Back Programme Director, Pakistan

About Malala Fund

Malala Fund is working toward a world where all girls can learn for 12 years and lead without fear. Our special focus is on girls’ secondary education. We seek to influence at local, national and international levels for resources, social norms and policy changes needed to give all girls access to 12 years of quality, free and safe education.

We amplify girls’ voices. Malala Fund is building a movement of young education leaders who, like Malala, speak truth to power around the world. The girls we serve have high goals for themselves — and we have high expectations for decision-makers who can help them.

We invest in education leaders and frontline organisations — the people who best understand girls in their communities — in regions where most girls are missing out on secondary school.

Malala Fund in Pakistan

Pakistan has made significant progress for girls’ education in the last decade — but 12 million girls are out of school, with only 13% of girls reaching grade nine.

Malala Fund is completing our registration in Pakistan, and we have been working in Pakistan through support to partners since our inception. In Pakistan, our partners drive solutions to barriers to girls’ education nationally and in their communities. They work to secure adequate funding for education and support young women to speak out for their rights. Malala Fund works nationally,with a particular focus in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab and Sindh provinces.

The main objective of Malala Fund in Pakistan is to support as many girls as possible in their ability to obtain free, safe and quality secondary education as guaranteed under the Constitution of Pakistan (Articles 25A & 37B).

The Role

Position: Programme Director, Pakistan

Location: Islamabad, Pakistan

The Programme Director, Pakistan will provide strategic leadership and representation in one of Malala Fund’s key focus countries. Pakistan is the first country that Malala Fund made a strategic investment in, has the largest portfolio of grants, and will remain strategically important in the future. As the first country in which Malala Fund will register to operate where we implement programmes, this position will manage a small team with responsibilities for all elements of work in the country and liaise regularly with global Malala Fund staff.

The Programme Director will lead the rollout of an integrated and comprehensive country strategy for change, leveraging the Malala Fund brand and bringing diverse resources to innovative agendas for progress at national and provincial levels. Through the country strategy, they will align operations in Pakistan with Malala Fund’s five-year strategic plan and identify new opportunities to apply Malala Fund resources and expertise.

The Programme Director will manage expansion of the organisation’s programme and promote synergies across Malala Fund’s work in Pakistan and lead national influencing work with our partners. The Programme Director will build relationships with key stakeholders in the government, NGOs and private sector to advance a national girls’ education agenda.

This is a milestone appointment for Malala Fund and we are looking for a feminist leader who shares our commitment to gender transformative change, and girls’ education. The successful candidate will be able to show us how they have lived and worked for these essential values in the past and have new ideas for how Malala Fund could advance these priorities in the future.

Required Qualifications

Essential skills and experience

• Significant experience working in successfully greater levels of responsibility in international development organisations with a focus on empowerment and gender transformation.
• Proven experience in leadership roles with a track record of strategy development, advocacy and delivering effective programmes.
• Experience managing staff and consultants, creating annual plans and managing budgets.
• Experience developing and implementing influencing strategies using a wide range of tactics and approaches.
• Proven ability to cultivate influential networks of diverse stakeholders.
• Excellent interpersonal skills, with the ability to relate and communicate with individuals from a variety of cultural backgrounds.
• Solid judgement and problem-solving skills with proven attention to detail, accuracy, and quality.
• Strong work ethic, organisational skills and the ability to be self-directed.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Fluency in spoken Urdu and at least one regional language, as well as ability to operate in an English speaking office environment.
• Strong commitment to the Malala Fund’s mission to empower girls through education.

Desirable Skills

• Experience with child protection best practices or safeguarding.
• Ability to travel periodically within Pakistan and globally.
• Bachelor's degree in a related discipline.

Behaviours

• Strong commitment to Malala Fund’s mission, purpose and values.
• Strong commitment to gender equality, racial justice and other social justice issues.
• Strong commitment to professional development and continued learning.
• Excellent team player with the ability to work independently and in collaboration with colleagues at all levels across departments and external stakeholders.