Policy Reform Expert – Philippines At Abt Associates

Investing in Women

Investing in Women (IW) is a multi-country Australian Government initiative in Southeast Asia that seeks to improve women’s economic participation as employees and as entrepreneurs and influence the enabling environment to promote Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE). It commenced in April 2016 with operations in the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam and Myanmar and is due to run through to June 2023. It is managed out of the Gender Equality Branch (GEB) of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) in Canberra. The Program is supporting the following outcomes:

• More businesses achieve improved gender equality in their workplaces
• Intentional impact investments in women’s small and medium enterprises (WSMEs) increase
• Positive shifts in gender norms related to workplace gender equality

For more information, see www.investinginwowen.asia

The Opportunity

Based in Manila, the Policy Reform Expert will support Business Coalitions (BCs) in the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia and Myanmar to undertake policy influencing work. The position will lead research to identify and support effective influencing opportunities and will assist each of the BCs to further refine and implement their policy reform action plans.

The Policy Reform Expert will have a broad understanding of the enabling policy context for WGE advancement and will advise BCs of influencing and leveraging opportunities aligned with their priorities. The position is full time and contract offered to June 2022. It is open to local applicants or ex-pat applicants currently residing in the Philippines.

Key Duties

• Identify policy influencing opportunities to advance WGE within each of the 4 countries
• Support BC members to develop and implement policy influencing action plans
• Advise on WGE criteria within sustainability reporting frameworks
• Inform data analysis and research to assess WGE status in countries
• Ensure the availability of local/international resource experts and provides support to those STAs
• Identify and partner with other stakeholders working on WGE, gender reporting, and sustainability reporting
• Assist BCs in communicating work relating to WGE and policy reform
• Support P1 knowledge management by monitoring and recording policy influencing outcomes and impacts

Key Requirements

• Demonstrated expertise in understanding barriers to WGE within formal workplace
• Demonstrated experience in effectively influencing policy in South East Asia
• Prior experience with sustainability reporting, preferably relating to gender, with experience of working with regulators
• Excellent communication skills both written and verbal with ability to present to range of audiences
• Prior experience crafting policy-focused knowledge products
• Proven ability to mentor and coach others both in person and remotely, with experience of working across different cultures
• Fluent English both written and verbal, – Bahasa, Tagalog, Burmese or Vietnamese an advantage