Pan Africa Advocacy Director

Job Description

Pan Africa Advocacy Director

Contract: Permanent, Full Time

Location: The role can be based in one of the following WaterAid Country Programmes – Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, or Nigeria– subject to right-to-work eligibility in the respective countries.

Salary & Benefits: Salaries and benefits for different countries will vary in line with the location of the successful candidate and depending on experience.
See further details below:
Role-based in:

• Ethiopia, Addis Ababa, Grade H: 66,911 – 99,677 USD per annum, plus benefits
• Kenya, Nairobi, Grade H: 864,273 – 10, 802,650 KES per annum, plus benefits
• Nigeria, Abuja, Grade H: 24,487,548 – 31,097,787 NGN per annum, plus benefits
• Ghana, Accra, Grade H:674,299 – 1,078,294 GHS per annum, plus benefits

About WaterAid:
Want to use your skills in policy influencing and advocacy work to play a vital role in making clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene normal for everyone everywhere?

We need passionate, creative and dedicated people. In return, you will be encouraged and empowered to be yourself at your very best. Together, we will make a bigger difference.

Join WaterAid as Pan Africa Policy and Advocacy Director to change normal for millions of people so they can unlock their potential, break free from poverty and change their lives for good. On top of that you’ll be joining a 2020 Great Place to Work award-winning organisation.

About the Team:
This position will be based in WaterAid’s Global Policy and Campaigns Department (GPAC), line managed by the Executive Director, and will work closely with other members of the department to achieve the Pan Africa Influencing objectives.

About the Role:
As our Pan Africa Policy and Advocacy Director you will anchor, co-ordinate and elevate WaterAid’s policy influencing and advocacy work towards tackling WASH issues at the continental level. You will develop key relationships with WASH stakeholders to influence climate resilient WASH programming and WASH sector financing to contribute to the WaterAid Global Strategy Aims.

The position holder will link policy and practice to coordinate advocacy and influencing with key regional, governmental and non-governmental institutions and networks, in collaboration with key WaterAid Policy Leads for Water, Sanitation and Climate Change. Key institutions that this role will engage closely with to attain the objectives include: the African Union, AMCOW, the Africa Development Bank (AfDB), WHO Africa Regional Office; WASH sector funding initiatives like the Africa Adaptation Fund, Africa Climate Fund, Africa Sanitation Fund and other key continental WASH development Partners as relevant.

In this role, you will lead WaterAid’s Pan African influencing and advocacy work in the following ways:

Strategic planning and management

• Facilitate the development and implementation of the Pan Africa Advocacy Strategy working in collaboration with GPAC, Regional Directors (RDs), Regional Advocacy Managers (RAMs) and with the whole of WaterAid.
• Review progress against strategic objectives and ensure WaterAid’s Pan Africa advocacy activities contribute to the attainment of the organisation’s Global AIMs especially climate resilient WASH and sector financing.
• Ensure that WaterAid’s strategies and plans link practice and policy to maximize our impact, maintaining a strong relationship with the Global Advocacy Priorities (GAPs) within regional plans and activities, in collaboration with the Africa region RAMs.

Operational Management

• Prepare and lead the implementation of annual and medium-term operational plans to deliver on the Pan Africa strategy and ensure the plans are agreed with the Africa regions.
• Lead the development of strategic partnerships for WaterAid’s Pan Africa work in collaboration with International Affairs and Institutional Funding Partnership to target decision making on WASH and climate adaptation financing.

Advocacy, influencing and campaigning

• Identify key strategic opportunities at the continental level within the WASH and Climate change sector and in the wider Africa development sector that WaterAid seeks to influence with a special focus on AMCOW and AfDB.
• Provide leadership and support to RAMs to enable them to influence the advocacy agenda for Climate resilient WASH and WASH financing.

About You:
Education

• First Degree (preferably taught), and post graduate degree or professional qualification or training in a relevant field (e.g. development studies, social sciences, humanities, political science or public administration).
• Significant exposure to WASH sector issues through formal education and/or short training courses and workshop.

Experience

• At least 10 years substantial experience of working in Africa at senior management levels, of which some of the experience could be in WASH, environment, health or education sectors.
• Substantial experience of delivering successful high impact advocacy strategies in Africa and a strong track record of building effective relationships with high level decisionmakers.
• Experience of collaborating with key decision-makers in official bilateral or multilateral donor organizations.
• A record of working with research and academic institutions to deliver relevant evidence capable of influencing policy making processes.
• Experience of working in collaboration with and/or managing civil society networks, or a regional institution or regional programme in Africa.

Closing date: Applications will close at 23:59 on Monday 20th November 2023. Shortlisting and interviews may take place on a rolling basis and the application process will close if a suitable candidate is found prior to the advertised closing date. Availability for the first interview is required on Wednesday 29th and Thursday 30th November 2023.

How to Apply: To see the full job pack, please click ‘Apply’. Please apply by submitting your CV and a cover letter in one document in either Word Document or PDF format.

Pre-employment screening: In order to apply for this post, you must be able to demonstrate your eligibility to work in the respective country. All pre-employment checks will be carried out according to the applicable laws in the respective country.

Our Commitment

An inclusive workplace:

We are committed to being an organisation where everyone is included, respected, and empowered to be their best. We represent and celebrate our staff, partners and everyone we work with, and create a culture where everyone can reach their full potential.

Equal opportunities:

We are an equal opportunity, disability-confident employer and are dedicated to achieving the highest standards of diversity, equity and inclusion. We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds, beliefs, customs, traditions and ways of life. This includes, but is not limited to, race, gender, disability, age, sexual orientation, religion, national or social origin, health status, and economic or social situation.

Safeguarding:

We are also committed to protecting everyone we come into contact with. We have a zero-tolerance approach to abuse of power, privilege or trust across our global work, and any form of inappropriate behaviour, discrimination, abuse, bullying, harassment, or exploitation. Safeguarding the people and communities we work with, our staff, volunteers and anyone working on our behalf is our top priority, and we take our responsibilities extremely seriously.