IFMR - Lead - Policy & Advocacy

- A motivated Policy and Advocacy Lead is sought to identify the policy priorities that are critical to
achieving the vision of the Initiative and lead all policy linkages and contribute to partnerships-related activities under IWWAGE.

- S/he will ensure that the intended policy and the programmatic audience are engaged and utilise the research evidence generated.

- S/he will be responsible for engaging the GoI, regulators, and other stakeholders on policies that will enable women's economic empowerment to reach scale, thus advancing India's WEE agenda.

- The Policy and Advocacy Lead will use a range of policy engagement and communication tools to engage the relevant stakeholders (policymakers, private sector players, international organisations, donors etc.) through working groups, policy dialogues, and one-on-one meetings among others using traditional and online communication channels.

- This position will closely work with government and private research agencies, think tanks, financial institutions, technology firms, and women collectives or groups, to gather information about and keep track of key policy matters that need to be addressed, modified, and added to the existing policies and regulations to create an enabling environment to achieve the objectives of the initiative.

- S/he will also support the evidence team in developing policy-related reports, formulating policy recommendations from research findings, and producing other support documents such as policy briefs, fact sheets and evidence briefs. S/he is required to mentor junior colleagues for attaining expertise in developing brief notes, factsheets and short outputs.

- The ideal candidate should have experience in managing policy-related working groups, facilitating policy dialogues and developing strategic partnerships with policymaking bodies.

- The candidate will be responsible for managing the team comprising of advocacy and communication specialists. The Policy Lead is expected to work in close coordination with the other verticals within IWWAGE.

Key Responsibilities :

- Actively collaborate to create and execute the strategic policy plan for IWWAGE

- Develop key relationships in the women's economic empowerment sector with governments, industries, civil society organisations, think tanks, the private sector etc.

- Serve as IWWAGE's primary point of contact with policymakers and regulators, engaging them in a constructive dialogue and identifying opportunities for the IWWAGE to support broader policy objectives related to women's economic empowerment

- Monitor trends in the women's economic empowerment sector in India, and maintain deep knowledge of existing and forthcoming policies and regulations affecting the sector

- Lead and manage engagements with a multitude of stakeholders/partners engaged in various projects

- Oversee and support the process of developing all communication materials for IWWAGE, including social media products

- Consolidate research findings for evidence-based policy-making

- Organize and execute events to promote and disseminate the learnings from the Initiative.

- Conceptualise policy briefs and engage in policy dialogues on a frequent basis

- Oversee policy staff as needed.

Essential Qualifications :

- Master's Degree in Public Policy, Gender, Economics, Development or related field is mandatory

- Minimum 12 years of relevant work experience in public policy

- Good understanding of the women's economic empowerment sector

- Understanding of policies and regulatory initiatives affecting women's economic empowerment in India

- Prior experience in interacting with Government and Government departments.

Desirable Qualities :

- Demonstrated ability to build relationships, lead and motivate teams

- High networking skills and demonstrated ability to interact with a varied set of stakeholders

- Demonstrated experience in partner and donor management

- Ability to influence key stakeholders and operational owners through well-articulated strategies

- Experience and maturity in relationship management

- Ability to work within tight deadlines and handle several different projects/tasks at one time.

- Excellent communicator, both written and oral, able to express complex technical issues in plain language

- Ability to work independently, to be well organized and detail-oriented

- Comfortable in wide-ranging cultural, geographic and operational conditions.