Ireland Head of International Advocacy

Head of International Advocacy

Concern Worldwide is an Irish-based non-governmental, international, humanitarian organisation dedicated to the reduction of suffering and working towards the ultimate elimination of extreme poverty in the world’s poorest countries.

Job Title: Head of International Advocacy Reports to: Director of Strategy, Advocacy and Learning Direct reports: Two to three advocacy officers, with intermittent postgraduate interns. Job Location: 52-55 Camden Street, Dublin 2, Ireland Contract Details: Full-time, permanent contract Pay Band: €55,118 - €64,259

Job Purpose: •To lead, develop and coordinate Concern’s international advocacy work to address the root causes of extreme poverty and to enshrine humanitarian principles in global policy. The current focus of Concern’s international advocacy is on: hunger (strong focus on agriculture and nutrition); humanitarian policy and practice; and aid effectiveness.

Main duties & Responsibilities: •Develop, coordinate and deliver effective strategies to achieve significant policy change on the key areas of hunger, humanitarian policy and practice and aid effectiveness. Set and seek to achieve specific advocacy objectives in these areas and ensure that all work is adequately monitored and evaluated. •Play a leadership role in refining and reshaping Concern’s international advocacy over time, ensuring the strategic imperatives of country programmes, as well as Concern UK and Concern US advocacy needs are appropriately and adequately addressed. •Build and actively manage a strong advocacy team in Dublin to work effectively with the country offices as well as Concern UK and Concern US. This will include the recruitment, development and management of staff; enabling research capacity; management of the advocacy budget; and provision of support for field-based advocacy. •Provide support to country-level advocacy in their efforts to embed policy analysis and policy change objectives in overseas programmes. This will involve identifying how best to support the country teams and the optimal form of support and engagement on various initiatives. •Lead analysis and policy development on key issues identified for international advocacy in cooperation with the rest of the SAL team, Overseas Directorate and country offices. Lead, manage, commission and write policy briefing papers, notes and articles and web communications. •Use programme information from Concern’s regional and country programmes to provide in-depth analysis to underpin policy and advocacy work. •Ensure that Concern’s key cross-cutting issues and understanding of extreme poverty are integrated into policy analysis documents and advocacy. •Play a leadership role in ensuring sharp, effective communication of Concern’s policy analysis and advocacy asks in our key areas to a range of targets including the general public. Work closely with the Communications and Overseas Directorates, as well as with Concern UK and Concern US to get this done efficiently. •Work closely with the Public Affairs directorate to ensure cohesion and consistency of intent and messaging between advocacy initiatives and those of development education, public engagement and public campaigns, e.g. 1,000 Days Campaign. •Identify and develop/facilitate effective relationships with key policy focused alliances and external agencies which will help Concern to achieve its advocacy objectives. The relationships may be managed by other key managers in Concern or directly by the international advocacy team. Play a key role in engaging with Alliance2015 on policy issues. •Represent Concern in a strategic and professional manner to achieve influence with key stakeholders and support (via the international advocacy team) advocacy carried out by other key managers in Concern Worldwide (e.g. CEO, key programme leads in Ireland, UK and US). This role will involve external representation and opportunities but these will be complementary to external advocacy conducted by other key managers across Concern.

Person specification: Essential: •Either strong experience (5 years+) in leading and managing international advocacy strategy and initiatives or •Strong overseas management experience at a high level (5 years+) with a track record in policy analysis, research and publication. •Proven experience in providing vision, leadership, line management, project management and team-building skills, including the ability to collaborate effectively with colleagues in other teams in the organisation and in different locations. •Strong knowledge of, and work experience in, development policy with particular knowledge, experience and expertise in hunger issues and humanitarian contexts. •Excellent conceptual and analytical skills, including the ability to analyse and produce effective policy demands for complex political and policy environments and international audiences. Ability to think strategically, creatively and be evidence informed and led. •The ability to constructively and effectively work with technical advisers and programme staff in order to ensure that Concern’s advocacy papers and asks are technically sound and realistic for the contexts to which they refer. •Knowledge of Irish and EU parliamentary and government systems as well as a good understanding of how to influence key international organisations such as UN bodies. •Excellent written and oral communication skills. •Fluency in written and spoken English with proven ability to write at a high level in English alongside an ability to write clearly and succinctly for a public audience. •Ability to work under pressure to meet tight deadlines and willingness to work unsociable hours when required. •Strong expertise in international development issues (postgraduate degree level background) and at least five years work experience at a high level. •Willingness and ability to travel to programme and other countries as deemed necessary.

Desirable: •Experience of delivering or coordinating advocacy training and other forms of capacity building for advocacy staff, programme teams and partners in-country. •Experience of systematically measuring the results of policy and influencing work, including an understanding of the connection between policy level results and broader poverty reduction goals.

To apply: All applications should be submitted through our website at www.concern.net/jobs before closing date Monday, November 28th 2011. Candidates must be legally entitled to work in Ireland at the time of application

Concern has a Staff Code of Conduct and a Programme Participant Protection Policy which have been developed to ensure the maximum protection of programme participants from exploitation and to clarify the responsibilities of Concern staff, consultants, visitors to the programme and partner organization, and the standards of behaviour expected of them. In this context staff have a responsibility to the organization to strive for, and maintain, the highest standards in the day-to-day conduct in their workplace in accordance with Concern’s core values and mission. Any candidate offered a job with Concern Worldwide will be expected to sign the Programme Participant Protection Policy and the Concern Staff Code of Conduct as an appendix to their contract of employment. By signing the Programme Participant Protection Policy and the Concern Staff Code of Conduct candidates acknowledge that they have understood the contents of both the Concern Staff Code of Conduct and the Programme Participant Protection Policy and agree to conduct themselves in accordance with the provisions of these two documents.

Concern receives a substantial amount of funding from external donors each year. Increasingly donors are introducing requirements whereby future funding is conditional on Concern ensuring that the names of any new employee or volunteer do not appear on terrorism lists generated by the European Union (List of person, groups and entities to which Regulation (EC No. 2580/2001 applies), the US Government (Office of Foreign Assets Control list of specially designated Nationals and Blocked Persons) and the United Nations (Consolidated List).
Any offer of employment (either paid or voluntary) with Concern Worldwide will not be made pending a clearance check being conducted on the applicant. For additional information please consult our web site or contact the Human Resource Division in our Head Office. Concern Worldwide is an equal opportunities employer and welcomes applications from all sections of the community.

How to apply:

To apply: All applications should be submitted through our website at www.concern.net/jobs before closing date Monday, November 28th 2011. Candidates must be legally entitled to work in Ireland at the time of application