Program Director
Position Circumstances
- Career Category: Exec. / Management, Advocacy, Monitoring & Evaluation, Research / Development, Community Development
- Schedule:Full-time
- Salary: Negotiable
Unit / Program: Senior Management; Program Leadership
Work Station: GADC Headquarters, Phnom Penh (with regular travel to provinces and international representation as required)
Reporting to: Executive Director
Budget Responsibility: All Program Budgets
Direct Supervision: Community Outreach Manager (COM); Advocacy and Networking Program Manager (ANPM); Feminist Education Program Coordinator (FEPC); Knowledge and Learning Coordinator (KLC); Cambodian Men’s Network Coordinator (CMNC)
Grade / Level: Level 8 (Salary Negotiable)
The Program Director provides feminist leadership across all GADC program areas, ensuring coherent strategy, transformative impact, and organizational accountability. This role carries full responsibility for program quality, donor compliance, resource mobilization, and the development of new programs and proposals.
The Program Director serves as a senior member of the Management Team (MT), leading a diverse team with commitment to inclusive, non-hierarchical working practices. She will also directly contribute to and manage specific project activities; particularly those under major donor-funded programs; including proposal development, research coordination, and donor relationship management.
GADC encourages applications from women, LGBTQI+ persons, persons with disabilities, ethnic minority women, and others with lived experience of the inequalities GADC works to address.
Duties & Responsibilities:
- Feminist Program Leadership
- Lead participatory, gender-transformative program planning, implementation, monitoring, and review across all GADC program areas.
- Ensure feminist principles, intersectionality, and GEDSI (Gender Equality, Disability and Social Inclusion) are embedded throughout GADC’s project cycle management and organizational culture.
- Provide technical guidance and feminist mentoring and coaching to program staff, building their capacity for rights-based and gender-transformative practice.
- Champion women’s leadership and meaningful participation of marginalized groups; including LGBTQI+ persons, indigenous peoples, and persons with disabilities; in all program activities.
- Uphold safeguarding, prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse (PSEA), and child protection standards across all programs and partnerships.
- Donor Compliance, Grant Management, and Major Donor Relations
- Manage the full portfolio of donor-funded projects, ensuring compliance with all donor agreements, reporting schedules, financial procedures, procurement guidelines, visibility requirements, and applicable Cambodian law.
- Serve as a primary relationship manager for major institutional donors (including bilateral donors, foundations, and UN agencies), maintaining proactive communication and high-quality reporting.
- Coordinate with Finance and HR to ensure timely budget utilization, accurate financial forecasting, audit readiness, and compliance follow-through.
- Review all donor reports; narrative and financial; before submission to ensure quality, accuracy, and consistency with donor frameworks.
- Maintain robust documentation and filing systems for all donor-funded activities.
- Proposal Writing and Resource Mobilization
- Lead the development of high-quality concept notes, funding proposals, project design documents, and partnership agreements for institutional and philanthropic donors.
- Conduct donor mapping and identify funding opportunities aligned with GADC’s feminist strategic priorities.
- Contribute directly to proposal writing for major programs, including logical frameworks, theories of change, budget narratives, and GEDSI integration strategies.
- Collaborate with the Executive Director and MT to grow and diversify GADC’s funding base, supporting long-term organizational sustainability.
- Maintain knowledge of funding trends and donor priorities in gender equality, women’s rights, and development in Cambodia and the region.
- Research, Knowledge, and Learning
- Coordinate and contribute to organizational research initiatives, including study design, data collection oversight, analysis, and dissemination of findings.
- Ensure MEAL (Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning) systems are integrated across all programs, with feminist and participatory approaches to data collection and analysis.
- Support teams to develop program indicators, workplans, and monitoring tools aligned with strategic objectives and donor frameworks.
- Lead knowledge management, documentation of lessons learned, and sharing of evidence, internally and with partners, donors, and the wider movement.
- Promote evidence-based and adaptive programming culture across the organization.
- Staff Leadership, Wellbeing, and Team Culture
- Provide feminist, inclusive leadership that models accountability, care, and shared power within program teams.
- Lead recruitment processes, performance management, and professional development for all staff under her supervision.
- Foster a positive, supportive, and learning-oriented organizational culture that prioritizes staff wellbeing, psychological safety, and work-life balance.
- Address conflicts and challenges with a transformative, restorative approach grounded in feminist values.
- Advocacy, Representation, and Partnership
- Represent GADC in national and international forums, including strategic partnerships with civil society organizations, women-led networks, feminist movements, UN agencies, development partners, and government institutions.
- Strengthen partnerships and alliances that advance feminist advocacy, policy change, and collective movement-building.
- Provide technical support to local partners and networks in program implementation, advocacy, organizational development, and donor compliance.
- Represent GADC in technical working groups, coordination mechanisms, and policy dialogues relevant to gender equality and women’s rights in Cambodia.
- Strategic Planning and Organizational Development
- Contribute actively to GADC’s long-term strategic planning, annual operational planning, and management decision-making as a senior MT member.
- Support organizational policy review and development to strengthen accountability, equity, and operational effectiveness.
- Lead risk management processes at program level, ensuring mitigation measures are in place and regularly reviewed.
- Contribute to crisis management and business continuity planning when required.
- Promote a culture of transparency, feminist accountability, and continuous learning across the organization.
- Management Team Membership
- Serve as an active and contributing member of the Management Team, facilitating effective information flow between programming teams and senior leadership.
- Fulfil additional MT responsibilities as collectively agreed.
Expected Profile of Candidates
Languages:
- Khmer - Fluent
- English - Fluent
Qualifications:
- Master's Degree
- Bachelor's Degree in gender studies, development studies, social sciences, international relations, or a related field. Equivalent lived experience and professional expertise will be valued equally.
Work History:
- Progressive experience in senior program management in an NGO, INGO, or women’s rights organization for 7 years as a minimum
Skills & Knowledge:
General & Technical Skills
- Advanced degree with a feminist studies, human rights, or public policy specialization.
- Demonstrated experience managing multi-donor, multi-project portfolios and complex grant compliance requirements with institutional donors (e.g. DFAT, EU, UN agencies, foundations).
- Proven track record in proposal writing, budget development, and successful fundraising from major donors.
- Experience coordinating or contributing to organizational or program research, including research design, data oversight, and dissemination.
- Strong knowledge of gender equality, women’s rights, and human rights frameworks, including CEDAW, Neary Ratanak, and GEDSI approaches.
- Experience applying feminist, intersectional, and participatory approaches in program design and implementation.
- Experience with MEAL systems and evidence-based program management.
- Experience in advocacy, policy engagement, and movement-building work.
- Experience in feminist organizational development, including policy review and institutional strengthening.
- Experience with curriculum development and Training of Trainers (ToT) facilitation.
- Regional experience and networks in Southeast Asian feminist movements or development ecosystems.
- Experience with conflict resolution and managing sensitive organizational dynamics.
- Excellent written and verbal communication in English; ability to produce high-quality donor reports, proposals, and policy documents.
- Khmer language proficiency.
- Experience using participatory research methodologies and feminist research approaches.
Soft Skills
- Strong analytical, strategic thinking, and problem-solving skills.
- Feminist leadership skills: inclusive, collaborative, empowering, and accountable.
- Strong team management, coaching, and mentoring skills.
- Ability to manage complex, multi-stakeholder environments and work effectively under pressure.
- Proficiency in MS Office and relevant program management tools.
- Deep, sustained personal commitment to feminist values, gender equality, and women’s rights.
- Commitment to intersectionality and inclusive practice; actively centering the voices and rights of those most marginalized.
- Strong personal integrity, openness, honesty, and accountability.
- Commitment to continuous learning, self-reflection, and professional growth.
- Commitment to safeguarding and zero tolerance of discrimination, harassment, and exploitation.
- Active engagement with feminist networks, movements, or communities of practice.
