Program Manager, Issue Advocacy

Vital Voices Global Partnership is a leading international non-profit organization. We invest in women leaders who are tackling the world’s greatest challenges – from gender-based violence to the climate crisis, economic inequities, and more. We are “venture catalysts,” identifying leaders with a daring vision for change and partnering with them to make that vision a reality. What sets Vital Voices apart is that we make long-term, holistic investments in leaders with bold ideas for change — providing them connections, capacity, a network of their peers, financial support, and visibility for their work. We have provided early support for leaders who went on to become Nobel Peace Laureates, US Youth Poet Laureates, Prime Ministers, award winning innovators and breakthrough social entrepreneurs. Over the past 24 years, we have directly invested in more than 20,000 change-makers across 184 countries, who in turn have improved the lives of millions of people in their communities and countries.

Today, Vital Voices has a staff of nearly 100 headquartered in Washington, DC. In the coming years we have a bold vision to dramatically scale our impact. In early 2022, we opened the first ever Global Headquarters for Women’s Leadership, a 30,000+ sq. ft. historic building just blocks from the White House on 16th Street. It is a hub of activity, events, and collaborations — bringing together women leaders and their allies to tackle the world’s greatest challenges.

Mission

Vital Voices invests in women leaders taking on the world’s greatest challenges and accelerates collective action towards an equitable and sustainable world.

Organizational Goals 2030

Scale our proven investment model from 20,000 to 50,000 women leaders - who together will positively impact the lives of one billion people.

Make a measurable impact on 1-2 of the greatest challenges as defined by the Vital Voices Global Network - proving the power of collective action.

Summary

The Program Manager, Issue Advocacy will work directly under the supervision and guidance of the Vice President, GBV Advocacy. This position will be responsible for leading the implementation of in person and virtual fellowship programs, serving as a subject matter expert in key focus areas, and building partnerships with adjacent organizations and donors. This position is based in Washington, DC with the option of a hybrid work schedule. We are not accepting remote candidates at this time.

Additional responsibilities include:

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Program Management:

Lead implementation of in-person and virtual fellowship programs and initiatives on the Issue Advocacy team and in conjunction with Vital Voices Global Fellowship.

Manage programming for women political leaders, including supporting the creation and implementation of strategies to engage and support a group of political programming alumni. Topics include leadership and skills development, networking, mentorship, and advocacy and visibility opportunities.

Manage fellowship design and implementation including participant recruitment, selection, cohort announcement launch, and ongoing management of fellows.

Assist in the identification of programmatic trainers; assist in onboarding and training of facilitators.

Draft program budgets, update forecasts, and track budget actuals.

Work with MERL team to evaluate and communicate program impact to include report writing and content drafting as needed. Use lessons learned from surveys and evaluations to guide program design.

Issue Advocacy and Issue Expertise:

Support the Issue Advocacy team to develop advocacy campaigns and strategy. Work collaboratively across departments and with external partners to facilitate the sharing subject matter expertise on key global issues such as Women, Peace & Security and the SDGs.

Engage in conversations across the Vital Voices’ Global Network to strengthen the power of collective action.

Strategically partner with adjacent organizations working towards shared goals, sharing information, research and best practices.

Maintain knowledge around the issues affecting women in politics and principles of women, peace and security – this includes an understanding of varying political systems and social-contexts that encourage and impede women’s political participation.

Team Management:

Directly support and manage the Issue Advocacy Program Coordinator and VVGF Program Assistant.

Work with cross-department matrix teams; lead team meetings and track team progress towards project goals and milestones.

Contribute to team’s strategic planning.

Relationship Management:

Build relationships with program participants, trainers, and partners, including building trust and developing relationships with individuals from many different backgrounds and contexts.

Partner with political leaders leading the charge surrounding WPS & the SDGs to advocate for policy changes and implementation strategies aimed at advancing gender equality, peace, and sustainable development on a global scale.

Business Development:

Work with the development team and project strategic leads on proposal and budget development for new and continued funding.

Grant Management:

Support U.S. Government funded grant implementation including managing subawards throughout the full lifecycle of an award including soliciting proposals, reviewing proposals and budgets, selecting sub-grantees, reviewing grantee reports, drafting reporting to USG funder, and maintaining project data.

DE&I Commitment: Embrace and model the Vital Voices guiding principles, values, investment, and leadership models with the goal of supporting Vital Voices’ organization culture and success.

Other duties as assigned.

Professional Qualifications:

Bachelor’s degree in international relations or a related field, plus 4-8 years of relevant work experience required;

Strong demonstrated experience in global women’s issues, women’s political participation, and human rights;

Subject matter expertise surrounding Women, Peace & Security globally

Demonstrated experience implementing programs aimed at advancing SDGs

Excellent oral and written communications skills in English;

Ability to prioritize tasks, swiftly shift priorities, and work in a dynamic environment with tight deadlines;

Ability to work independently and as part of a dynamic team;

Strong computer skills including MS Office applications (esp. Excel, Word, and PowerPoint), social networking tools, and database software (i.e., Salesforce).

Experience working cross-functionally to support key objectives and to help team members

This position is a full-time exempt hybrid position based in Washington, DC with two days of required in person attendance at the Vital Voices Headquarters. If and when it is safe to travel, domestic and international travel up to 15% may be required for the position.

The starting salary range for this position is $78,564 - $116,570 based on experience and ability to have broad impact early.

Benefits:

At Vital Voices, we value our employees and their well-being. That's why we offer a competitive and comprehensive compensation package that includes medical, dental, and vision insurance, 401k match, short and long-term disability, life insurance, HSA, EAP, and more. But that's not all. We believe in giving our employees the flexibility and support they need to thrive in their work and life. That's why we provide generous PTO including wellness flex Fridays, parental leave, earned sabbatical time, and volunteer leave as well as a professional development stipend to support continuous improvement. Join us and be part of a global team that empowers women leaders to transform the world.

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Vital Voices provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, or genetics. In addition to federal law requirements, Vital Voices complies with applicable state and local laws governing nondiscrimination in employment in every location in which the company has facilities. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training.

Vital Voices expressly prohibits any form of workplace harassment based on race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, genetic information, disability, or veteran status. Improper interference with the ability of Vital Voices’ employees to perform their job duties may result in discipline up to and including discharge.

Staff may experience secondary trauma due to exposure to descriptive and/or graphic gender-based violence content in their work on the urgent assistance program. Vital Voices does not provide work visa sponsorship or relocation assistance for this position.

Applications will be accepted and reviewed on a rolling basis until the position is filled. Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.