(Senior) Program Officer, Advocacy and Accountability

WOMEN ENABLED INTERNATIONAL (WEI)

POSITION SUMMARY

(Senior) Program Officer, Advocacy and Accountability

Type of Position: Exempt, Full Time

Location: Remote; candidates should be able to overlap business hours (9 am to 5 pm) in the U.S. Eastern Time Zone for a minimum of 3 hours per day

Reports to: Advocacy and Accountability Director

Start Date: April 2024

Compensation: Starting at $70,000*

Women Enabled International (WEI) is now accepting applications for the position of (Senior) Program Officer, Advocacy and Accountability. We are seeking an experienced and dynamic advocacy professional to contribute their skills and expertise to advancing human rights at the intersection of gender and disability, in line with WEI’s new strategic plan.

Please note that this role is open at either the Program Officer or Senior Program Officer levels. Candidates will be considered for either the Program Officer or Senior Program Officer title based on their experience, expertise, and ability to lead project development and execution.

• The Program Officer will support strategy execution in collaboration with team members and requires at least three years of experience.
• The Senior Program Officer will take a leadership role in executing strategy, working closely with team members, and requires at least five years of experience.

The (Senior) Program Officer will, depending on their skills and experience, lead or support the execution of one of the key areas of WEI’s advocacy work: ensuring gender inclusion in disability rights and justice spaces. As a key contributor to the Advocacy and Accountability Team, the (Senior) Program Officer will focus on deepening WEI’s engagement in global disability rights and justice advocacy spaces and with disability rights and justice movement actors. The (Senior) Program Officer will work in partnership and collectively with organizations led by women, girls, and gender-diverse people with disabilities to ensure that human rights standards are responsive to their lived experiences and priorities. This individual will also contribute to WEI’s advocacy and accountability efforts around humanitarian crises.

ABOUT WOMEN ENABLED INTERNATIONAL

As feminists with disabilities and allies, Women Enabled International (WEI) advances human rights and justice at the intersection of gender and disability to challenge exclusionary, unjust systems and support the leadership and center the voices of women, girls, and gender-diverse people with disabilities globally.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Key responsibilities include:

Advocacy & Accountability for Gender Inclusion in Disability Spaces

• Lead and/or support development, design, and execution of WEI’s strategic engagement in global disability rights and justice advocacy spaces, including the annual Conference of States Parties to the CRPD, the CRPD Committee, the Global Disability Summit, and others as identified.
• Establish and manage partnerships with disability rights and justice actors and organizations led by women, girls, and gender-diverse people with disabilities to advance collective priorities in disability rights and justice spaces and to hold States accountable; build and maintain strong working relationships with potential future partners.
• Liaise with and build the capacity of UN human rights experts, States, UN agencies, disability rights and justice movement actors, among others, to advance rights inclusive of gender and disability and support holding States accountable for rights obligations and commitments.
• Lead project-specific research and documentation, e.g., through the development of data collection tools, desk and field research, surveys, consultations, facilitation of focus group discussions, stakeholder interviews, etc., to understand the issues impacting women, girls, and gender-diverse people with disabilities and inform Advocacy and Accountability strategies.
• Organize individuals and organizations within the disabled feminist movement and across movements to advance gender inclusion in disability spaces.
• Lead or support work across teams of WEI staff, as appropriate to the implementation of strategies and projects to advance gender inclusion in disability rights spaces, to ensure team alignment and maximize impact.
• Ensure that the design and implementation of advocacy and accountability work is inclusive, accessible, and culturally sensitive. Manage assigned projects to deliver work efficiently, effectively, and within budget.

Advocacy and Accountability around Humanitarian Crises

• Contribute to WEI’s advocacy and accountability strategies to enter and advance human rights and humanitarian law standards around humanitarian crises and in humanitarian advocacy spaces.
• Identify and execute opportunities to partner with organizations led by women, girls, and gender-diverse people with disabilities to advocate for rights responsive to their lived experiences around humanitarian crises.
• Liaise with and build the capacity of UN human rights experts, States, UN agencies, and NGOs active in humanitarian crises advocacy spaces to advance rights inclusive of gender and disability and support holding States accountable for these rights.

Advocacy and Accountability Team Operations

• Actively support a dynamic, creative, and values-driven team environment that maximizes impact while ensuring collective care.
• Provide consistent and constructive input into ongoing and new Advocacy and Accountability initiatives.
• Contribute to the development and monitoring of Advocacy and Accountability Team initiatives, ways of working, and annual goals and objectives.

Organizational Duties

• Serve as a champion of WEI’s mission, vision, and values internally and externally to foster a positive organizational culture and create a collaborative and results-driven work environment.
• Represent WEI at relevant meetings, briefings, convenings and conferences, as appropriate for advancing organizational priorities.

Supervisory Duties

• Provide direct supervision to interns and fellows, as assigned.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES

• A strong track record of utilizing human rights advocacy strategies, tools, and tactics in global disability rights and justice spaces and active relationships with other actors engaging in these spaces.
• Demonstrated expertise in disability and gender-related human rights law, norms, and standards, as well as in disability justice and intersectional feminism.
• Knowledge of humanitarian law, norms, and standards and experience working in global advocacy spaces related to humanitarian crises is a plus.
• Strong understanding of the issues impacting women, girls, and gender-diverse people with disabilities. Lived experience related to women, girls, and gender-diverse people with disabilities is a plus.
• Sound decision-making and problem-solving skills and ability to tackle challenges and contribute to the development of solutions to achieve outcomes.
• Strong research and oral and written communication skills in English; fluency in another language is a plus.
• Strong interpersonal and relationship-building skills, experience working across multiple cultural, social, and political contexts, and comfort with collaborating with various stakeholders.
• A deep commitment to the mission to advance human rights and justice at the intersection of gender and disability and center the voices of women, girls, and gender-diverse people with disabilities is fundamental for this role.
• Ability to travel to in-person meetings, advocacy spaces, and partner locations several times a year—up to 10% of working time—is preferred.

MINIMUM EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE

• A bachelor’s degree and graduate degree in a relevant field, or the equivalent in work experience.
• Either 3+ years (Program Officer) or 5+ years (Senior Program Officer) of work experience advancing human rights with a focus on disability rights and/or gender-related rights, preferably with a non-governmental organization or other international organization/agency.

*Final compensation for this position will be determined based on experience, location, cost of living, and cost of employment in your region/country, based on WEI’s current compensation framework. For transparency, here are indicative values for compensation in a few different cities (these values are all in USD): Mexico: $60,279; Chile: $49,053; Switzerland: $68,170; Kenya: $57,188; India: $55,276.

TO APPLY

Interested candidates are requested to submit their resume, cover letter, short writing sample (maximum 5 pages), and names of 3 references through the following application portal: https://bit.ly/WEI_Senior_ProgramOfficer_AA. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, and candidates are encouraged to apply as soon as possible. We will accept applications through February 26, 2025.

Women Enabled International is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and do not discriminate based on race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, veteran status, disability status, or any other applicable characteristics protected by law. Whatever your identity, we encourage you to apply. WEI is committed to working with individuals with disabilities and will provide reasonable accommodations to perform the essential functions of this position due to a disability or medical condition.