Senior Officer – Strategic Partnerships in India

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. Our vision challenges deeply embedded social norms that harm the lives of girls, women and their communities.

INTRODUCTION TO THE ROLE

The Senior Officer – Strategic Partnerships in India supports the development and the implementation of Girls Not Brides’ strategy in India. The job holder is responsible for strengthening Girls Not Brides’ work with State Partnerships and Coalitions in India, positioning the agenda to address ‘Child Early and Forced Marriage and Unions’ (CEFMU) at the country level, growing and strengthening our membership base, coalitions and State and National Partnerships, and galvanising impactful collective action to accelerate change. A key aspect of the post is to play a role of enabler and facilitator in support of State Partnership’s collective leadership and facilitate co-creation processes for impactful collective initiatives. The post holder works in close coordination with Girls Not Brides’ Head of Asia and contributes to provide strategic inputs for the Secretariat, ensuring members are at the centre of all we do, our actions are informed and relevant to the country context, and that we bring a clear added value to India, Asia and the global ending child marriage movement.

Job location        

New Delhi (India) The successful candidate must have the right to work in India.

Working as a global team, all Girls Not Brides team members may from time to time be expected to work outside normal working hours (e.g. early morning or early evening) this is not an regular occurrence and is only to accommodate collaboration of teams across different time zones.

Accountable to

Head of Asia – Based in New Delhi (India)

Salary range   

Market competitive based on a detailed survey by the Birches Group of comparable NGO salaries in selected location.

Contract          

2-year fixed term contract. The successful candidate will predominantly work from home, with IT and communication equipment and support provided by Girls Not Brides. Depending on the needs of the organisation there may also be a requirement to work from our Hub location (hybrid working with a potential of working three days a week on site) They must have the right to work in their country of residence.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
Co-design and implement Girls Not Brides’ strategy in India 

• In close collaboration with the Head of Asia, supports the development of Girls Not Brides’ strategy and country engagement plan in India.
• Assesses, monitors, and documents major policy developments, research findings and opportunities relating to ending child, early and forced marriage in India, to shape Girls Not Brides’ strategy in India and in the region, guide its programming and engagement priorities in the region.
• Represents Girls Not Brides in National and State level events and key alliances/movements as a thought leader on the issue of child early and forced marriage.
• Supports the Head of Asia in building visibility and making strategic partnerships and linkages in India and in the region (as required) to influence the sector and other related sectors (education, etc).
• Implements Girls Not Brides’ strategy in India in support of members, State Partnerships and coalitions.

Support and accompaniment of prioritised State Partnerships/Coalitions in India contributing to National level change processes

• Provides support and accompaniment to 4-6 priority State Partnerships/coalitions in India.
• Strategic thinking to set up 1-2 new State Partnerships/Coalitions in India.
• Facilitates co-creation processes with assigned State Partnerships and Coalitions to collectively design impactful collective initiatives to end child, early and forced marriage.
• Relationship building with diverse members to ensure their inclusion and participation in the collective action of existing State Partnerships and Coalitions in four states in India.
• In close collaboration with State Partnership, identifies and responds to the priority capacity building needs (including in areas such as movement building, collective advocacy, learning for impact, youth engagement and gender transformative approaches) and contributes to further enhance collective  perspective building.
• Supports the implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the State partnership/coalitions collective action projects supported by Girls Not Brides in collaboration with the Asia Operations Coordinator.
• Supports State Partnerships/Coalitions to link up with strategic actors and opportunities at national and international level in pursuit of furthering common objectives.
• Works with the Head of Asia and the Development and Outreach Team to support State Partnerships and Coalitions to leverage funding.
• Leads on documenting, sharing and supplying members in India with concrete data and global, regional and national trends which impact their work.
• Supports members to engage in collective action and campaigns led by the Global Secretariat.
• Administers and analyses the Partnership Score Card Tool to assess partnerships and design support areas and future steps for the partnership.
• Ensures compliance with all Girls Not Brides project management, financial and due diligence requirements.
• Translates and/or co-ordinates the translation of tools and resources into Hindi/Bengali/Urdu as required.

Contributes to the broad offer of Girls Not Brides for members in India

• Works with the Senior Officer for Partnerships and Impact for Asia and the Global partnership team to identify, design and implement the Broad Offer for members in India (trainings, webinars, leadership journeys. Collective action opportunities, etc.).
• Strengthens the youth engagement work in India context, including co-leading the Young Voices National Movement as a space to amplify voices and demands of young people (especially girls) at subnational and national level with lessons emerging from State level learnings and context.
• Conducts a limited amount of membership outreach in India and other countries (as required in the region).

Contributes to the effective capturing and dissemination of learning within the Girls Not Brides partnership resulting in National level movement building

• Contributes to strong knowledge management processes for State Partnerships, coalitions and members, capturing and disseminating lessons learned and best practice e.g. via case studies, reports, video documentations.
• Maintains the two-way flow of information between State Partnerships/Coalitions and the Global Secretariat.
• Based on lessons learnt from work in India at state and national level, contributes to regional learning areas and platforms such as CRANK, global Learning series etc.

Lead on the gender transformative approach (GTA) strategy for India and the Asia region 

• In close collaboration with the global GTA team, designs and creates a Gender Transformative Approach strategy to strengthen the movement to end child, early and forced marriage in India and the Asia region.
• Ensures quality implementation of the GTA strategy in the region.
• Builds capacity of members in India and the region to better understand and integrate GTA in network spaces and their organisations.
• Amplifies learning from the GTA interventions to inform learning at the national, regional and global level via webinars and meetings.

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.
• Line manages roles and consultants as necessary, delegating responsibilities and tasks as appropriate.
• Comply with Girls Not Brides policies and processes, with particular note for safeguarding, diversity and inclusion, the code of conduct and data protection.
• Prepare and deliver reports for the Head of Asia, Senior Leadership Team and Board of Trustees, as necessary.
• 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

• Graduate qualification in relevant area (such as Development Studies, International Relations, Human Rights or Gender), or equivalent relevant work experience.
• At least 10 years of experience in the development sector including, direct experience of engaging with coalitions, alliances or networks and an understanding of the unique challenges and opportunities presented by coalition working.
• Experience of capacity building of NGOs and designing training workshops.
• Experience of supporting the design, implementation and monitoring of projects and programmes.
• Direct experience of working on advocacy initiatives and advocacy strategy development.
• Deep knowledge and experience of gender and its application in programme and network spaces.
• Experience in project management.

Essential skills and knowledge

• Fluency in written and spoken English and Hindi (any other South Asian language would be an advantage).
• Strategic thinker, capable of connecting member engagement issues with other areas of work, including communications, advocacy and learning.
• A sound understanding of the policy and advocacy dynamics around gender/youth/child rights in an international context, including understanding of some of the key players in these fields.
• Strong policy analysis skills.
• Personality and strong skills to play a role as a facilitator, enabler, convener and to support collective leadership and allow other to lead and shine.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills, including the ability to work with a diverse range of actors from different cultural contexts.
• Ability to build strong relationships while working remotely with civil society organisations.
• Strong project management skills.
• Willingness to travel extensively, sometimes at short notice.

Essential values and attributes

• Strong commitment to the mission and values of Girls Not Brides including gender-transformative approaches to empower girls and women and support gender equality.
• Skilled team worker with an inclusive and collaborative approach, in line with Girls Not Brides’ values.
• A willingness to learn new skills and grow professionally.
• Ability to maintain strict confidentiality.

Desirable

Understanding of child, early and forced marriage from a feminist perspective and good linkages with key actors working to address CEFM in India.
Experience of working on national policy change initiative.

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).

Diversity at Girls Not Brides

Girls Not Brides is an equal opportunities employer. We embrace diversity, equal opportunity and inclusion in a serious way. We are committed to building a staff body that represents a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills. The more inclusive we are, the better our work will be.

 

How to apply 

The closing date for this role is 3 May 2023, 23.59 UK time. 

To apply, go to the job page and submit your CV and a brief cover letter (in English) clearly demonstrating how you meet the criteria.

We regret that due to the large number of applications anticipated, only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.