This position is home-based located in Kenya.

The Policy & Advocacy Manager (PAM), Women’s Participation & Leadership (WPL) will lead the delivery of Womankind Worldwide’s UK and international advocacy strategy on Women’s Participation & Leadership (WPL) and will spend the majority of their time (3 days a week) working on a Womankind-led consortium project. This is an exciting 5-year advocacy focused programme, Advancing Women’s Engagement: Strengthening Opportunities to Mobilise for Equality (AWESOME). This innovative programme is being jointly implemented by Womankind and 6 women’s rights organisations that are our partners in Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda. Three of the project partners are disability women’s rights organisations.

The AWESOME programme focuses principally on two themes: Sexual & Gender Based Violence (SGBV) and Women’s Participation & Leadership (WPL), including political leadership and transformational leadership. It works at three levels: self – to provide safe spaces for women’s rights organisations (WROs} including those led by women with disabilities, activists and young women to come together to increase collaboration and solidarity; society – to ensure greater willingness and support to challenge harmful gender norms and attitudes; and formal institutions – to improve the policy and legal framework for the realisation of women’s rights.

This role forms part of the AWESOME project team at Womankind which includes Director of Policy and Communications, Director of Programmes and Learning, Programme Manager, Programme Management Officer, 2 Policy and Advocacy Managers (including this role), Impact and Learning Advisor, and the Projects Finance Manager.

With regards to AWESOME the role will work closely with the project team at Womankind and with AWESOME national partners to deliver the expected outcomes of the policy and advocacy work. Some of this will focus purely on Women’s Participation & Leadership including pollical leadership as well as feminist transformational leadership, and other aspects will be cross-cutting across AWESOME project focus areas and women’s movement strengthening including supporting the strengthening of stronger intersectional and inclusive feminist movements.

The role will also work closely with Policy and Communications team supporting and coordinating the implementation of Her Voice Fund – this is an advocacy focused fund aimed to provide flexible funding to Womankind partners and informal groups in focus countries to carry out policy influencing and advocacy at national, regional and international levels.

In addition, the role will provide policy and advocacy technical inputs into the design and implementation of other Womankind projects and programmes focusing on Women’s Participation & Leadership and contribute to supporting the women’s movement to access, and input into, sustainable and progressive funding and financing models.

This role will represent the organisation in strategic external meetings and events and will contribute to relationship building with strategic external stakeholders.

The bedrock of our new strategy and the AWESOME project is our focus on strengthening feminist movements and to actively be an anti-racist organisation. This role, like other roles, will ensure that those two components are well integrated and centred in all their work.

Key internal relationships

The post is based in the Policy, Programmes & Learning (PPL) team, which comprises a Policy & Communications (P&C) sub team and a Programmes & Learning (P&L) sub team. This position reports to the Director of Policy & Communications and will work closely with other members of the PPL team, the AWESOME project team and across the organisation, including Fundraising & Marketing, Finance & Resources and the Senior Management Team.

The post holder may manage interns, volunteers and consultants on an ad hoc basis.

The role has three key areas of responsibility:

Responsibilities

(1) AWESOME programme and consortium

• Lead and contribute to key policy and advocacy activities as per the programme work plan and budget in collaboration with the project team and partners.

• Engage with Womankind AWESOME team members, consortium partners and stakeholders in the delivery activities of policy and advocacy activities.

• Work closely with PAM, VAWG and consortium partners to develop an annual calendar of policy spaces/events to engage in and lead/support in convening relevant programme related policy events.

• Lead on and support the production of programme policy and advocacy briefings and materials to ensure they meet required standards.

• Work collaboratively with AWESOME project partners in the focus countries to plan and carry out joint policy influencing and advocacy campaigns in areas of common interest. This may include supporting partners’ country level policy and advocacy initiatives where appropriate and requested. Ensure that collaboration with partners centres movement strengthening and feminist values.

• Support the Programme Manager and Projects Finance Manager to manage the AWESOME budget to ensure the effective and efficient management of delegated budget in accordance with Womankind’s financial procedures and local governance regulations.

• Adopt and promote best feminist practice in all aspects of the role including in relation to the wider organisation and Womankind’s programmes and partnerships approach and best practices of feminist ways of working.

• Contribute to regular progress reports for key stakeholders including donor reporting.

• Contribute to effective and appropriate technical monitoring, evaluation, and learning processes for the AWESOME programme in collaboration with the Impact and Learning Advisor and ensure that evidence from the programme is used for advocacy and policy influencing.

• Serve as a programme representative and be an active participant in cross-departmental initiatives and information sharing activities as determined by the DPC.

(2) Manage and coordinate Her Voice Fund initiative

• Manage and coordinate the grant making of 2 funding cycles per year of Her Voice Fund, ensuring that the process is fair and transparent.

• Explore the use of participatory grant making approach for Her Voice Fund- collaborating closely with Programmes and Learning team on this.

• Work closely with the Impact and Learning Advisor to design and implement a fit for purpose MEL framework for Her Voice Fund that ensures that key learnings on the essential role of feminist organisations and movements are captured and used to inform our future flexible funds, evidence is collected and analysed that supports our fundraising and advocacy needs for quality funding for feminist movements

• Develop learning papers, policy briefings and lead relevant convenings related to communicating the results of Her Voice Fund and for advocating for quality funding for WROs and feminist movements centring the leadership of feminist movements

• Work closely with the policy colleagues and Womankind partners and other like-minded organisations to advocate and influence the donor community to fund flexibly and avail adequate, quality, core, long term and flexible funding to WROs and feminist movements.

• Build and maintain relevant relationships with donor community to contribute to influencing their funding policies.

(3) Project design, development and management

• To work with partners, PPL colleagues and the Fundraising and Marketing team, through technical input into appeals and fundraising bids, and through connecting/positioning with key donors through external representation and networking.

• To work together with Programmes and Learning colleagues and partners to provide policy and advocacy technical inputs in WPL specific projects and programmes.

• To work closely with the Impact and Learning Advisor to contribute to monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL) of the work of the PPL team in general and P&C in particular.

(4) Representation, networking and profile building

• To effectively participate in key networks and forums through which Womankind Worldwide can engage most effectively with debates around women’s rights broadly and women’s participation and leadership including on matters of transformational leadership of feminist movements.

• To work with the Director of Policy and Communications and other Senior Management Team members and other parts of the organisation to ensure Womankind Worldwide is strategically positioned and adds value in the field of women’s participation and leadership.

• To represent Womankind Worldwide on women’s participation and leadership and our broader strategy and build strong relationships with external audiences, including policy and decision-makers, donors, media and other national and international audiences.

• To cultivate and maintain strong relationships with a wide range of development actors in the focus countries and internationally, who work on women’s rights, gender equality and women’s participation and leadership.

The post holder will also undertake other reasonable responsibilities not outlined above which are commensurate with a role of this nature.

The ideal candidate must be committed to the mission, vision, feminist values and aims of Womankind Worldwide as it seeks to support and speak out about women’s human rights and development internationally.

All posts are expected to contribute towards developing a supportive working environment, to demonstrate a commitment to professionalism and respect, transparency and accountability and to uphold quality standards as outlined in policies and procedures, and in compliance with Womankind Worldwide’s Equal Opportunities Policy.

The post holder will be required to undertake reasonable international travel in order to fulfil their duties, as the situation allows. This is expected to be no more than eight weeks per year and will remain appropriate to constraints imposed by the COVID-19 epidemic.

Person Specification

Essential Experience and Skills

• Demonstrable experience and skills in advocacy and influencing work on women’s rights and gender equality holistically and with a focus on Women’s Participation and Leadership (WPL).

• Demonstrable experience of working with civil society actors, including feminist movements, and/or membership movements, networks or coalitions operating globally.

• Demonstrable experience of project design and management and of working with multi-disciplinary teams on policy and advocacy.

• Experience working for and with women’s rights organisations including those based in the global south and specifically experience working with WROs and movements in the 3 focus countries of the AWESOME project (Kenya, Ethiopia & Uganda)

• Demonstrable experience of grantmaking especially to support women’s rights organisations and feminist movements. Knowledge of participatory grantmaking approaches will be an added value.

• Experience engaging with and holding contacts of international donor community and track record of working with feminist movements to influence donors’ agendas.

• Excellent research skills and demonstrable experience of writing high quality policy documents, developing policy positions & briefings, researching and writing on development and/or women’s human rights issues especially with a focus on transformational leadership, and resourcing feminist movements among others.

• A strong background in Women’s Participation & Leadership using a feminist approach and analysis, and a sound understanding of current debates in the field of women’s rights and gender equality and civil society generally.

• Strong feminist analysis and how it interconnects with racial justice and ability to apply it in all areas of work.

• Excellent networker and public speaker with experience of external representation and participation in meetings, conferences and of coordinating or organising policy events and initiatives for a range of different audiences.

• Experience of successfully working with consultants, academic institutions, think tanks and other potential partners.

• Demonstrable skills and track record as a strong, collegial team player with experience working in a multi-cultural environment and ability to contribute to a creative, safe, inclusive and supportive work environment.

• Very strong interpersonal, communication and writing skills (in English).

• Ability to work autonomously and manage own portfolio of work.

• Experience working as part of a remote team with colleagues in different locations across the globe.

Essential Knowledge

• A postgraduate qualification in a relevant area, for example gender and development or human rights or equivalent experience.

• Excellent knowledge of Women’s Participation and Leadership from a feminist perspective.

• An understanding of how Women’s Participation and Leadership interlinks with other women’s rights issues, particularly women’s economic rights and violence against women and girls.

• An understanding of the role of women rights organisations and movements in tackling Women’s Participation and Leadership as well as other women’s rights violations.

• Understanding of the challenges and opportunities in ensuring integration between organisational programming and influencing work.

Desirable

• Experience of working on women’s human rights, and/or the rights of persons with disabilities including work with Women’s Rights Organisations and Women with Disabilities Organisations.

• Financial management, including programme budgeting and financial reporting skills.

• Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning skills with specific focus on developing and using tools to measure impact of policy and advocacy projects and initiatives.

• Experience of contributing to successful funding bids and applications.

Personal Situation

• Ability and willingness to undertake travel as required to programme partner countries, regionally and internationally.

Terms and conditions

Hours:     35 hours

Salary:   £44,679 per annum

Contract:  Full time & fixed contract ending 31 December, 2025

Probationary period:    6 months

Holidays:   33 days per annum including statutory holidays (In addition WK office is closed for 3 days over the Christmas and new year period).

Pension: Womankind has a contributory pension scheme in place

Other benefits: We offer a wide range of flexible working options, enhanced maternity leave, group pension scheme and free eye tests

This position is located in Kenya

How to apply

To apply for this position please go to Womankind’s recruitment portal and follow the links for more details about what we require: https://careers.womankind.org.uk/

 

Due to the high volume of applications we receive, we regret we will not be able to respond personally to applicants who are not short-listed. If you have not heard from us within three weeks from the closing date, please assume you have been unsuccessful on this occasion. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

Deadline for applications: 23:59 GMT on Monday 14 March 2022

1st round interviews: w/c 4 April 2022

2nd round interviews: w/c 11 April 2022