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About APC

The Association for Progressive Communications (APC) was founded in 1990 by seven organisations as an international, membership-based network that leverages emerging electronic information and communication technologies for social justice and development. Over 35 years, APC has grown into a respected global network with 73 organisational members, associates, and partners, guided by feminist values, human rights principles, collaboration, and care within its community.

APC’s work focuses on digital rights, internet access, connectivity, and inclusive governance of the internet as a global public good. Its three core programmes—Women’s Rights, Local Access, and Environmental and Social Justice—are complemented by initiatives such as “Safety for Voices” and advocacy on environmental digital justice. APC operates across local, national, regional, and international levels, including UN policy spaces.

The network’s strength lies in its people, trust-based relationships, and deep expertise in internet governance. With 60+ staff and an annual budget of USD 10–12 million, APC champions the internet as a public good, centring marginalised communities, feminist perspectives, and human rights in all its global advocacy and programming.

About the Role

The Programme Director provides strategic leadership for the design, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of programmes to ensure strategic, integrated implementation aligned with organisational mission and goals. They manage the core team of programme and advocacy managers to ensure effective and impactful programme implementation. They oversee budgets and drive fundraising efforts for the organisation’s programmes, as well as promote innovation in APC’s key priority areas to achieve impact.

The Programme Director reports to the Executive Director and will be a member of the APC Leadership Team, and a key actor to foster a productive and collaborative work environment.

Duties and Responsibilities

Strategic Programme Development & Coordination:

• Oversee, initiate, and support thought leadership and strategy development that align with APC’s mission and objectives.
• Oversee the development of strategies and operational plans of APC programmes and global advocacy, ensuring that plans include clear goals and benchmarks, and that they align with the broader strategic plan and priorities of the organisation. This includes annual and multi-year planning, as well as leading staff through the implementation of the organisation’s global strategy.
• Ensure well-articulated theories of change in programme and global advocacy strategies that can be measured and evaluated, and that are contextualised within broader movements for change.
• Ensure that APC is testing and scaling innovative methodologies and presenting findings in ways that facilitate organisational learning and change.
• Keep abreast of new developments in digital inclusion and rights, internet and digital governance, a feminist internet, and environmentally just digital policies and practices.
• Participate in the effective use of MEL standards and frameworks to maximise programmatic impact.

Resource mobilisation and financial oversight

• Lead the overall development, coordination, and implementation of the fundraising strategy for APC’s programmes.
• Engage in high-level fundraising, including identifying funding sources, preparing grant proposals, donor advocacy and relationship building, and other development activities. Oversee and ensure strategic and effective allocation of funds within programmes and global governance budgets, and ensure financial stewardship and accountability. Take clear decisions on priorities as needed to ensure effective allocation of resources to strategic aims.

Partnerships and Stakeholder Engagement

• Build and strengthen the APC Network by fostering productive and innovative work with members, embodying the network-centric approach embedded in APC’s strategic plan.
• Foster and strengthen sustainable partnerships with other actors in the field, including by promoting visibility and recognition of partnership work.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with government agencies, partners, and other stakeholders to promote APC’s mission.
• Represent APC in high-level forums and act as a spokesperson for the organisation.

Strategic leadership and governance

• Work closely with APC Directors and the APC leadership team to support institutional strengthening across the organisation.
• Support APC governance processes and development by working with the board and the APC Council.

Skills and Experience

Competencies

• Proven experience in establishing a strategy on a global scale in APC’s areas of influence;
• Knowledge of and experience working in international organisations and networks, including advocacy
• Familiarity with digital inclusion, internet governance, feminism, and HR is required.
• A deep understanding of global rights trends, critical human rights challenges, and opportunities, along with the ability to formulate strategies for impact, is required in an evolving global advocacy landscape.

Track record in effective management of cross-cultural teams

• The ability to provide vision, direction, and motivation to staff and stakeholders.
• Strong motivational skills for strong value-based teams.
• Strong collaboration skills and conflict resolution experience.

Financial and Fundraising Skills

• Track record in developing, implementing, and monitoring high-level budgets.
• Track record in proposal development for resource mobilisation with international funders, governments, and the private sector.

Other Skills

• Excellent writing and editing skills in English, and a good understanding of research practices and publication standards are required.
• Strong out-of-the-box thinking with a proven track record of preparing an organisation for the challenges of the future is required.
• Proven experience of working from home and managing remote teams is required.

Qualifications:

Education:

• A bachelor’s degree, or equivalent experience, is required.

Experience:

• A minimum of 5 years in a senior management role is required.
• A minimum of fifteen (15) years of relevant experience in international technology, human rights, and feminism or related work, including research, reporting, and advocacy, is required.

APC Policy AI-generated Content

As a feminist and human rights network committed to social, gender, and environmental justice, APC collaborates with partners to promote a human rights and climate justice-based approach to artificial intelligence (AI). We recognise the significant risks these technologies pose, including environmental harm, increased surveillance, and violations of human rights. We believe that content made by people – which reflects their diversity in experiences, positionalities, and voices – should be at the core of our content production approach and editorial policies. Candidates are strongly discouraged from producing content using LLMs or other generative AI tools.