This is a featured post on PCDN. Please cite PCDN as the source of the posting in your application.
Background
Ignite Philanthropy: Inspiring the End to Violence Against Girls and Boys is a pooled, collaborative donor fund comprising Human Dignity Foundation, Oak Foundation, and Wellspring Philanthropic Fund. Ignite Philanthropy’s goal is to maximise philanthropy’s collective ability to take risks and act boldly in support of evidence-based solutions that prevent violence and help girls and boys to thrive. Ignite’s fiscal sponsor is New Venture Fund.
Among other initiatives, Ignite Philanthropy hosts and supports a community of regional and global network organisations core to the field of preventing sexual violence against children, known as the Strategic Networks initiative. With support from Oak Foundation, Ignite is now planning to pilot support to emerging, grassroots or national-level networks, groups and coalitions, led by those with lived experience of childhood sexual violence. Ignite intends to support these groups with organisational development support, capacity strengthening and leadership development, along with small amounts of flexible core funding, and facilitate access to wider community building activities that strengthen their connectivity and learning alongside other key allies.
Running alongside this new body of work over the coming period will be a wider period of evolution into a new Ignite Philanthropy model and strategy. This specific body of work will form an integral part of learning and adaptation towards that new model.
Summary
We are recruiting for a Program Advisor to help guide this work, from design through to implementation and learning over a period of 2 years. We are looking for an individual with strong interpersonal skills, able to cultivate trust-based partnerships and with a background in facilitating leadership, organisational/network development support or other change-processes among lived experience leaders/emerging groups, networks and coalitions. We are particularly keen to hear from those with knowledge, experience of working with feminist movements or other human rights defenders, and with experience of developing and leading participatory funding mechanisms and/or collaborative design and learning processes.
The successful candidate will report to the Program Manager for the overall initiative (Strategic Networks); however, we envisage working collaboratively and as a flat structure, with shared leadership for overall success of the initiative. Our expectation is that the successful candidate also forms part of the overall Ignite Philanthropy team bringing life to the new strategy and model.
We are committed to a diverse team and inclusive working environment for people of all backgrounds and walks of life.
Yet, we acknowledge that many social groups and identities are currently under-represented in our existing team, so we are determined to change this.
We strongly welcome applications from people of colour, people with disabilities, people who identify as being LGBTQIA+, and people from other historically marginalised groups.
Please note: if you think you have what it takes for this role, but don’t necessarily meet every single point on the job description, please do not let this hold you back from applying. We would love to hear from you.
Roles and Responsibilities
• Lead and evaluate a process to identify emerging networks, groups and coalitions (led by those with lived experience of childhood sexual violence), embedding principles of co-design and participation to ensure ownership, agency and generative, collective learning around what it takes to support such groups effectively
• Work as a trusted partner and critical friend to partner groups to understand and support action towards their organisational and/or network development needs and priorities
• Act as a network-weaver, helping partners to identify synergies, build connections and form alliances beyond their immediate networks
• Bring together partners, where there is demand, to share peer learning, advice and support with each other
• Manage and build trusted relationships with organisational development consultants, possible intermediaries, and other key partners
• Working in partnership with other colleagues, manage small core-funding grants to partner groups, to strengthen their ability to engage in wider organisational/network development and learning efforts
• Collaborate closely with the Program Manager to co-lead other related efforts, identify synergies across the overall strategy, and evaluate and learn from the pilot
• Collaborate closely with the current full-time Ignite team of 5 and participate in Ignite-wide strategy implementation and calibration conversations and actions
• Contribute to initiative-level coordination, administration, data collection and analysis
Experience, Knowledge and Skills
• Experience in community organising, power-building, bottom-up advocacy and working with informal, emerging and/or grassroots groups
• Experience of providing and/or facilitating leadership and organisational/network development support to lived experience leaders and groups
• Experience working with national/regional level capacity building providers
• Knowledge and expertise related to organisational and network development, and/or capacity strengthening as a practice.
• Understanding of the human rights and/or children’s human rights and violence prevention fields
• Knowledge, connections and/or insights from other intersecting fields – in particular, those working with feminist movements or other human rights defenders
• Strong ability to build trust, show empathy and inspire change
• Knowledge and experience of ways of working that are non-extractive, trauma-informed, and that seek to rebalance power dynamics
• Creative and collaborative mindset, with natural network weaving instincts
• Relational approach to in-team collaboration as well as external partnership and engagement
• Strong emotional intelligence, listening skills and ability to facilitate complex discussions among diverse institutional and cross-field stakeholders
• A proactive mindset, embracing the energy of building out a new model with our team, finding, creating, and maximizing new opportunities to bring the model to life
• Experience in engaging new stakeholders in work, bringing them into the fold, and fostering their effective co-ownership of joint efforts
• Experience in philanthropy and/or facilitating participatory grantmaking efforts helpful.
• Additional languages helpful (French and/or Spanish, in particular)
Location
Flexible/Remote, however ideally overlapping with the Program Manager (who is based in London, GMT/GMT+1) for at least 4 working hours each day.
Start date
January 2023, or as soon as possible thereafter.
Contract type
• If based in the US, fixed term employment contract (2-year term).
• If based outside of the US, employment will be via a self-employed contract, subject to annual renewal.
Pending successful implementation and securing additional funding, it may be possible to extend the role beyond the initial 2-year term.
Salary
In the range of $75-90,000 pro-rata ($60-72,000 0.8 FTE) annually, on the basis of a consultancy contract. The final amount will take into account the individual’s experience and location.
Hours
4 days a week: we are flexible around how this is allocated across the working week (Monday-Friday).
Next steps
Please submit your CV (max 2 pages) to [email protected] along with your answers to the following questions (please also cite PCDN as the source of the posting in your application):
• Provide an example from your past work experience that illustrates the specific skills and knowledge that you would bring to this role (max 350 words)
• What draws you to this role? How are you connected to the work? (max 350 words)
• Give an example to illustrate a personal characteristic that you feel is important for this role, and why you think it’s important. You can draw on one of the characteristics featured in the list of ‘Experience, knowledge and skills’, or choose a different one (max 350 words)
Timeline
The deadline for applications is 1pm GMT on Monday 14th November, 2022.
Shortlisted applicants will be contacted by Thursday, 17th November. Please take note of the anticipated dates below for interview:
• 1st round interviews – Monday 21st and Tues 22nd November
• 2nd/final interviews – Tuesday 29th November
Hiring statement
Ignite Philanthropy: Inspiring the End to Violence Against Girls and Boys is a project of New Venture Fund (NVF), a U.S. 501(c)(3) public charity that incubates new and innovative public-interest projects and grant-making programmes. NVF is committed to attracting, developing, and retaining exceptional people, and to creating a work environment that is dynamic, rewarding and enables each of us to realize our potential. NVF’s work environment is safe and open to all employees and partners, respecting the full spectrum of race, colour, religious creed, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, political affiliation, ancestry, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, and all other classifications protected by law in the locality and/or state in which you are working.
COVID-19 Policy (for US candidates only)
To centre the safety and well-being of its employees, New Venture Fund requires that any employee who is required to conduct in-person activities for their job must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 within four weeks of their start date. This position may require candidates to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
Accommodations may be sought and approved in accordance with the law by contacting human resources at [email protected]
