Feminist Climate Justice, Program Manager

• Full time, permanent role
• Based in Melbourne CBD (combination WFH and two days in office)
• Lead a transformative, values-driven initiative at the intersection of feminism and climate justice – centering First Nations leadership and supporting systemic change across Australia.

ABOUT IWDA

International Women's Development Agency (IWDA) is an Australian-based organisation, resourcing diverse women's rights organisations (WROs) primarily in the Asia and the Pacific, and contributing to global feminist movements to advance our vision of gender equality for all.

VISION Gender equality for all

PURPOSE To defend and advance the rights of diverse women and girls

VALUES Feminist, Decolonial, Accountable, Collaborative, Transformative

Within the ecosystem of women's rights organisations, IWDA is both for and of feminist movements. We resource the work of diverse WROs, and enable them to be more effective by providing support that goes beyond money. We are committed to building a resilient and relevant feminist and decolonial organisation, and to becoming an explicitly anti-racist organisation.

Anchored by lessons from our 40-year history and guided by fiercely held feminist and decolonial values, our new Strategic Plan lays out IWDA's path towards realising our vision of gender equality for all.

OUR GOALS

· Shift resources to women's rights and aligned organisations

· Engage in movement strengthening

· Advance feminist and decolonial knowledge for change

· Live our values by modelling a different way of being as a feminist organisation

Our 4S Framework supports our commitment to decoloniality so that we know when to:

STEP UP and use our power to leverage resources and access for women's rights organisations, and make our own contribution to feminist movements.

STAND WITH feminist movements in solidarity and amplify the work of Majority World actors.

STEP BACK when others are better placed to take the lead.

SIT WITH uncertainty, embrace communal learning and deep listening, and accept that time is needed to collectively discern the best course of action.

IWDA's 10-year Strategy commits to expanding our work in Australia, deepening engagement with domestic feminist movements, and responding to urgent calls for feminist climate justice. We recognise our responsibility to act on issues where our locational power can make a difference – including the climate crisis. Environmental justice and gender equality are inextricably linked – and both are undermined by the same patriarchal, colonial and capitalist systems that exploit the earth and marginalise women, girls and gender-diverse people. Feminist movement actors, including Women's Rights Organisations (WROs) we partner with in Asia and the Pacific, are calling on Minority World actors to step up, advocate, and take responsibility for the disproportionate damage caused by high-emission countries.

For IWDA, responding to these calls is part of decolonising our practice. Through our 10-year strategy, we commit to leveraging our platforms, networks and analysis to champion feminist climate justice in Australia, centring First Nations leadership and deepening solidarity with aligned movements to disrupt the systems that undermine our collective rights.

This year we celebrate our 40th anniversary That's four decades of leading the charge for
#GenderEquality
. Join our Wave of change -

ABOUT THE ROLE

The Program Manager – Feminist Climate Justice is responsible for managing
From Moments to Movements: Galvanising Australian Leadership for a Feminist Climate Future
(subject to funding confirmation, expected mid-September This three-year initiative aims to build a visible and influential feminist climate justice movement in Australia – centring First Nations leadership and grounded in decolonial and intersectional feminist values.

The initiative leverages the generational opportunities of Women Deliver 2026, the world's largest civil society gathering on gender equality to be hosted by the Oceanic Pacific in Naarm/Melbourne in April 2026, and COP31, the annual UNFCCC climate summit expected to be co-hosted by Australia and Pacific nations in Tarntanya/Adelaide in November 2026. Yet it is not limited to these moments: its purpose is to contribute to lasting systemic transformation and a sustainable feminist climate justice movement in Australia.

At the centre of this work is the Feminist Climate Collective (FeCC): a group of changemakers driving collaborative and transformative feminist climate action in Australia.

The Program Manager will serve as the Secretariat of the FeCC – acting as a shared resource that coordinates, communicates, and supports governance for the Collective. The Program Manager will ensure the Secretariat is values-driven, trust-based, and relational, enabling members to focus their time on strategy, advocacy, and movement-building. While the Program Manager will be the main point of contact for Collective members, the role will be supported with Secretariat functions by administrative and finance staff at IWDA. The Program Manager will also work closely with IWDA representatives to the Collective who lead on advocacy and feminist movement strengthening initiatives related to feminist climate justice.

The Program Manager will also lead the design and management of a Participatory Grant Mechanism (PGM), through which resources will be distributed to actors and initiatives advancing feminist climate justice in Australia. The PGM will be co-designed with the FeCC and grounded in feminist principles of inclusion, power-sharing, and accountability.

In addition, the Program Manager will oversee overall program management – including workplan development and delivery, budget management, donor reporting, and monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL) – ensuring that the initiative is implemented effectively and reflects IWDA and the Collective's shared feminist values and commitments.

Find the full position description here

This role is closing on Sunday 28 September at 11:55 pm.

THE OFFER

This a full time, permanent position. Classified at SCHADS 6 plus superannuation and salary packaging.

Some of the benefits:

• Flexible work arrangements
• Salary packaging options
• Employee Assistance program
• Additional end of year leave for all and additional paid personal/carer's and parental leave

HOW TO APPLY

International Women's Development Agency (IWDA) has an Equal Opportunity exemption (H69/2022) and requests applications from women only (including cis or trans).

If you are looking for an opportunity to make a key contribution to a rights-based international development agency committed to gender equality for all, click apply and submit your application.

IWDA is committed to the wellbeing and safety of our staff. IWDA works through a hybrid approach supporting all team members to work flexibly, fully equipped from home as well as from our office in Melbourne. The candidate will be expected to work from our physical office space at least two days a week.

The safety and wellbeing of children and other vulnerable persons engaged in IWDA's programs is also a priority for IWDA. We have strong recruitment processes in place to ensure the safest and most suitable people are employed by our organisation.

IWDA welcomes people with different skills and life experiences, and encourages women from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, women with disabilities and First Nations women to apply.
Preference will be given to First Nations and Pasifika applicants – recognising the importance of lived experience, connection to constituencies and movements and the critical leadership of First Nations and Pasifika women in feminist climate justice.

Any offer of employment will require a National Police Check and endorsement of IWDA's Safeguarding Code of Conduct. All applicants must be legally entitled to liv