Advocacy Specialist

The Advocacy Section coordinates a portfolio of 3 ‘flagship’ thematic advocacy priorities, as well as core humanitarian and child rights advocacy initiatives and a range of special advocacy projects and multi-country initiatives. Each priority area is managed by an advocacy lead responsible for coordinating cross-organizational teams to develop and implement global advocacy strategies, drawing on the full range of functional skills, geographic or issue-based expertise. The Global Advocacy Portfolio is overseen by a cross-divisional management group and governed by a director-level steering committee. The Advocacy Specialist (Planning and Coordination) P3 reports to the Chief of Advocacy P5 in the Division of Global Communications and Advocacy, in UNICEF’s New York Headquarters.

The Advocacy Specialist (Planning and Coordination) supports the Chief of Advocacy in the management, governance and coordination of core elements of the global advocacy portfolio. The postholder is the focal point for overall planning and coordination, monitoring and evaluation, knowledge management, governance processes and functions as a Global Advocacy Secretariat for UNICEF’s portfolio of multi-sectoral Advocacy priorities and flagship campaigns.

Key functions, accountabilities and related duties/tasks:

Summary of key functions/accountabilities:

• Global Advocacy Planning
• Global Advocacy Governance
• Global Advocacy Knowledge Management
• Global Advocacy Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning
• Global Advocacy Networking & Partnering
• Budget oversight
• Others

DESCRIPTION OF THE ASSIGNMENT:

Global Advocacy Planning:

• Act as the focal point for advocacy planning. Working with the Strategic Planning team and supporting the Chief of Advocacy and Global Advocacy Leads, to ensure strategies and theories of change are translated into annual workplans that facilitate effective and efficient delivery of activities that lead to measurable results.

Global Advocacy Governance:

• Support the Chief of Advocacy and other colleagues to function as a Global Advocacy Secretariat, by developing and implementing systems and processes for strategic governance, oversight and decision-making around core elements of the global advocacy portfolio to ensure the effective delivery of agreed-upon advocacy strategies and workplans.

Global Advocacy Knowledge Management:

• Working with colleagues across the communications & advocacy teams – develop and implement plans to collect, compile, produce, present and disseminate knowledge and information products for the Global Advocacy Priorities, such as: Sharepoint pages for sharing advocacy strategies; visualized theories of change; advocacy resources and news; campaign brochures; internal newsletters or bulletins; internal impact reports and others.

Global Advocacy Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning:

• Working with UNICEF’s Global Advocacy Leads, and the Strategic Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation teams, collaborate to establish baselines and performance indicators against which results are regularly monitored; coordinate the collection & dissemination of M&E results; coordinate the collection and analysis of ‘lessons learned’ to support ongoing improvement and effectiveness.

Global Advocacy Networking & Partnering:

• Support the Chief of Advocacy and Global Advocacy Leads to develop and maintain relationships within key networks of global advocacy experts and influencers, including by coordinating engagements with advocacy speakers to help our teams stay up to date with.

Budget oversight:

• Budget oversight of OMP budget and OR grants including donor reporting in close coordination with grant technical leads and admin staff.

Others:

• Represent the Chief of Advocacy in meetings and other engagements with stakeholders as needed and appropriate

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

Education: 

• An advanced university degree (i.e. Master’s degree or equivalent) is required in one of the following fields: Public Policy, Political Science, International Relations, International Development, Public Administration, Economics, Communication or related fields.
• A first level university degree (i.e. Bachelor’s degree or equivalent) with an additional two years (a total of 7 years) of experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Work Experience: 

• Experience required: At least five (5) years of progressively responsible and relevant professional work experience in advocacy or a related field.
• Demonstrated experience in design and management of projects and programmes of work with theories of change and specific, measurable and timebound objectives and performance indicators.
• Demonstrated experience in designing and implementing governance and decision-making processes and managing senior stakeholder relationships.
• Demonstrated experience in designing and implementing monitoring, evaluation and learning plans.
• Demonstrated experience in designing and implementing knowledge management and internal communications strategies, including proficiency with using Sharepoint and other relevant digital management and communications tools and platforms.
• Strong communicator with emphasis on being able to present complex strategies and workplans in succinct, engaging and memorable ways to non-expert audiences.
• Experience in advocacy at the international level is an asset.
• Language Requirements: Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) is an asset.

Source: https://jobs.unicef.org/cw/en-us/job/574180