competencies & Software Skills

• The candidate should demonstrate strong practical capability in:
• Business development
• Investment analysis
• Project development & appraisal
• Feasibility study preparation and review
• Business case development
• Financial modeling
• Project finance
• CAPEX/OPEX planning
• Project budgeting
• Project scheduling
• WBS development
• Risk analysis
• Market analysis
• Cost-benefit analysis
• Scenario and sensitivity analysis
• Project governance
• Stage-Gate processes
• Management reporting
• Strategic planning

Skills:-

• Strategic thinking and commercial acumen
• Strong analytical and problem-solving capability
• Excellent financial and numerical skills
• Strong project planning capability
• Business-oriented mindset
• Attention to detail and accuracy
• Strong report-writing capability
• Excellent communication and presentation skills
• Stakeholder management skills
• Negotiation and influencing skills
• Ability to work across multiple business units
• Ability to manage multiple projects and priorities
• Strong follow-up and accountability
• Ability to challenge assumptions constructively
• Ability to work independently with limited supervision
• High integrity and professional judgment
• Results-oriented approach