Senior Manager, Gender, FP2030 - United Nations Foundation

Position Overview

Family Planning 2030 (FP2030) is a global partnership of governments, civil society, multilateral organizations, donors, private sector partners, and researchers committed to supporting the rights of women and girls who wish to use contraception. Our vision is a future where women and girls everywhere have the freedom and ability to lead healthy lives, make their own informed decisions about using contraception and having children, and participate as equals in society and its development.

The FP2030 Support Network consists of five hosted regional hubs: North, West and Central Africa; East and Southern Africa; Asia and the Pacific; and Latin America and the Caribbean, and North America and Europe. The FP2030 Support Network is led by an Executive Director, supported by an Executive Directorate team, who reports to the Governing Board. Each Regional Hub is headed by a Managing Director supported by a small team and hosted by an NGO within the region.

The FP2030 Support Network is hosted by the United Nations Foundation (UNF), which hosts the North America and Europe Hub (NAE) and the Executive Directorate team.

The Senior Manager, Gender will direct gender mainstreaming for the FP2030 Support Network, including both strategic and technical advice for gender integration across the FP2030 Support Network and guidance for policies and processes that further the organization’s commitment to gender equality.

FP2030 seeks to build on the strengths of FP2020 while improving attention to equity, inclusion, and mutual accountability, among other principles. An FP2030 gender strategy is essential to this next phase, to underscore the centrality of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) to the gender equality agenda, integrate a gender lens within its own structure and processes, and encourage and equip commitment makers to improve their approaches to gender integration to advance both SRHR outcomes and gender equality. This strategy aligns FP2030 with global trends supporting gender equality, and helps stakeholders apply existing gender expertise and acquired knowledge to new investments in FP, ultimately boosting their impact.

FP2030’s gender strategy is grounded in three strategic priorities:
1. Reframing FP2030’s work toward a focus on reproductive power;
2. Engaging local women-led and youth-led organizations explicitly working toward gender equality and promoting regional gender experts; and
3. Channeling resources into gender transformative programming.

The Senior Manager, Gender will serve as a focal point for facilitating the integration of gender considerations into commitments, programs, budgets, training, monitoring and evaluation, and other learning activities and a resource person for FP2030 Support Network on gender equality, gender mainstreaming and women empowerment, consistent with operationalizing a rights-based approach to family planning and in support of the universal health coverage agenda. They will also work in close collaboration with FP2030 directors and external partners to support and coordinate FP2030’s engagement in the Generation Equality platform.

This position is based in Washington, D.C. 

Essential Functions

Improve technical leadership and knowledge management:

• Work collaboratively  within the FP2030 Support Network and with partners to increase understanding of and promote solutions to critical gender gaps or barriers hindering progress towards reproductive power for women, girls and couples, including those affected by crises.  Gender barriers operate at multiple levels (e.g., individual, couple, service provision, community) and include, but are not limited to, those related to gender norms, inequalities in access to opportunities based on sex and gender, gender-based violence and harmful traditional practices. 
• In collaboration with FP2030 colleagues and across thematic areas, drive implementation of FP2030’s gender strategy, including supporting FP2030 regional hubs to use findings from gender analyses (existing or new) to integrate gender in their workplans and activities.
• Provide technical support on FP-related gender analysis, gender integration into programs, and gender related monitoring and evaluation, for FP2030 regional hubs and commitment making countries, as requested.
• Work collaboratively with the Data and Measurement team to move the family planning field toward gender-responsive and rights-based measures of success, including improved indicators for and measurement of reproductive agency and power.
• Work closely with regional hub staff who support utilization and implementation of the High Impact Practices in Family Planning and other evidence-based approaches to ensure integration of gender considerations.
• Develop FP2030’s thought leadership on gender equality and gender transformative approaches to sexual and reproductive health and rights through participation in conferences and events and publication of articles and reports.

Improve capacity on gender integration:

• Build expertise on gender integration among FP2030 staff, focal points and more broadly within the FP2030 Support Network by developing and guiding a gender focal points structure across hubs and teams
• Plan, implement, and periodically assess gender capacity building across ensuring that staff across hubs understand and can apply programmatic gender integration principles.
• Spearhead gender capacity building and knowledge sharing among partners, including coordinating cross regional learning exchanges and dissemination of good practices on gender transformative approaches, gender equality, women’s empowerment, and rights.

Improve coordination and partnerships:

• Identify points for strategic engagement for FP2030 within global dialogues related to gender equality, gender integration and women’s and girls’ empowerment.
• Maintain active relationships/partnerships with FP2030 regional hubs, countries, donors, civil society, and institutes working on gender issues to enhance collaboration, resource mobilization and influence agenda and priority setting.
• Support FP2030 commitment makers to align their activities in support of Generation Equality efforts as outlined in Global Acceleration Plan for Gender Equality.
• Identify nongovernmental stakeholders in the gender/women’s rights sector to mobilize commitments in support of the 2030 partnership, with support from the Global Initiatives Team.

Strengthen advocacy and civil society engagement:

• Lead dialogue among key stakeholders to ensure the development of an advocacy strategy and related messages to promote gender integration and gender equality in FP/SRHR programs.
• Support global advocacy and strengthen alliances with women rights advocacy coalitions and other stakeholders. 
• Support advocacy efforts to advance the gender equality agenda in FP/SRHR programming at the country and regional levels and ensure the work is in alignment with FP2030 vision and measurement frameworks.
• Respond to requests for gender advocacy technical assistance and contribute to the drafting of relevant advocacy and country CSO support products.

Improve external relations and communications:

• Develop and distribute tailored policy information, and talking points on gender and FP concepts in collaboration with the FP2030 Communications Director,
• In collaboration with the Communications team, organize webinars and/or other knowledge platforms for countries to share best practices, experiences, challenges, and/or requests for assistance.

Improve programmatic coordination:

• Partner with consultants and oversee gender technical staff, as needed
• Develop a workplan and budget to advance the work; ensure optimal allocation of resources, proper documentation, tracking, and monitoring of all relevant portfolio activities with other relevant grants administration, finance, and development staff.
• Support resource mobilization and the solicitation of business development opportunities to support gender integration
• Support the integration of gender capacity within job descriptions and gender responsive hiring practices across teams and hubs
• Collaborate with relevant staff on a case-by-case basis, all relevant contracts/contractors and solicit proposals for additional work, as needed.
• Set and monitor progress toward gender integration benchmarks
• Report on relevant activities to FP2030 funders and senior leadership on an ongoing basis.
• Other duties as assigned.

Selection Criteria

• Bachelors degree required.Master’s degree preferred or a minimum of 10 years of relevant technical experience with bachelor's degree.
• 7-9 years of professional experience in an international reproductive health/family planning.
• Strong understanding/experience with gender mainstreaming, gender integration, women’s rights, or women empowerment within the context of global health, preferably with family planning.
• Proven project management expertise.
• Experience working with multi-stakeholder partnerships including donors, multi-lateral agencies, developing countries and civil society organizations.
• Proven record of coordinating development partners and managing effective mechanisms for monitoring and reporting at global, regional, and country levels.
• Ability to think strategically and drive project implementation.
• Ability to work in a complex and fast-paced environment and manage multiple work streams.
• Exceptional interpersonal skills and cultural competencies.
• Excellent writing, editing, presentation, communications, and research capabilities.
• Strong spoken, analytical, and writing skills with advanced knowledge of and proficiency in the MS Office Suite (Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint).
• Ability to travel domestically and internationally as needed.

Benefits & Compensation 

For full-time, U.S. benefit eligible employees, UNF offers an excellent range of benefits, including:

• a choice between two health plans through UnitedHealthcare (PPO or HDHP with HSA)
• dental insurance
• vision insurance
• flexible spending accounts
• 403b retirement savings plan with a generous matching contribution
• group term and supplemental life insurance
• short-term disability
• long-term disability
• health club discounts
• commuter subsidy
• back-up care
• employee assistance program

Additionally, all benefit eligible employees have 12 paid holidays, 20 vacation days, 10 sick days, 3 personal days, and 8 weeks of family leave care.