INTRODUCTION TO GIRLS NOT BRIDES KENYA COALITION
Girls Not Brides Kenya is a member led coalition of over 135 civil society organizations
working at both national and grassroots levels to influence policy and budget decisions
that help end child marriage. Established in 2017 as the End Child Marriage Network
Kenya, it officially became Girls Not Brides Kenya in 2020. The coalition operates across
14 regions, in all the 47 counties.
The coalition aims to amplify the voices of girls across Kenya to realise a society where
all girls enjoy their rights and reach their full potential.
INTRODUCTION TO THE ROLE
The Coalition Programme Manager (CPM) serves as the strategic and technical leadof
the coalition, with the capacity to orient, articulate, and mobilise its collective action,
providing strategic leadership, internal coordination, and operational support to drive
the collective advocacy agenda forward. This role is the strategic engine of the coalition:
orienting its direction, facilitating decision-making, strengthening internal governance,
and ensuring coherent positioning across coalition member organisations.
Working closely with Girls Not Brides as sub-grantor, the co-convenors
and the Coalition Steering Committee, the CPM will identify opportunities to leverage
Girls Not Brides’ regional and global networks, technical expertise, and influencing
platforms in support of coalition priorities; provide regular progress updates against
grant commitments, and contribute to the sustainability and visibility of the coalition in
national and international spaces.
ABOUT YOU
You are a politically astute, facilitative leader with deep roots in the Kenya civil society
and advocacy ecosystem. You are skilled at building consensus among diverse
organisations, navigating complex political contexts, and translating strategic priorities
into coordinated collective action. You bring both technical depth on children’s rights
and gender equality, and the practical leadership capacity to convene, motivate, and
align coalitions around a shared agenda.
You are a connector, communicator, and strategic thinker who can represent the
coalition’s voice credibly in legislative, media, and civil society spaces, while ensuring
member organisations feel heard, valued, and equitably involved.
ROLE DETAILS
Job location: Nairobi, Kenya (with frequent travel across Kenya).
Accountable to: Girls Not Brides Kenya Coalition Steering Committee through the Co-
convenors.
Contract: Fixed-Term – on a fulltime basis
Salary: Market competitive, based on a benchmarking exercise of comparable national
NGO and coalition roles in Kenya.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
Strategic Direction and Political Positioning
• Lead the development and monitoring of the coalition’s short-term, medium-
term, and long-term political advocacy agenda, ensuring coherence across
member organisations.
• Identify strategic windows of opportunity legislative, judicial, and media-related
and propose concrete advocacy responses.
• Propose and update the coalition’s theory of change in line with the evolving
political context.
• Map key actors (Government, corporates, development partners, civil society,
faith-based organisations, youth-led organisations, and media) and define
engagement priorities.
• Ensure political and technical coherence in the positions and messaging of
member organisations.
Internal Coordination and Coalition Governance
• Convene and facilitate plenary meetings, technical committees, and working
groups, ensuring inclusive and participatory decision-making.
• Design and monitor the coalition’s joint workplan,
ensuring equitable distribution of roles according to member capacities.
• Establish clear governance mechanisms and help manage tensions or conflicts
between member organisations.
Ensure robust coalition knowledge management systems and institutional
documentation are maintained to support accountability, transparency, and
organisational memory.
Fundraising and Resource Mobilization
• Lead the development and implementation of a coalition resource mobilisation
strategy to support the long-term sustainability of the Girls Not Brides Kenya
Coalition.
• Steward relationships with existing and prospective donors, ensuring high-
quality engagement, reporting, and accountability.
• Identify and pursue funding opportunities by cultivating strategic relationships
with donors, foundations, and international cooperation agencies.
• Lead the development and coordination of high-quality concept notes and grant
proposals aligned with the Girls Not Brides Kenya Strategic Plan.
• Mobilize Steering Committee members and coalition partners to provide
technical expertise, strategic input, and timely review throughout the proposal
development process.
Advocacy Coordination
• Design and implement advocacy plans across legislative, judicial, and
administrative tracks.
• Coordinate high-level engagements: meetings with decision-makers, public
hearings, and follow-up on legislative and policy reform initiatives.
• Prepare strategic inputs: briefing notes, talking points, technical concepts, and
position papers.
• Support and strengthen spokesperson capacities within member organisations.
• Monitor institutional commitments and coordinate timely follow-up actions.
Communications
• Coordinate the coalition’s communications teams to develop a shared narrative
and aligned public positioning.
• Manage the coalition’s public voice: press releases, opinion columns, social
media, and media engagements.
• Leverage strategic media moments to advance the coalition’s visibility and
influence.
• Ensure consistency in messaging across member organisations and avoid
contradictions in public positioning.
Knowledge Management and Capacity Building
• Develop pedagogical content and tools (guides, infographics, toolkits) to build
member organisations’ capacity on legal, narrative, and advocacy themes.
• Translate technical or legal language into accessible formats for diverse
audiences.
• Document processes, learnings, and good practices to strengthen the coalition’s
institutional memory.
• Systematise the coalition’s experience to support its sustainability and
replicability.
Alliance Building and External Representation
• Identify and engage strategic allies, including new civil society actors, platforms,
and social movements.
• Position and represent the coalition as a leading national coalition to end child
marriage, building influence, strategic partnerships, and visibility across national,
regional, and global spaces. Articulate the coalition’s work with Girls Not Brides’
regional and global agenda.
Monitoring, Evaluation, and Accountability
• Define impact indicators (beyond activity counts) and conduct periodic
monitoring of coalition objectives.
• Provide regular progress updates to Girls Not Brides as sub-grantor, including
responding to information requests and participating in grant review meetings.
• Identify key moments where Girls Not Brides can provide added value to the
coalition’s workplan.
• Adapt coalition strategy in response to shifts in the political context.
• Facilitate periodic reflection and learning processes with coalition members to
assess effectiveness, strengthen approaches, and capture emerging
opportunities.
• Communicate coalition progress, outcomes, and challenges transparently to
member organisations.
Operational and Administrative Support
• Oversee and ensure effective coordination of coalition meetings, events, and
activities.
• Coordinate agendas and timelines across member organisations.
• Support budget administration, where applicable, in coordination with the
organisation receiving funds.
• Prepare progress reports for the governance body designated by the coalition.
Wider Responsibilities
• Champion a culture of safeguarding, accountability, and ethical practice across
coalition activities and partnerships.
• Commit to the mission and vision of Girls Not Brides and the coalition, putting
these at the forefront of all planning and actions.
• Uphold Girls Not Brides’ and Coalition’s core values in all areas of work and
interactions with colleagues, members, partners, and stakeholders.
• Comply with Girls Not Brides’ policies and processes, including safeguarding,
diversity and inclusion, the code of conduct, and data protection.
QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE
Essential
• Undergraduate degree in social sciences, humanities, law, political science,
communications, or related fields.
• Minimum three years of proven experience in coordination of civil society
organisations, coalitions, or advocacy networks.
• Demonstrated knowledge of political, legislative, and social advocacy strategies
in the coalition country or comparable context.
• Strong understanding of girls’ rights, child rights, gender equality, adolescent
well-being, human rights frameworks, and intersectional approaches.
• Experience facilitating participatory processes and multi-stakeholder spaces.
• Proven ability to manage inter-institutional relationships and strategic alliances.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills in (Coalition country
language), including the ability to produce strategic documents and public-facing
content.
• Experience working in grant-funded environments, including reporting to
funders and tracking progress against agreed objectives.
• Ability to work with a high degree of autonomy while maintaining accountability
to multiple stakeholders.
Desirable
• Experience working on gender equality, girls’ rights, and child, early, and forced
marriage and unions (CEFMU).
• Familiarity with public law, legislative follow-up, or judicial advocacy.
• Knowledge of communications strategy, including media relations and digital
platforms.
• Working proficiency in English.
• Experience with project management tools and digital collaboration platforms.
• Experience influencing national policy and budget processes.
• Experience managing institutional donor grants and multi-stakeholder
partnerships.
• Experience supporting youth-led and girl-centred advocacy initiatives.
Core Competencies
• Strategic leadership and political acumen.
• Coalition building and stakeholder management.
• Advocacy and policy influencing.
• Resource mobilisation and donor engagement.
• Facilitation, negotiation, and consensus building.
• Communication and public representation.
• Results-based management and adaptive leadership.
• Commitment to girls’ rights, gender equality, safeguarding, and inclusion.
SAFEGUARDING
Girls Not Brides Kenya are committed to safeguarding all children, young people, and
adults at risk with whom staff and representatives work and interface. Any employment
under this arrangement may be subject to satisfactory completion of background and
criminal record checks, including applicable national requirements. The post-holder
must comply with organisational policies on the protection of children, adolescents,
LGBTQI+ individuals, indigenous, and other vulnerable populations, and on the
prevention of sexual abuse and exploitation.
DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION
Girls Not Brides Kenya are equal opportunity employers. We embrace diversity, equal
opportunity, and inclusion in a serious way. We are committed to building teams
that represent a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills. The more inclusive we
are, the better our work will be.
HOW TO APPLY
Interested candidates are invited to submit their CV and a cover letter detailing their
relevant experience, qualifications, and motivation for the role. Applications should be
sent to girlsnotbrideskenya@gmail.com not later than Friday, 4 September 2026 at 5:00
PM (EAT).
Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.