Founded in 1955, Helvetas is the largest Swiss international development NGO. With about 300 projects worldwide, Helvetas is present in 39 countries around the world initiating real change in the lives of over three million disadvantaged people each year. In my role as the Business Development Director of the US arm of Helvetas, I am responsible for expanding our portfolio of projects with the US Government (USAID, US Department of State, MCC) in the field of democracy, governance, migration and peace, workforce development, youth and women empowerment, water and sanitation; shaping and executing Helvetas' new business strategy; leading all USG opportunity identification, prioritization, pipeline creation, proposal development and submission; fostering partnerships with clients and USG implementing partners, and leading teaming strategies. I lead/oversee the entire lifecycle of the USG bids, from the opportunity identification, capture till the final proposal submission; manage technical and cost proposals; build the capacity of Helvetas' HQ and 30+ country offices in the USG procurement rules and regulations; supervise and mentor the business development team and multiple proposal teams.

The QED Group is a global consulting firm with more than 20 years of experience providing data-driven and insightful solutions to United States Agency for International Development (USAID), US Department of State, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in close to 100 countries. Leveraging deep expertise in monitoring, evaluation, learning and global health, QED helps clients collect, analyze, visualize, and ultimately use data in more effective ways to judge the success of international development aid around the world. During my time at QED, I served as Business Development/Proposal Manager on multimillion-dollar USAID, Department of State, UK Aid and CDC proposals from start to finish. I led the whole proposal management process and made sure the technical and cost proposals are in compliance with the solicitation requirements; oversaw the final packaging and submission of the technical and cost proposals. I also led teaming strategy discussions, partner outreach, managed subcontractors, developed subcontractors’ scope of work, drafted teaming agreements and oversaw the recruitment process of the key and non-key personnel. I contributed to the technical sections of the proposals and wrote narratives for management and institutional capacity chapters, past performance reports, staffing plans, and other relevant sections of the technical proposal.

I sourced opportunities on USAID Business Forecast, Devex, GovWin, FBO and DFID Suppliers Portal and collected early intelligence on those opportunities; together with the technical lead developed capture briefs, and conducted competitive analysis. I established and managed the proposal calendar, compliance matrix, checklists and assignments; facilitated kick-off meetings, technical and management plan design sessions, rainbow review meetings. I provided guidance to program units on various donors and foundation funding mechanisms, such as USAID Contracts, IDIQs, BAAs, BPAs, grants, cooperative agreements, etc.

Synergy International Systems, Inc. (“Synergy”) is a global information technology firm that empowers public and private sector organizations to achieve their performance goals and development impact. Synergy's solutions have been implemented in over 60 countries, in collaboration with country governments, multilateral and bilateral development organizations, NGOs, and private sector partners.At Synergy I supported business development efforts by sourcing anticipated business opportunities and identifying potential partners; tracking FBO and Devex for relevant solicitations, and reviewed EOIs, RFx for strategic fit with the company’s expertise.I contributed to proposal efforts by developing past performance references, capability statements, win themes, by recruiting potential candidates to be included in proposals and by participating in proposal gate reviews.

Central Electoral Commission of Armenia is a state institution responsible for organizing elections and overseeing the whole electoral process. In my role, I managed international relations and built strong partnerships with bilateral and multilateral organizations, such as USAID, UNDP, OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), EU. As such, I was in charge of designing and coordinating international donor-funded projects that would increase voters awareness about their rights and responsibilities, give civil society organizations the knowledge and tools to monitor the election and voting process, increase the knowledge of poll workers, and help the disabled and visually impaired voters to access ballot. In order to restore trust in the election management bodies, I contributed to legislative reforms that transformed partisan election administration into a fully independent and impartial one. To give access to disenfranchised out-of-country voters, together with my team, we introduced the first ever national electronic voting system that enables to vote via Internet.I designed and delivered trainings for civil society organizations and poll workers; trained 5000 domestic observers and more than 5000 poll workers throughout the country in order to improve the administration of elections, promote transparency, and increase government accountability.

As the Spokesperson of the Commission, I was in charge of communicating to the general public and the press the official position of the commission. Additionally, I led the public outreach activities, including writing press releases, newsletters, and articles; crafting content for the commission's website; managing relations with the press, writing talking points and speeches for the Chairman of the Commission, and accrediting domestic and international journalists.

"Facility" was a program developed by the Council of Europe and the European Union to carry out cooperation activities on democracy, good governance and stability in the EU Eastern Partnership countries. The aim of the Facility was to provide support to reform processes in the six EU partner countries and bring them closer to Council of Europe and European Union standards in core areas such as public administration, judicial reform, democratic governance and electoral standards.I was in charge of coordinating the electoral component of the program from the Armenian side in the areas of improving the election administration, raising voters awareness of their rights and roles, increasing their turnout in elections, and bringing the electoral legislation of Armenia in line with European standards. I contributed to the Council of Europe reports on the use of administrative resources during the election period.

OSCE/ODIHR is one of the world’s principal regional human rights bodies. ODIHR carries out election observations in OSCE participating states to assess the extent to which elections respect fundamental freedoms and are characterized by equality, universality, political pluralism, confidence, transparency and accountability. As an election expert, I participated in numerous election observation and assessment missions in such countries as Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Bulgaria, Portugal, Montenegro, and Hungary and wrote/contributed to the election observation/assessment reports to provide recommendations on improving electoral processes and introducing democratic reforms.