Policy Advocacy Strategist, Southeast Asia

Summary:

Women’s World Banking is looking for a talented SEA Policy Advocacy Strategist to support our government engagement and policy influence work for Southeast Asia. The role will be based in Jakarta, with a primary focus on Indonesia, and a secondary focus on Vietnam and Cambodia. The policy advocacy strategist will contribute to policy advocacy initiatives across key areas of women's financial inclusion and economic empowerment, including digital financial services, sustainable and climate finance, and access to finance for women-owned enterprises.

This position covers our three core SEA markets and reports to the Director of Policy, based in Indonesia. The successful candidate will join a small yet forward thinking, high-performing and collaborative team focused on delivering innovative policy design in banking services and products with regulators and policy makers to accelerate women’s financial inclusion. The successful candidate will also coordinate on projects with Women’s World Banking’s Global Advocacy colleagues and counterparts.

The ideal candidate will have a successful record of operations within the financial services or technology sectors with a sector expertise in government engagement and policy influence using research-based evidence. S/He will also manage multi-stakeholders in creating an inclusive environment for policy recommendations. S/He will be passionate about women’s economic empowerment and eager to serve as a thought leader in the financial inclusion community. We are looking for an assertive and self-motivated candidate who is eager to seek out opportunities and co-create with colleagues across the organization.

Responsibilities of the position:

• Work directly with the Director of Policy to implement Women’s World Banking’s policy strategy for Southeast Asia.
• Manage and support multiple policy advisory and policy advocacy projects in Southeast Asia.
• Manage and facilitate engagement with policy makers, industry leaders, trade associations, civil society organizations, key media and other influencers.
• Collaborate with the research team and advisory team to synthesize findings and develop evidence-based policy insights and recommendations to advance women’s financial inclusion.
• Prepare policy papers, executive-level briefings, and stakeholder presentations; support policy seminars; and represent Women’s World Banking in stakeholder meetings, policy dialogues, working groups, and conferences.
• Support project-related knowledge management activities, including documenting detailed project activities and learnings, preparing reports and articles, and facilitating internal and external knowledge sharing.
• Provide coordination and operational support, including meeting preparation, scheduling, documentation, follow-up on action points, and coordination of administrative processes related to policy projects and activities.

Required Qualifications:

• Undergraduate or master’s degree in Economics, International Affairs, Public Policy, or relevant discipline.
• 5+ years of experience in policy work related to financial services, development, women’s empowerment, or non-profit organization.
• Experience in producing policy papers and other forms of policy recommendations, with an openness to innovative methods of thinking in policy formulation.
• Experience in project coordination, stakeholder engagement, and policy-related work.
• Deep Indonesia expertise and working knowledge of policy landscapes in Vietnam and Cambodia.
• Strong communication skills, including writing and presentation skills in English and Indonesian.
• Demonstrate ability to work independently as well as to work in a (remote) team.
• Ability to travel within Indonesia as well as Cambodia and Vietnam.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Passionate about gender equality and financial inclusion.
• Intellectual curiosity in creative problem solving and solution-seeking.
• Experience working with or engaging with financial sector regulators, including Bank Indonesia (BI), the Financial Services Authority (OJK), and/or other relevant government institutions across Southeast Asia.
• Demonstrate ability to execute and successfully achieve objectives in a dynamic, fast-paced environment with aggressive timelines.
• Work experience in a diverse, multi-cultural global organization.

Within the first 75 days:

• Develop a clear understanding of Women’s World Banking’s policy strategy, business model, and priority policy issues in Southeast Asia, with particular focus on Indonesia.
• Establish productive working relationships with the Policy Advocacy and Southeast Asia teams and identify the key internal and external stakeholders relevant to assigned workstreams.
• Take ownership of assigned policy advocacy and advisory workstreams, effectively managing activities, timelines, documentation, and follow-up with appropriate guidance from the Director of Policy.
• Produce clear, accurate, and well-structured meeting materials, policy briefs, presentations, reports, and other project deliverables that meet Women’s World Banking’s quality standards.
• Demonstrate sound judgment in synthesizing research and stakeholder input into evidence-based policy insights and recommendations within the scope of assigned projects.
• Demonstrate Women’s World Banking’s values and ways of working, including ownership, collaboration, responsiveness, and openness to feedback.