Associate Director, Policy, Partnerships and Engagement, GIRL Center at Population Council

POSITION SUMMARY:

• The Population Council’s Girl Innovation, Research, and Learning (GIRL) Center is seeking a dynamic and strategic thinker who is passionate about adolescent focused evidence-based policy and programs to lead our research impact work. The GIRL Center is a cross-cutting research hub that brings together today’s leading scholars in adolescence to generate, synthesize, and translate evidence effectively for decision-making. The Center envisions a gender-equitable world where girls and boys make a healthy and safe transition into adulthood and reach their full potential. We contribute to this vision by: 1) generating evidence on adolescence, 2) convening key stakeholders and communicating evidence to drive evidence-based policy and practice and 3) growing current and future talent and networks of adolescent researchers and scholars.
• The Associate Director, Policy, Partnerships and Engagement, GIRL Center will be part of the Center’s Core Management and Operations Team, which consists of the Director, Manager, and Coordinator, and she/he/they will be responsible for global and regional policy, partnerships and engagement, using the work of the Center for grow our networks and impact. This is a new and exciting role responsible for growing the Center’s sphere of influence by ensuring stakeholders, in particular at regional and global levels, infuse data and evidence into programs, policies, practice, and investments with the goal of improving outcomes for girls. The Associate Director, Policy, Partnerships and Engagement will lead the development of a partnerships strategy to identify key stakeholders and initiatives globally and in regional hubs and countries with Council presence as well as execute that strategy by collaborating with Regional Hub leads to identify and participate in a diverse range of engagement opportunities. They will also be responsible for reviewing and strengthening existing global and regional communication channels and collaborating with the Council’s Communications Team to ensure impactful and relevant dissemination of scientific content to a range of global and regional audiences. They will lead event management by setting the agenda, drafting the run of show, identifying and engaging with speakers, and speaking at events on behalf of the Center. They will also be responsible for synthesizing evidence from drafting blogs to evidence briefs. This is a dynamic role which will involve shifting between external and internal facing activities, operating across multiple modalities.
• The candidate for the Associate Director, Policy, Partnerships and Engagement will be a highly strategic and engaging leader who can represent the Center’s mission, activities, and products to an array of external and internal stakeholders across different professional domains. They should bring a passion for utilizing data and science to influence global, regional and national dialogues and investment in health, education and social policies for adolescents, especially girls. Successful candidates will bring previous experience in building and maintaining partnerships within a key development setting, proven external representations including on the policy implications of science, relations and communication skills, and a commitment to working with a diverse, global team.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

Responsibilities include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Engagement, Partnerships, and Policy Strategy: Develop and lead the execution of engagement, communications and partnerships strategies. This will include collaboration with the Center’s Core Management Team, Global Education Team, and Regional Hub Leads to determine goals, priorities, and indicators of success and identify key stakeholders/audiences at regional, national, and/or subnational levels across target regions and countries. Depending on the initial assessment, there may be multiple strategies (for example, a global Center strategy, a global education strategy, regional strategies). Guide project-specific communication and partnership plans. This role will also engage strategically with researcher collaborating with the Center to sure that research questions are policy-relevant, shaping our evidence generation to be responsive to expressed needs of key stakeholders.
• Strategic Collaboration: Develop and maintain key external partnerships for the GIRL Center. This will involve leadership and participation in coalitions and networks, as well as one-on-one relationships. In addition, serve in an advisory capacity for policy and program development as appropriate and represent the GIRL Center and Population Council with other national, regional and international organizations.
• Convenings: Lead, organize, and/or participate in strategic convening opportunities for the GIRL Center and Global Education Team. Prepare presentations and talking points. Lead and/or represent the Center at individual and small group private meetings with policy-makers, practitioners, advocates, and donors. Lead event management by setting the agenda, drafting the run of show, identifying and engaging with speakers, and speaking at events.
• Capacity Strengthening: Advise or support Regional Hub leads and Council researchers and colleagues on effective ways to build partnerships and translate evidence to meet the various needs of specific stakeholders.
• Research Communication and Evidence Promotion: Determine and execute effective methods of research translation and communication using existing or new communication channels, including social media. Produce briefs and blogs based on technical and research reports and publications to target policy-makers, practitioners, and donors.
• Resource Mobilization: Provide input into proposal writing and fundraising, including by developing and maintaining key donor relationships

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE:

We understand that there are many paths to acquiring expertise and experience and strong candidates may not have every qualification listed here. We encourage applications from individuals with diverse and/or nontraditional backgrounds who bring passion, skills, and experience in many or most of these areas.

• Master’s degree or PhD in public policy, journalism, communications, education, public health, international relations, or another related field required.
• At least 10+ (with Masters) or 6+ (with Phd) years of experience in evidence promotion, evidence-based advocacy and research communication, developing and implementing communications and partnerships strategies to build an organization’s influence and impact; internal and external representation; and enhance positioning, brand, and reputation, preferably with an international non-profit organization, research/academic institution, or think tank.
• Demonstrated experience building and maintaining strategic relationships and partnerships in the international development field, preferably related to adolescents, education and/or gender, at country, regional and global levels.
• Strong command of and demonstrated experience communicating evidence to a wide range of stakeholders either by high-level presentations, engaging in evidence-based advocacy, producing evidence briefs presentations, social media and/or blogs, and one-on-one relationships building.
• Exceptional English-language written, oral, interpersonal and presentation skills and the ability to effectively interface with a broad range of constituents, including Board of Trustees, senior management, multidisciplinary scientists, policymakers, practitioners, advocates, and donors. Proficiency in other Council languages (i.e. French, Spanish, etc.) a plus.
• Expertise utilizing digital and social media technologies to expand, engage, and influence both scientific and general audiences.
• Proven ability to work with and across diverse contexts and cultures, to collaborate with both multidisciplinary scientists and non-researcher stakeholders, and to work independently and within a complex, internatonal organization.
• Finely-tuned organizational skills, including ability to manage multiple initiatives effectively and efficiently and work in a fast-paced, evolving environment.
• Commitment to improving the health and wellbeing of adolescents in low- and middle-income countries.
• Ability to travel internationally and attend in-person or remote meetings across multiple time zones.