Head of Impact at Girl Effect

Context of the role 

You will lead the Impact function, Girl Effect’s global multi-disciplinary team of technical experts who ensure that we design safe and impactful programmes, and measure and understand this impact. It includes experts in monitoring, evaluation, research and learning (MERL), girl-centred programming, social and behaviour change communication, youth participation, gender and safeguarding. Impact is responsible for our overall technical approaches in these areas; for advising our country teams; and for promoting cross-country learning. It ensures a strong focus on impact across the programme life cycle: from conception through to implementation, adaptation and optimisation, all the way through to ensuring that results and learning are meaningfully communicated within Girl Effect and the wider sector. The Impact team works closely with the Programmes and Create functions and supports the Revenue and Storytelling team to cultivate new partnerships and communicate our evidence effectively. 

This is an exciting opportunity to shape Girl Effect’s strategic approach across a number of areas, including the design and piloting of our approach to delivering social behavior change communication(SBCC) through girls’ interpersonal networks/communities; continuing to develop our pioneering work delivering SBCC and evidence approaches through digital platforms (e.g. our digital-only brand in India, Chhaa Jaa); and strengthening youth participation both in our programming and organisational governance. 

We are partway through  a major transition: shifting from a global headquarters in London to a more distributed and diverse team across a network of hub offices, with greater leadership and representation in the global south. The Head of Impact will play a key role in leading the global Impact team through this transition. 

What you will do

Organisational-level:

• Contributing technical knowledge and strategic thinking to the development and application of Girl Effect’s strategy 
• Supporting the Revenue and Storytelling team with the identification, cultivation and acquisition of new programme and partnership opportunities, including inputs to programme design and proposal development
• Representing Girl Effect and the Impact function specifically on the Executive team, to the Girl Effect Board, with external partners, and on a variety of external platforms
• Promoting the values and culture of the organisation

Impact function: 

• Overall strategic direction for the Impact function, including priority learning questions and technical areas for development and strengthening, and Girl Effect’s overall Theory of Change. 
• Manage the following teams, ensuring they are delivering against organisational priorities to high standards: Evidence & Insights (including our Technology Enabled Girl Ambassadors (TEGA team); Gender, SBC and Safeguarding
• Ensuring optimal integration and coordination across these teams and the organisation’s other functions, with clear roles and responsibilities, shared ways of working, and effective communication.  
• Cultivating areas of thought leadership within the Impact team, to drive excellence in Girl Effect and the wider sector. This includes promoting external publications and knowledge sharing. 
• Ensuring that timely and high quality results data and insights, and safeguarding updates, are available for the Girl Effect Board and key internal and external stakeholders (including the Marcomms team, funders and other partners) 
• Coordinating closely with the Programmes and Create teams to ensure programmes are provided with the requisite technical support (expert advice, tools, templates) such that they are delivered on time, to high quality, in accordance with policies and plans
• Oversight of the Impact function budget: setting budgets across teams, monitoring expenditure, regular reforecasts etc.
• Identifying, allocating and prioritising resources (human, technical, financial) across the global Impact team
• Build strategic partnerships with relevant experts and institutional partners such as universities
• Stewarding Girl Effect’s safeguarding approach and policy

Who you are

Values and qualities

• You are passionately committed to inspiring and supporting adolescent girls to achieve positive outcomes, and to gender equality 
• Committed to supporting the meaningful participation of young people in our work

Leadership

• Extensive experience in leading multi-disciplinary teams across a variety of geographies and cultural contexts
• Adept at influencing at multiple levels, securing support at different levels of the organisation (from team members to chair of our Board)
• Skilled at aligning resources against competing demands, and resolving tensions 
• Leading teams through change: including starting new programmes whilst finishing others, and leading the global team through the transition to a dispersed and diverse network of hubs

Technical 

• You have a strong appreciation of the key elements and processes required in the strategic design and implementation of SBCC programmes to achieve measurable behaviour change, with relevant target audiences 
• You have strong theoretical knowledge and practical experience of applying a wide range of MERL approaches, including qualitative and quantitative methods
• You have a strong theoretical and applied understanding of how gender and social norms influence both the lives of our audiences, and how gender responsive and transformative approaches could be applied to our work
• You are curious about – and ideally have experience of – the application of digital and mobile technologies for social and behaviour change 
• You have extensive technical expertise in at least one of Girl Effect’s priority outcome areas (sexual and reproductive health, nutrition, vaccines, engagement with education, economic readiness)
• Adaptive programming and/or human centred design: you have experience in innovative approaches to programming, including developing new approaches/frameworks for driving change
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills 
• Experience in developing and/or strengthening safeguarding policies and practices at an organisational level is desirable

Minimum experience required

• Post-grad degree(s) in social sciences; monitoring, evaluation, research and learning (MERL); public/global health, international development, gender or a related field.
• 10 to 15 years of relevant experience in public health or international development
• Exceptional communicator; both written and verbal
• Experience working in international development or non-profit sector is an added advantage