Head of Asia Region At Girls Not Brides

INTRODUCTION TO GIRLS NOT BRIDES

Girls Not Brides is the only global organisation uniquely focused on creating and sustaining a worldwide movement to end child marriage and ensuring that this movement leads to tangible change for the girls at risk or affected by the practice. We are a network of over 1,600 civil society organisations in over 100 countries working in partnership to end child marriage.

Our vision is a world without child marriage where girls and women enjoy equal status with boys and men and are able to achieve their full potential in all aspects of their lives.

INTRODUCTION TO THE ROLE

The Head of Asia Region leads the development and implementation of Girls Not Brides’ Regional Strategy in Asia. The job holder is responsible for strengthening Girls Not Brides’ work and influence in the Asia region, positioning the agenda to address ‘Child Early and Forced Marriage and Unions’ (CEFMU) at the regional and country level, growing and strengthening our membership base, coalitions and State and National Partnerships, and galvanising impactful collective action in the region to accelerate change. The post holder works in close coordination with Girls Not Brides’ Global Senior Leadership Team and contributes to provide strategic direction for the Secretariat, ensuring members are at the centre of all we do, our actions are informed and relevant to the regional context, and that we bring a clear added value to the Asia and the global ending child marriage movement.

Job location:

India, Bangladesh or Nepal

Accountable to:

Director of Partnership, Learning, and Impact (UK-based)

Salary range:

Market competitive and depending on experience

Contract:

Market 2-year fixed term contract. The successful candidate will work from home for much of the time, with IT and communication equipment and support provided by Girls Not Brides. They must have the right to work in their country of residence.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Develop and implement Girls Not Brides’ strategy in Asia

• Lead the development of Girls Not Brides’ Strategy in the region, in line with the Partnership’s global Strategy, the Secretariat’s Strategic Plan and the organisation mission, values and goals.
• Assess, monitor, and document major policy developments, research findings and opportunities relating to CEFMU in Asia, to shape Girls Not Brides strategy in the region, guide its programming and engagement priorities in the region.
• Provide leadership for the strategy implementation. This entails:
• 1. Providing leadership to enhance Girls Not Brides’ presence, credibility and influencing in the Asia region to accelerate change, in a way that is contextualised.
• 1. Providing leadership for Girls Not Brides in Asia in key priority areas: membership and movement building, programming, advocacy and influencing, learning and evidence for impact, external engagement, Gender Transformative Approaches and youth meaningful engagement.
• Lead the development, monitoring and evaluation of Girls Not Brides Asia projects and programming and enhance the quality and impact of programming.

Develop and support Girls Not Brides’ membership, Coalitions and National Partnerships in Asia

• Strengthen Girls Not Brides’ membership and engagement with civil society organisations in Asia, and add underrepresented groups like women rights organisations, youth focused and marginalised groups.
• Provide technical and strategic assistance, financial investment support and opportunities for peer learning to Girls Not Brides State and National Partnerships, coalitions, and members in selected countries in the region.
• Facilitate synergies, collaborations and strategic partnerships with civil society actors, key social movements in Asia (such as the youth, feminist and the wider women’s movement, and those working on SRHR) and other stakeholders working to address CEFMU (UN agencies, governments, regional actors, donors, etc.).

Catalyse collective action and impact to accelerate change in addressing CEFMU in Asia

• Develop, promote, or support opportunities for collective action with members to accelerate change in the region and in priority countries/states – eg advocacy, campaigns, learning and evidence, capacity development, movement building, etc.
• Promote strategic partnerships with UN agencies, governmental agencies and non-governmental organizations, the media, and other donors to leverage new resources, scale impact, and advance Girls Not Brides’ goals.
• Develop, implement and strengthen projects and advocacy initiatives that focus on addressing CEFMU through an adaptive management, evidence-based decision-making model and impact assessment lens.
• Working with the MEAL and Impact Team, foster an impact and learning culture amongst the partnership, members and staff in the Asia team, to build a monitoring framework to assess impact and synthesize learning.
• Promote the dissemination and uptake of knowledge, learning and evidence to address CEFMU and support members’ ability to translate it to improved policy and practice.
• Convene practitioners, academics, researchers and policy makers to advocate for and support better evidence-based knowledge coordination on addressing CEFMU that supports the impact of our members at national and regional levels.
• Advocate for greater resources to support our members, coalitions and National Partnership’s work to accelerate change.
• Ensure gender equality and gender transformative approaches are mainstreamed in all Girls Not Brides work and ensure and promote meaningful youth engagement in our work.
• Represent Girls Not Brides in selected national, regional and international working groups and networks and at appropriate national and regional meetings and events.

Contribute to the broader Girls Not Brides strategic, programmatic and communications work with the Asia regional perspective

• Work in close coordination with Girls Not Brides’ Global Senior Leadership Team and contribute to provide strategic direction for the Secretariat.
• Inform the global activities of Girls Not Brides with knowledge of the regional context and the perspective of members from the Asia region.
• Inform the global activities of Girls Not Brides with thematic expertise in areas such as gender, working with feminist and youth movement building, SRHR, etc.
• Represent Girls Not Brides at external meetings and events, as required.
• Speak on behalf of Girls Not Brides in the media, as required.
• Provide strategic input into relevant funding applications and reporting to donors, and/or co-lead project design for fundraising, as needed.

Manage the Asia Team and Girls Not Brides in the region

• Manage a functional regional team and ensure all policies and procedures are followed.
• Manage the work of the Asia Team members and promote a collaborative working environment in Asia and across areas of expertise and all global and regional teams and staff.
• When necessary, supervise consultants supporting the secretariat’s regional work.
• Participate in the Advisory Management Team of the Girls Not Brides secretariat and serve as a bridge between management and the Asia Team, ensuring information flows both ways.
• Ensure alignment of the Asia Team with Girls Not Brides’ systems and processes.
• Manage the Asia Team Budget.

Wider Organisational Responsibilities

• Commit to the mission and vision of Girls Not Brides, putting these at the forefront of all planning, work and actions.
• Uphold the core values of Girls Not Brides in all areas of work and interactions with colleagues, members, partners and other stakeholders.
• Comply with Girls Not Brides policies and processes, with a particular note for safeguarding, the code of conduct and data protection.
• Ensure that internal databases and monitoring information are kept fully up-to-date.
• Commit to ongoing personal development and learning.
• Fulfil any other reasonable requests for the advancement of Girls Not Brides.

PERSON SPECIFICATION

Essential experience

• Significant professional experience in a similar senior-level role in the not-for-profit sector, an international/intergovernmental organisation, a social movement or social and enterprise.
• Degree-level qualification in a relevant area such as public policy, development studies, international relations, human rights or gender issues or proven experience in a related field plus extensive relevant professional training.
• Ability to work across disciplines, building successful relationships with partners, academics, policy-makers, programme implementers, and advocates.
• Ability to evaluate and implement best practices and processes across the key priority areas to achieve high quality outcomes.
• Experience of mobilising and promoting national level change and advocacy.
• Experience of developing country strategies.
• Experience working with key social movements in the region, such as the youth, feminist and the wider women’s movement, and those working on SRHR.
• Experience of successfully managing teams, including geographically dispersed staff.

Essential skills and knowledge

• Confident networker and influencer with the ability to represent Girls Not Brides at high-level events.
• A sound understanding of the policy and advocacy dynamics around gender and/or youth/child rights in an international context, including an understanding of some of the key players in these fields.
• Strong project, technical and budget management skills, planning, reporting and monitoring and evaluation skills
• Excellent written and spoken English language skills, as well as in Hindi, Urdu, Bengali, and/or Nepali.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills, including the ability to work with a diverse range of actors from different cultural contexts.
• Highly skilled people manager who can effectively line-manage, support and promote staff development.
• Ability to deal with competing demands, multiple priorities, time constraints and unanticipated events.

Essential values and attributes

• Strong commitment to the mission and values of Girls Not Brides and our vision in relation to addressing child marriage and the empowerment of girls and women.
• Proactive and able to confidently take initiative and make appropriate decisions.
• Willingness to work flexibly and regularly travel internationally, as necessary.

Desirable

• Proficiency in additional languages, especially those used in the region, is an added advantage.

Safeguarding

Girls Not Brides is committed to safeguarding all children, young people and adults at risk with whom our staff and representatives work and interface. Any employment with Girls Not Brides may be subject to the satisfactory completion of a background check and a criminal records check which can include but is not limited to: an overseas police record check, a Disclosure and Barring Service Check (for those based in the UK) or an International Criminal Record Check (if applicable).