Global Advocacy Officer

About Fòs Feminista

Fòs Feminista is an intersectional feminist organization centered around the sexual and reproductive rights and needs of women, girls, and gender-diverse people. Led and governed by the Global South, Fòs Feminista works as an alliance of organizations in 40+ countries worldwide to advance sexual and reproductive health, rights, and justice. Fòs Feminista is both the connective tissue that links these diverse partners in an alliance and an active participant in the broader ecosystem of actors working on sexual and reproductive health, rights, and justice (SRHRJ). Fòs Feminista orchestrates transnational and transregional action by connecting partners throughout the SRHRJ ecosystem, amplifying innovative partner-led solutions to SRHRJ issues, and catalyzing funding and political will for an intersectional feminist agenda on SRHRJ.

We recognize that the ability of women, girls, and gender-diverse people to make free and informed choices about their sexual and reproductive lives, including to access safe and legal abortion, is central to their life plans and to achieving gender and reproductive justice. Together with partners in the Alliance, we provide access to sexual and reproductive health care and services, including contraception, abortion, and care for victims of gender-based violence, and we reach young people with comprehensive sexuality education. We are at the forefront of advocating for sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) from an intersectional lens in national, regional, and global spaces, coordinating with our partners to ensure that diverse experiences, priorities, and voices of the Global South are represented in these spaces. And we strengthen intersectional feminist movements and organizations by creating and holding space for partners to participate in an international community built on feminist values of sharing power, diversity, mutual learning, and solidarity, and to access resources to strengthen their work.

The Global Advocacy for Change Unit

The Global Advocacy for Change (GA4C) Unit coordinates the implementation of Fòs Feminista’s global sexual and reproductive justice advocacy strategy that recognizes and upholds the sexual and reproductive health and rights of women, girls, and gender-diverse people from the Global South.  Acting as a feminist amplifier and as a connector, the Unit works as part of the feminist SRHRJ alliance to shift power and challenge traditional ways of doing advocacy by elevating Global South leadership; working at multiple sites of power in the global North and South; grounding its work and strategies in national priorities; and connecting and leveraging regional and global spaces and processes to advance sexual, reproductive, and gender justice. The Global Advocacy Unit is looking for a qualified candidate based in New York to be located close to UN New York Headquarters.

Position Summary

The Global Advocacy Officer will collaborate in the design and implementation of advocacy strategies to advance sexual and reproductive health and rights from an intersectional feminist perspective that connect  global, regional and national level advocacy opportunities.  The officer will contribute to and execute a roadmap to mobilize and support excluded feminist activist and institutions organizing on sexual and reproductive health, rights, and justice from the Global South and United States to engage in advocacy opportunities at global multilateral spaces.  The Global Advocacy Officer will support Fòs Feminista’s activities at the United Nations in New York and Washington, DC to advance SRHRJ globally.

The Global Advocacy Officer will have a demonstrated commitment to and alignment with Fòs Feminista’s principles and values, particularly those related to social justice, equity, and non-discrimination, which are essential to our mandate of advancing SRHRJ for women, girls, and gender-diverse people—particularly in the Global South.

Supervisory Relationship

The Global Advocacy Officer reports to the Associate Director, Global and Multilateral Advocacy

Key Responsibilities

• Contribute to the implementation of the Unit’s overall advocacy strategy, in particular its United Nations and US Foreign Policy component, advancing sexual and reproductive health, rights and justice (SRHRJ).
• Apply decolonization, anti-racism and intersectional feminist approaches to multilateral and global advocacy strategies, campaigns, and partnerships.
• Support the Associate Director, Global and Multilateral Advocacy in identifying advocacy opportunities to raise awareness of SRHRJ and the work of Fòs Feminista at the United Nations and other relevant multilateral spaces.
• Identify, build, and maintain relationships with a wide range of key stakeholders, including UN diplomats, UN agencies, subsidiary bodies, functional commissions, UN Missions, NGOs and other key networks, partners, coalitions, bodies, and organizations active in UN spaces based in New York.
• Collaborate with Fòs Feminista’s team in capacity building efforts on global advocacy throughout its ecosystem, including in the coordination, implementation, and assessment of the Advocacy in Practice (AiP) program.
• Network and maintain strategic communications with relevant stakeholders, including Global South and US BIPOC-led organizations from the sexual and reproductive health,rights, and justice, the women’s and feminist, the LGBTQI+, the youth, disability, ethnic minority, and the HIV movements, among others, to advance Fòs Feminista’s feminist intersectional agenda around SRHRJ.
• Lead the coordination of and contribute to various Fòs Feminista’s roles in coalitions and caucuses (notably related to the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), the Commission on Population and Development (CPD), and Universal Health Coverage(UHC)).
• Represent Fòs Feminista at coalitions and collective SRHRJ advocacy spaces as well as in international meetings, as requested.
• Support the Associate Director, Global US Advocacy in developing a roadmap to develop and/or strengthen relationships and engage with US based BIPOC-led organizations working on sexual and reproductive health, rights, and justice.
• Support the Associate Director, Global US Advocacy  and contribute to various Fòs Feminista’s roles in coalitions and caucuses on US foreign policy.
• Support the Chief Global Advocacy Officer in the development and execution of a transnational learning and engagement initiative.
• Manage the UN Advocacy Tool project in coordination with the Global Advocacy Officer – Asia & the Pacific.
• Support in the implementation of commitments and responsibilities related to Fòs Feminista’s UN ECOSOC accreditation status.
• Write and edit high-quality advocacy content, including petitions, letters, meeting requests, research briefs, factsheets, and other communications.
• Contribute to the research and drafting of policy papers on issues within the SRHR agenda, as requested.
• Assist with monitoring the impact of Fòs Feminista’s advocacy and policy work, including by tracking key indicators for Fòs Feminista’s monitoring and evaluation framework.
• Any other tasked assigned by the team.

Education and Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent in International Affairs, Public policy, Social Science, Law, Public Health, Human Rights, or other relevant discipline. Master's degree highly desirable.
• At least 5 years of experience developing advocacy initiatives (in SRHR desirable).

Required Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Excellent writing and communications skills and fluent English is required. Proficiency in at least one of Fòs Feminista’s other core languages (French, Portuguese, or Spanish) highly desirable.
• Sound knowledge of UN structures and processes, and ideally of national government structures, including the US.
• Knowledgeable about technical issues and UN negotiation tactics and strategy, as they relate to human rights, gender equality and SRHR.
• Experience working in and with non-governmental organizations and as part of coalitions.
• Familiarity with transnational and global south reproductive rights or women’s rights civil society organizations.
• Experience in project management.
• Experience building and maintaining relationships with diverse stakeholders, and ability to leverage existing trusted relationships with experts at diplomatic missions to the UN.
• Excellent interpersonal skills, including diplomacy and discretion, and the ability to network and communicate with stakeholders from different backgrounds, cultures, and contexts.
• Solid knowledge of agreed international language, instruments and mechanisms on human rights, gender and women’s rights and population and development
• Strong knowledge of UN bodies and processes in New York.
• Strong influencing, advocacy, and negotiation skills.
• Strong analytical skills and the ability to summarize and simplify complex policy information into an accessible form.
• Sound understanding of development issues, including sexual and reproductive health and rights, gender equality and equity.
• Demonstrated commitment to and knowledge of sexual and reproductive health and rights, bodily autonomy, including abortion rights, and gender equality.
• Ability to work independently, with limited supervision, and as part of a team.
• Excellent computer and administrative.
• Strong organizational skills and ability to meet deadlines and manage competing priorities.
• Knowledge of political realities on sexual and reproductive health and rights, women’s rights, and gender equality in a variety of global contexts preferred.
• Commitment to intersectional feminism and a collaborative spirit.

Safeguarding Commitments

Fòs Feminista is committed to ensuring that the health, rights and wellbeing of all children, young people, and vulnerable populations who work and engage with Fòs Feminista ’s Team Members and Associated Persons are respected and protected in their interactions with them and requires all its Team Members and Associated Persons to share this commitment.

The successful candidate must:

• Demonstrate an understanding of and commitment to safeguarding in the United States and the international context.
• Sign and adhere to Fòs Feminista ’s International Safeguarding Policy and Safeguarding Code of Conduct, including the minimum operating standards for protection from sexual exploitation and abuse (PSEA).

Location: This Global Advocacy Officer is primarily a remote post, but it requires the ability to have a physical presence in NYC for in-person meetings, conferences and other interactions at and near the UN Headquarters.  There will also be some travel and engagement in Washington, DC.

Compensation: Fòs Feminista offers generous compensation consistent with competitive salaries and a benefits package that includes private health insurance, life insurance, retirement benefits, paid sick and vacation leave, holidays, and flexible working arrangements. The proposed salary for this position is USD $74,160/annual.

Equal Opportunity Employer Statement

Fòs Feminista is an equal opportunity employer dedicated to advancing sexual and reproductive health, rights, and justice and dismantling inequities from an intersectional feminist lens.  Reproductive justice, racial justice, and diversity are driving forces for us.

Fòs Feminista provides equal opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to age, color, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender expression or identify, health status, history of conflict with the law, migrant status, national origin, parental or pregnancy status, partnership status, political belief, poverty, race, religion, sexual identity of orientation, sex, genetic information, veteran status, or any other protected category under federal, state, and local laws.

At Fòs Feminista we continue to build an inclusive culture that encourages, supports, and celebrates the diverse voices and experiences of our employees. We strongly encourage applications from all kinds of backgrounds to build a workforce that is diverse and inclusive of people who are from marginalized or excluded groups.

While we strongly encourage all current and new employees to be fully vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus, there is no vaccine requirement for employment with Fòs Feminista.  However, it is currently our policy that employees must show proof of full vaccination to engage in any work-related travel or to attend any work-related in-person gatherings. As appropriate, reasonable accommodations can be made, including, for example, arrangements for employees to participate remotely in any relevant gatherings.

We thank all applicants for their interest; however only those candidates selected for interviews will be contacted.