Policyand Advocacy Officer, Global

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Girls Not Brides: The Global Partnership to End Child Marriage is seeking a Policy and Advocacy Officer to lead on the Partnership’s policy and advocacy engagement at the global level. The successful candidate will develop global-level policy strategies, recommendations and initiatives,and support engagement and alignment of member organisations in global advocacy.

This role sits within the Policy and Advocacyteam. The team analyses policy developments at the global and national levels, and provides policy, technical and strategic advice to governments and inter-governmental institutions, and urges their adoption through direct advocacy, campaigns, and organising members.

Girls Not Brides is a global partnership of more than 700 civil society organisations from over 90 countries committed to ending child marriage and enabling girls to fulfil their potential.Members are supported by a global secretariat with staff based in the UK and individual team members based in Dakar, Delhi and Nairobi.

Stronger together, Girls Not Brides members bring child marriage to global attention, build an understanding of what it will take to end child marriage, and call for the laws, policies and programmes that will make a difference in the life of millions of girls.

Earlier this year, Girls Not Brides launched an ambitious four-year strategic (available online).The Partnership has grown rapidly in recent years and is looking for candidates enthusiastic about amplifying recent successes.

Based in Girls Not Brides’ London office, the successful candidate’skey responsibilities will be to:

  • Analyse global policy developments on child marriage and within related sectors, and develop policy positions; write policy briefs, background notes and other materials.
  • Identify and respond to global advocacy opportunities, working with members and external stakeholders to develop common positions and strategies.
  • Work with members and provide them with support to increase their influence at the global level.
  • Develop, with other team members, specific initiatives and campaigns at the global level, integrated with regional and national-level work, particularly geared toward holding governments and other key actors accountable to implementation of commitments to end child marriage.
  • Support the integration of global policy work across the team and across the national, regional and global levels.
  • Support engagement within different development sectors.

We are looking forcandidates with a strongacademic background or professional experience in politics, international relations, human rights, gender, development or a related field, and experience of being personally effective in working directly for a civil society organisation engaged in global advocacy. Experience with global accountability campaigns highly desired.

A strong understanding of dynamics on gender and/or development issues, and an understanding of child marriage and of the key players in the women’s and children’s rights fields, are highly desirable.

We are specifically looking for candidates who can:

  • Use their knowledge of child marriage or related issues to assemble persuasive arguments, written in a compelling way.
  • Use their knowledge and experience of influencing at the global level to develop strategies and initiatives that are likely to succeed.
  • Apply logic, evidence and emotion to complex issues with multiple perspectives and still create a coherent call for action.
  • Adapt their strong written and verbal communication skills to many different audiences, reflecting the myriad of different stakeholders and contexts.
  • Listen, engage, and seek to understand the subtleties of global political debates, to then develop relevant and specific tools, resources and materials that meet the needs of member organisations to press for change.
  • Use their creativity in policy and advocacy work to generate innovative ways of making change happen at a global level.
  • Strike the balance between supporting the work of Girls Not Brides member organisations and advancing the strategic agenda of the global partnership to make progress towards ending child marriage
  • Operate independently to a high level of impact and quality, whilst also remaining agile, flexible and collaborative within and across the secretariat team.
  • Interact with people from very different backgrounds and cultures with ease and effectiveness, enabling them to seek common positions and feel ownership in their engagement.
  • Comfortable using a wide range of modern office software suites and project management tools,and has ability and willingness to learn new ones.
  • Demonstrate a knowledge of French (highly desired), Spanish, Portuguese or Arabic.

At Girls Not Brides we are committed to the wellbeing, empowerment and rights of children, and to safeguarding children from harm in all of our activities. Girls Not Brides aims to promote an environment of trust and understanding where the welfare of children is paramount. You will be expected to adhere to the Girls Not Brides Child Safeguarding Policy and its Code of Conduct and report any concerns relating to the safeguarding of children in accordance with agreed procedures.

Practicalities

Salary range: £33,000-£37,000, depending upon experience, plus a generous benefits package

Howtoapply

We are an equal opportunities employer and we welcome applications from all suitably qualified persons. Toapply,pleasesend your CVandabriefcoverletterdemonstratinghowyoumeetthe criteriaforthis position y23:00 GMT on Thursday4 May 2017clearlystating“Policy and Advocacy Officer” and yourname in thesubject line.We regretthat duetothelargenumberof applications anticipated,onlyshortlistedcandidateswillbecontacted.

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