Programme advisor, Partnership

Christian Aid has a big ambition – to see an end to poverty. We know we can’t do it alone, but only as part of a global movement of organisations and individuals working for change. To realise our ambition, we need to strengthen all our partnerships, whether longstanding or completely new – and we need you to help us do it.

This is an exciting opportunity to help Christian Aid increase our impact on poverty, by strengthening our ability to develop, deepen and learn from effective partnerships. Our new strategy shows how important this is to us, starting right from the title – Partnership for Change. Partnerships with local NGOs, churches and faith groups have been and always will be, at the heart of our work. We also recognise that we need to build new relationships with government, the private sector and individual women and men, especially those living in poverty.

You’ll be part of a global team of Programme Advisors, working with teams on the ground across Africa, Asia and Latin America. You will help them to develop new partnerships and deepen existing ones, and to find new ways of working together and learning from each other. For some teams, this will mean working with totally new kinds of partner, such as government or businesses. For others, it may be more about working differently with existing partners. In every case, you’ll help them build stronger relationships at the same time as maximising their impact for women and men living in poverty.

Partnership cuts across every aspect of Christian Aid’s work. You’ll support programme teams to learn from each other and ensure that their learning feeds into our wider organisational understanding of partnership. You’ll play a key role helping other Advisors apply partnership principles and learning to their own specialist areas.

You’ll bring an understanding of key issues such as capacity building and how to handle the power dynamics within partnerships, underpinned by extensive experience of partnership working. You’ll bring excellent facilitation skills and the ability to encourage innovative and creative solutions. Your ability to negotiate, broker and build relationships across the organisation will be key to your success. Most important of all, you’ll need the sensitivity and credibility to help colleagues reflect on issues at the heart of their working practice, in order to establish genuine partnerships for change.

Please show your suitability for this post by giving answers to the following questions. Using the guidance notes may help you formulate your answers.

Build partnerships

Describe a situation where you were involved in a particularly challenging or complex organisational partnership. How did you address the challenges in order to achieve your objectives? How did you engage key stakeholders in this process?

Strive for Improvement

Describe a situation where there were significant gaps in the capacity of a partner organisation. How did you develop and implement a plan to address these?

Communicate effectively

Describe a situation where you drew together experiences from a variety of different partner organisations in order to identify and share lessons. How did you draw out the wider learning from each specific experience? How did you make sure it was useful and relevant to your audience?

We value the contribution each person makes to the success of our organisation. That’s why you can expect a wide range of rewards and benefits, including a generous holiday allowance, an interest-free season ticket loan and flexibility that will ensure you enjoy a good work/life balance.

As this post is UK based, non-EC nationals will require current and valid permission to work in the UK.

Download the role profile (120 KB pdf)

To apply for this post, please download an application pack and email your completed UK & Ireland application form to:  recruitment@christian-aid.org (quoting the reference number). Alternatively, your completed application form can be printed out and posted to us at:

Christian Aid
35 Lower Marsh
Waterloo
London 
SE1 7RT

Please note that CVs will not be accepted.

Job reference: 426-MA

Closing date: 12 noon, Tuesday 16 April 2013

Interview date: Wednesday 24 April 2013

Christian Aid values diversity and aspires to reflect this in our workforce. We welcome applications from people from all sections of the community, irrespective of race, colour, gender, age, disability, sexual orientation, religion or belief.