Program Advisor – Girls First Fund (Nepal)

Organization

 Geneva Global

Closing date
29 Feb 2020

Program Advisor – Girls First Fund

Consultancy Overview

Title: Program Advisor

Organization: Geneva Global, Inc.

Term: 6 months

Location of consultancy: Nepal

Status: Part-time, consultant (approximately 20 hours/week)

Introduction

Geneva Global seeks a part-time consultant to act as a Program Advisor in the management of
the Girls First Fund’s grantmaking services and related activities in Nepal. Geneva Global is a
social enterprise that provides a full range of advice and services to help individuals,
foundations, corporations, and nonprofits in their social change initiatives. Geneva Global is
providing services to the Girls’ First Fund, a pooled philanthropic fund that seeks to expand
resources to community-based organizations, particularly women- and girl-centered and -led
organizations that are working to comprehensively prevent and respond to child marriage.

The Girls First Fund puts girls, families, and their communities first and champions community-
led efforts to end child marriage. The Fund’s primary vision is, “to realize a world in which
every girl has access to the information, services, resources, skills, and support necessary to
decide when, if, and whom to marry in order to live a healthy and equal life and to achieve her
full potential.” In 2019, the Girls First Fund identified and funded an inaugural cohort of 28
organizations in Nepal.

The Program Advisor will work closely with other Geneva Global team members, Girls First
Fund stakeholders, and an existing in-country Program Advisor to ensure that the values and
guiding principles of the Fund inform its country activities and practices. Through the Girls First
Fund, the Program Advisor will partner with a portfolio of community-based organizations and
locally-focused national organizations, supporting them to implement and manage their own
context-specific approaches, solutions, and innovations to address child marriage. The Fund is
committed to being community-driven, transparent, and collaborative, utilizing grantmaking
practices that are gender transformative and adhere to the highest standards of child safeguarding
and protection. Therefore, it is necessary that the Program Advisor’s work and behavior be
guided by such principles.

The Program Advisor consultant will be an independent contractor to Geneva Global and not an
employee of the company. The consultant is not eligible for any employee-related benefits,
plans, or programs of Geneva Global. This is a 6-month, national consulting post – with potential
for extension based on programmatic needs.

Overview of Consultancy

Key Deliverables

Fund implementation

 Inform the Girls First Fund’s understanding of the changing context, country-specific
trends, and challenges related to child marriage and grantmaking.
 Ensure that the values and guiding principles of the Girls First Fund are adhered to
through the Fund’s grantmaking activities.
 Identify and build relationships with a diverse range of stakeholders including, but not
limited to: CBOs, NGOs, INGOs, other donor agencies, government officials, and
existing networks to establish support for the Girls First Fund, and develop linkages that
foster complimentary, versus duplicative, activities.
 Attend relevant local and national events, as needed.
 Support in-country expansion process by providing feedback on in-country strategy,
mentorship related to the grant renewal process, as well as future RFP and application
processes.

Grantee identification and portfolio management

 Act as the main point of contact for 10-12 grantee partners.

 Monitor and support 10-12 grantee partners by reviewing reports, providing mentoring
support and feedback, and conducting site visits.
 Support in-country dissemination of future Girls First Fund funding opportunities, as
needed.
 Accompany a selected number of applicants through future application or grant renewal
processes by providing technical assistance and support.
 Review a selected number of application materials and support the shortlisting, vetting,
and selection of new grantees by providing contextual and technical input.
 Lead the in-country due diligence process for a selected number of applicants, including
conducting field visits, as needed.

Learning
  Conduct field visits to 10-12 grantees to understand project progress and learnings and to
gather feedback on the Girls First Fund's Theory of Change, learning agenda, and country
strategy.
 Actively solicit input from grantees and other stakeholders to help shape the fund’s
future, as needed.
 Write site visits reports based on visits to 10-12 grantee partners.
 Facilitate the dissemination of lessons learned and best practices between grantees in-
country.
 Support the planning and logistics of site visits and workshops and convenings organized
for grantee partners.
 Disseminate learning, capacity building, and professional development opportunities to
grantees.

Technical assistance and capacity building

 Provide informal capacity building support to 10-12 grantees in areas such as

organizational development, financial management, and best practices in addressing child
marriage, when requested.
 Provide assistance to 10-12 grantees to ensure completion of reporting materials.
 Work alongside the existing Program Advisor to develop and write a portfolio-level
capacity building plan.
 Assist with the development of scopes of work for in-country capacity building
providers.

Other

 Contribute to and coordinate special projects in-country, as requested.

 Work in partnership by collaborating regularly with an existing, in-country Program
Advisor.
 Communicate regularly with the Girls First Fund team in the U.S.
 Participate in Girls First Fund/Geneva Global meetings, as needed.
 Complete additional assignments, as requested.

Qualifications

 Minimum 5-7 years of experience in project management/coordination and community

development in Nepal.
 A passion for the Fund’s work, including a commitment to community-led development,
gender equality, and grassroots movement building.
 Master’s degree in social sciences or other relevant subject.
 Knowledge and experience working on initiatives to address child marriage required;
experience in addressing other key areas such as gender inequality, gender-based
violence, right to education and sexual and reproductive health is an asset.
 Experience working on human rights issues - particularly women, youth and minority
rights - through a human rights and gender transformative approach is preferred.
  Experience supporting a learning community of grantees to encourage networking,
capacity building, and collaboration is preferred.
 Grantmaking experience on behalf of international organizations to local community-
based organizations through a grantee-centric approach.
 Experience monitoring and evaluating grants and programs, including data collection,
data management, and financial monitoring.
 Experience working with girls, families, and communities in a highly sensitive
environment.
 Willingness to travel up to 75% of part-time hours, including to remote areas of the
country.
 Candidates should be legally authorized to work in Nepali.

Skills

 Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English and Nepali is required.
 Proficient written and verbal communication in at least one additional local language is
desirable.
 Proficiency with Microsoft office tools (especially Word and Excel) and experience with
grant management databases is preferred.
 Strong group facilitation, presentation, and organizing skills.
 Detail oriented with the ability to manage and track data and deadlines across multiple
grantees.
 Strong problem-solving, analytical, and organizational skills.
 Ability to work independently, collaboratively, and manage multiple deadlines as part of
a remote team.
 Ability to contribute to and lead in the development and set-up of programs, systems, and
processes.
 Proven experience working effectively in a cross-cultural team.
 Flexible and willing to perform other tasks as assigned, in a fast-paced work
environment.
 Self-starter and proactive.

How to apply

Interested applicants should upload a cover letter, CV (including names and contact information
for three references), and two writing samples in English (two to five pages each; excerpts from
longer documents accepted) here.

Applications will be accepted and reviewed on a rolling basis until the position is filled.

Geneva Global and the Girls First Fund are committed to diversity and encourage individuals to
apply for this consultancy who are of underrepresented backgrounds including, for example,
gender identity, race, religion, and sexual orientation. Due to the volume of inquiries, only
candidates for consideration will be contacted. Regrettably we will not accept phone calls.
Country

 Nepal

City

 Kathmandu

Organization

 Geneva Global

Type

 Consultancy

Career Category

 Program/Project Management

Years of experience

 5-9 years

Theme

 Protection and Human Rights

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