About The Girls First Fund

The Girls First Fund (GFF) is a donor collaborative supported by leading philanthropic organizations and individual philanthropists who have come together to champion community-led efforts so that all girls can live free from child marriage and create their own future. We focus on girls, families, and communities because we believe they are in the best position to create lasting, local change and address the causes of child marriage at their roots.

Through our Funding Plus (funding+) model, we provide core, flexible and long-term grants to community- based organizations in the global South. In addition, we ensure that our partners are connected to each other for peer-to-peer learnings and exchange and facilitate access to accompaniment and technical assistance. We currently resource partners in the Dominican Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, India, Nepal, Niger, and Uganda while also expanding to more geographies such as Guatemala.

Position Details

The Guatemala Program Advisor will work closely with other GFF team members and stakeholders to ensure that the values and guiding principles of the Fund inform its in-country activities and practices. Through the Girls First Fund, the Program Advisor will work alongside selected community-based organizations and locally focused national organizations, supporting them to design and implement their own context-specific approaches, solutions, and innovations to address child marriage. The Program Advisor acts as the primary point of contact for the GFF in-country.

Responsibilities

Fund Implementation  

• Inform the Girls First Fund’s understanding of the changing context, country specific trends, and challenges related to child marriage and grantmaking.  
• Identify and build relationships with a diverse range of in-country stakeholders and strategic partners to establish support for the Girls First Fund program and develop linkages that foster complimentary activities and learning.  
• Attend relevant local and national-level meetings, organize local events and meetings for a diverse range of participants as well as and lead site visits for the Girls First Fund program and stakeholders.  
• Host/attend in-country meetings with Girls First Fund funders and potential funders. 

Grantee support and active portfolio management 

• Act as the primary point of contact for grantee partners, providing timely, informal mentorship, insight, and helping to troubleshoot challenges as they arise.  
• Monitor grants through reviewing reports, conducting site visits, and attending meetings and immediately communicate any concerns or ‘red flags’ identified related to grantee partner implementation or conduct.  
• Support in-country dissemination of Girls First Fund funding opportunities, when applicable.  
• Identify potential new grantee partners, including advocacy partners, that might be eligible to receive support from the fund. 
• Accompany applicants through the application process by providing technical assistance and support, when requested.  
• Review application materials and support the shortlisting, vetting, and selection of new grantee partners, by providing contextual and technical input. This process could include organizing and managing an in-country review panel.  
• Support the in-country due diligence process, as needed as well as coordinate, and ensure submission of grantee reporting materials and any other documentation required. 
• Organize, facilitate, and coordinate in-country grantee partner convenings and workshops. 

Learning 

• Conduct site visits to or virtual meetings with grantee partners to understand project progress and learning. This will include approximately 1 visit per grantee partner during the grant year. 
• Submit timely and complete site visit reports to Program Counterpart at GFF’s HQ.  
• Review minimum standards and other relevant documents with grantees during site visits. 
• Disseminate learning and external funding opportunities to grantees, as applicable.  
• Facilitate the dissemination of lessons learned and best practices between grantees in-country, and document and share this information with Program Advisors based in other countries and HQ team members.  
• Support next steps in-country related to GFF’s MEL strategy. This may include providing input into an external evaluation and data collection.  
• Contribute to and coordinate special projects in-country, including research projects and learning events.  

Technical assistance and capacity building  

• Implement an approved monitoring and accompaniment plan for the relevant country in collaboration with HQ counterpart.  
• Identify technical assistance providers related to the approved mentoring and accompaniment plan, conduct due diligence, manage relationships/contracts and connect to in-country resources.

Other  

• Communicate regularly with HQ counterpart about any relevant developments in-country and its impact on the Program Advisor’s workplan as well as grantees’ work, communities, girls, and women. This may include supporting grantees to provide community-level data through occasional surveys. 
• Collaborate with other GFF consultants in-country, as needed.
• Provide regular and timely information about workplan and potential travel plans with HQ counterpart.  
• Share stories and photos with relevant HQ counterparts and Sr. Communications Officer about grantee highlights, lessons learnt, case studies, and successes. 
• Support the identification of other in-country consultants, as needed. 
• Complete additional assignments, as requested. 

Strategy and planning  

• Provide input into strategic planning processes for the Fund.  
• Provide strategic thinking related to in-country/technical panels, if relevant to country, that support grantee selection and decision-making.  
• Support the development of grantmaking processes and tools, ensuring that they are accessible to community-based organizations. 

Organizational Culture

• Ensure that the values and guiding principles of the Girls First Fund are adhered to through the fund’s grantmaking activities. 
• Commitment to The Girls First Fund Safeguarding policy and principals.
• Ability to work across team with colleagues around the world.
• Participate in Girls First Fund team meetings and workshops. 

Knowledge and Experience

Essential

• Experience with supporting grantees
• Experience coordinating learning processes with community-based organizations and local non- governmental organizations on gender and/or girls’ rights focused programming in low and middle-income countries required.
• Strong writing skills
• Demonstrated ability to work independently and in advising senior leadership on Country strategy.
• In-depth topical knowledge of girls’ rights, especially related to child, early and forced marriage and early unions, as well as the fund’s other priority areas (education, sexual and reproductive health and rights, social norms change, and girls’ leadership)
• English and Spanish fluency is required as well as proficiency in at least one other language spoken in the communities where our partners operate.
• Strong interpersonal skills, including ability to communicate openly in a team environment with multiple constituencies and audiences, and the ability to build relationships of trust and a commitment to their value.
• Strong judgment and discretion in dealing with sensitive information.

Desired

• Strong facilitation skills and experience working with donor collaboratives preferred.
• Experience using multiple database platforms and familiarity with Microsoft system.
• Bachelor’s degree and/or minimum 8 years of program management experience (preferably non- profit and gender justice)
• Demonstrated commitment to racial, social, and economic justice, and willingness to be in deep practice (living our values) toward creating an equitable world with an awareness of how structural issues affect our work together.
• Both a strong orientation toward collaboration and capacity to drive work independently and think creatively
• Ability to set clear and measurable goals while holding space for emergence, experimentation, and group processes.
• Project management and organizational skills – and attention to detail where required.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities and work gracefully under pressure.
• Ability to be flexible, creative, welcome uncertainty, take the initiative, juggle different types of activity, and adapt to circumstances.
• Outstanding interpersonal skills, with the ability to build strong relationships with a variety of stakeholders across cultures and geographies.

Background

This role is fully virtual and will require some in-country as well as international travel. The Girls First Fund offers a competitive and comprehensive compensation and benefits package which may be used for healthcare, wellbeing, and professional development. Must be willing to be available for events and meetings in Eastern Standard Time when necessary.

The Girls First Fund is a project of Capital for Good, a US 501 c3. We are committed to equity, diversity, and inclusion. With our commitment to ensure diverse representation, we strongly encourage applications from women, people of color, people with disabilities, and members of the LGBTQIA+ community. The Girls First Fund is also committed to the safeguarding of our team members, partners and those populations which we support.

How to Apply

Interested applicants should upload a CV/Resume, Cover Letter, two writing samples in English (2-5 pages each), and three professional references with their contact details here.

Please note that due to the high number of applications we receive, we are only able to respond directly to candidates with whom we wish to move forward in the interview process.