Responsibilities

• Strategically steer the co-design and coordinated implementation of an advocacy agenda and collective influencing strategy together with FCDO and Anchor Partner colleagues to influence traditional funders, donors, philanthropist and the wider sector to change who and how they fund.
• Spearhead and drive initiatives with internal and external partners to secure tangible policy and advocacy outcomes around the power of communities and organisations.
• Identify proactive and reactive opportunities for effective influencing of international programming.
• Represent Comic Relief and the Shifting the Power programme at high level national and global forums, conferences, and panels, articulating the case for locally led development to high-level audiences.
• Influence key UK ministers, parliamentarians, and high-level decision-makers through strategic engagement, briefings, and targeted advocacy interventions.
• Engage with internal and external partners to secure tangible policy and advocacy outcomes, including measurable changes in donor funding practices.
• Oversee strategic engagement with local and national partners in priority countries, including delivery of advocacy strategy work-plans for Ghana, Zambia and Malawi.
• Guide and advise partner organisations to build and sustain local platforms and alliances.
• Design, lead and deliver the StP Communications Strategy, including setting communications objectives based on clear audience strategy and landscape mapping.
• Lead on the development of compelling communications materials to influence change, engaging with key internal to generate tailored products for target audiences and events e.g. policy makers, global meetings, social media.

Requirements

• Significant experience of leading strategic advocacy initiatives within the international development context
• Strong experience developing and delivering high level influencing and communications strategies
• Strong experience of international and domestic policy influencing in the Global South and in the UK, with a firm understanding and commitment to a more equitable development system and shifting power
• Strong interpersonal skills and political awareness, with the ability to influence targets and build and sustain excellent relationships
• A creative and strategic thinker with strong analytical skills and a proven ability to inspire change
• A confident, collaborative, cross-functional professional with an engaging personal communications style
• Strong planner with outstanding attention to detail and time management
• Highly effective communication skills, written and oral
• A proactive, positive and fun professional with high resilience
• Strong empathy and sensitivity to working in a diversity of cultural contexts, with commitment to EDI and tackling social Injustice and prejudice

Preferred

• Experience of working directly with African Civil Society organisations and understanding of local development contexts in Ghana, Zambia or Malawi
• Established networks within multilateral organisations, philanthropic foundations and the charity sector
• Significant experience with media/ communications partnerships and public engagement campaigns that shift mainstream narratives
• Knowledge of UK Aid funding mechanisms and experience of working with government funded programmes
• Understanding of narrative change and the decolonisation discourse in international development and shifting power dynamics
• Digital communications experience including social media strategy and measurement of engagement metrics
• Knowledge of and experience measuring impact of influencing efforts