Fund Director

 FGM Global Action Fund

The Ending FGM Global Action Fund is a new pooled fund and movement support hub designed to drive resources at scale to reach a global "tipping point" so that female genital mutilation (FGM) is finally and fully eliminated.

 

While public support for FGM and FGM prevalence are declining in many communities, civic space is shrinking, authoritarianism is rising, and anti-rights movements are increasingly well coordinated. Ending FGM will require new funding and new mechanisms able to drive resources at scale to survivor- and frontline-led movements for change.

 

This new pooled fund will provide an innovative funding mechanism for a range of donors spanning the bilateral, philanthropic, and corporate sectors. The Fund will provide a direct pipeline of support to frontline activists and organisations working on ending FGM around the world. Frontline funding will be augmented by a movement support hub that will strengthen key intermediary organisations and partners specialising in advocacy and communications, resource mobilisation, technical assistance, and survivor care and wellbeing.

 

This new fund was designed based on a multi-year field assessment conducted by Wallace Global Fund and other partners, which included extensive consultations with survivors and a wide range of actors in the FGM movement ecosystem. A planning group of FGM survivor-experts, activists, and advisors will guide the fund's inception and a formal Advisory Committee will guide the Fund's implementation.

 

The FGM Fund will be fiscally hosted by Women Win, a global women's fund based in the Netherlands. The Fund is recruiting a Director to lead the set up and sustainability of this new mechanism. The Fund will be officially launched in Kenya in September 2026.

 

About the Position

The FGM Global Action Fund is seeking a visionary, strategic, and mission-driven Director to lead the fund through its inception phase towards growth and impact. The Fund Director is responsible for overall leadership, strategy, governance, fund management, external partnerships, fundraising, and sustainability. Back-office support will be provided by Women Win, the Fund's fiscal host.

 

The ideal candidate is an experienced non-profit or movement leader with a strong understanding of feminist approaches, demonstrated representation and fundraising success, solid operational and people management skills, and a deep commitment to advancing the global movement to end FGM.

 

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership

•  Lead the development of the Fund's vision, mission, values and long-term strategic goals
• Uphold the strategic direction of the Fund in alignment with its vision, mission and values, and lead execution towards its impact objectives
• Advise and collaborate closely with the Advisory Committee on governance and strategic priorities
• Develop an annual workplan and operational budget for Advisory Committee approval
• Identify opportunities for growth, innovation and strategic partnerships
• Provide regular updates on Fund performance, risks, and opportunities

 

Fund Management

•  Manage day-to-day operations, ensuring efficiency, accountability, and compliance alongside regular communication with the fiscal host
•  Ensure sound financial management, budgeting, forecasting, and risk mitigation
•  Build and lead a high-performing team that reflects the Fund's values and delivers at the scale and ambition the mission demands
•  Ensure strong capacity strengthening, monitoring, evaluation, and learning practices across streams of work
•  Oversee grantmaking across different grant streams, including overseeing Participatory Grantmaking (PGM) processes and panels

 

Fundraising & External Relations

• Develop a fundraising plan in collaboration with the Advisory Committee
• Lead fundraising strategy across institutional donors, foundations, corporations, government agencies, and individual supporters
• Cultivate and maintain strategic partnerships with stakeholders, funders, media, and movement leaders
• Represent and advocate for the Fund at conferences, public forums, and donor engagements

 

Engagement & Accompaniment

• Ensure trauma-informed, care-centred approaches are embedded across the Fund's convenings, partnerships, and ways of working
• Build and sustain trusted relationships with survivors, frontline activists, and movement partners, holding the Fund accountable to the movements it serves
• Navigate movement dynamics with care, embracing difference and creating opportunities for collaboration and cross-movement solidarity

 

Qualifications and Experience

The following skills/experience are essential:

 

Required

• Minimum of 10 years of progressive leadership experience, including at least 7 years of experience in a senior executive leadership role in the non-profit, NGO, social impact, or public sector
•  Proven success in fundraising and donor relationship management
• Experience in grantmaking and/or fund management
• Knowledge of girls/women's rights, international development, global health, gender-based violence, and/or sexual health and reproductive rights
•  Excellent communication, negotiation, and stakeholder engagement skills
• Experience working with Boards of Directors, Advisory Committees, and governance structures
• High level of accountability, and discretion in handling confidential and sensitive information
• Fluent in English and with excellent oral and written communication skills

 

Preferred

• Experience in the global movement to end FGM
• Experience in participatory decision-making processes related to governance, strategy, and grantmaking
• Deep understanding of feminist intersectional principles and collective care

 

Core Competencies

• Strategic and resilient leadership: sets clear direction in a complex and politically charged landscape, anticipates risks, and navigates ambiguity with confidence and care
• Communication and representation: communicates with clarity and credibility across diverse audiences, from frontline activists to donors and policymakers
• Relationship building and collaboration: builds trust across movements, geographies, and sectors
• Cross-cultural and intersectional fluency: works thoughtfully across cultures, identities, and power dynamics with humility and a trauma-informed approach
• Operational rigour: strong organisational discipline, manages competing priorities, attends to detail, and ensures follow-through across a distributed and global team

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