Advocacy and Campaigns Manager - Beirut

ROLE PURPOSE:

The purpose of the role is to manage and support the implementation of the CO Policy, Advocacy and Communications strategy ensuring Campaigns are aligned to supporting the priority programmatic areas, such as education, child protection, social protection, and humanitarian space/operational space issues.  The Advocacy and Campaigns Manager will lead on local, national and global level campaigns engagement with and for children, working in close collaboration with program colleagues and the Policy, Advocacy and Communications (PAC) Director, in accordance with the CO Advocacy Strategy and the Cat 2 Response Advocacy Strategy. The role will also support the risk mapping, mitigation and management on issues identified as most relevant for the CO, and develop campaign strategies and strategic planning in response to those issues.

Across these functions, the post-holder will work closely with the Regional Office and across the Save the Children movement, particularly with the Save Our Education team, on social protection, and protecting children in conflict. The post-holder will be key in ensuring child participatory advocacy and campaigning activities across strategic priorities, ensuring current and consistent messaging, and identifying and building relationships with key stakeholders including strategic local partners.

In the event of a major humanitarian emergency, the role holder will be expected to work outside the normal role profile and be able to vary working hours accordingly.

CHILD SAFEGUARDING:

Level 3:  the post holder will have contact with children and/or young people either frequently (e.g. once a week or more) or intensively (e.g. four days in one month or more or overnight)

SCOPE OF ROLE:

Reports to: Policy, Advocacy and Communications Director 

Staff directly reporting to this post: TBD

Role Dimensions: Lebanon CO is a high complexity country, multi-member interest, with an annual budget of around $20m, and approximately 200 staff

KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY:

Advocacy Strategy Development and Implementation

- Work with CO PAC Director and in collaboration with others at SCI country, region and global levels in overseeing and implementing the country office’s Policy and Advocacy and Communications strategy.

- Regularly revise, strengthen, and implement Country Office’s overall advocacy and campaigns priorities identifying policy and practice change in line with the CO Country Strategic Plan (CSP).

- Develop and implement the Country Office’s campaigns strategy, with a focus on CO sectoral priorities ensuring coordination and engagement across all departments to deliver on the strategic objectives, with support from the RO and the backstop.

- Based on Save the Children (SC) programme priorities and identified priority issues for children, develop key advocacy messages and identify targets from lessons learned, assessments, research, and evidence gained through project implementation.

- In collaboration and support from relevant CO functions, support the plan for national level advocacy and influencing as part of the overall advocacy strategy, involving partners, technical experts, and national actors where appropriate.

- Maintain a strategic overview of issues effecting children’s rights in Lebanon, monitoring trends in the external environment and inputting and/or leading as required to organisational strategy and planning processes, in coordination with other team members.

- Work proactively with Save the Children Lebanon’s partners on joint advocacy, media, and communications objectives and support partners to identify and address capacity strengthening opportunities, both for partners and wider civil society in Lebanon.

- Define key advocacy opportunities and targets at national and regional levels, if relevant, and if needed mobilize international advocacy support for these working closely and supporting the PAC Director.

- Support a strong power analysis of the relevant actors and where opportunities for influence and leverage lie to inform the national advocacy strategy.

- Ensure coordination and engagement across all departments to deliver on the strategic objectives. Including:

- Providing regular updates to relevant teams on campaign and advocacy progress

- Support to the PAC Director identifying issues affecting children’s rights in Lebanon through new research and information sharing with peer organisations

- Support the PAC Director and programme teams on the development of advocacy briefs (public and private), impact studies, and reports to ensure visibility and strategic external communications

- Ensure Lebanon’s advocacy and campaign priorities are integrated with regional and global priorities and the CO remains visible to other internal stakeholders by working closely with the regional AMC team

- Train national partners on advocacy and support them in development of their advocacy strategies Support programme teams with advocacy training, and feedback on advocacy products/deliverable.

Producing Advocacy Products

- Support the PAC Director to draft and produce advocacy products as outlined in the advocacy strategy for use at the country, regional and international levels including supporting the national advocacy strategy and Cat 2 response strategy in country.

- Ensure that all advocacy messages, documents, and strategies are evidence-based, drawn from field experience and assessments, of high quality and effective, and are approved by the Country Director and the Regional Advocacy Media and Communications Director. When necessary ensure advocacy products are signed-off according to the SCI sign-off procedures.

External Engagement and Influencing

- Develop good knowledge of local and national government structures (in Lebanon and in key Member capitals), parliamentary and political processes and key decision-making structures and how to influence them.

- Undertake a range of lobbying, communications, and other activities to inform and persuade policy makers, including donors and politicians, of the value of SC’s policy recommendations, working closely with PDQ leads and the PAC Director.

- Support the development of systems for research, analysis, and documentation that underpin evidence based advocacy and influencing at national and international levels.

- Develop dissemination and communication strategies for key advocacy messages, together with communications colleagues at RO, SCI and members.

- Produce or manage the production of reports, briefing papers, and presentations for internal and external audiences, as directed by the PAC Director.

Coordination & Representation

- Develop and cultivate strategic relationships with other agencies engaged in advocacy and policy work in Lebanon.

- Develop and maintain a network of external contacts with key individuals in the government, donors, NGO sector, civil society, and the media.

- Represent SC at various policy forums and advocacy opportunities at national and international levels, as directed.

- Act as a spokesperson for SC to a variety of external audiences including policy makers and the media, as directed.

- Liaise closely with staff in the Policy, Advocacy, and Campaigns units within the Members, the Regional Office, and at SCI, and other fora to integrate and coordinate advocacy and campaigns change initiatives throughout SCI members.

- Develop strong links with the Members programmes for advocacy / awareness raising globally, supporting the PAC Director to liaise with staff across the movement.

Campaigns Materials and Delivery

- Develop an integrated campaigns plan aligned with the country strategic plan.

- Manage the implementation of Save the Children global campaign ‘Save Our Education’ in Lebanon as a focus country, working closely with the Regional Campaign and Advocacy Manager.

- Support the programmes teams where relevant, to commission and/or conduct strategic research development to support campaigning efforts including evidence-based timely data and content.

- Oversee the delivery of planned campaigns including the development of campaign materials and all aspects of implementation, including public mobilization, community engagement, and child and youth engagement.

- Support where possible, the strengthening of partnership efforts around campaigning for child rights, that is relevant to the advocacy and campaigns strategy and plans.

- Ensure children are meaningfully engaged in advocacy and campaign activities wherever    possible, including building systems and capacity in child-led and collaborative child campaigning.

- Lead on child participation efforts to ensure that voices of children are integral to SC’s advocacy and campaigning.

- Be the focal point for programme teams and field management in implementing national and/or governorate campaigns, including social media campaigns, and support programme and operations teams to incorporate child-led campaigning and advocacy activities in programming activities.

- Provide technical support to project leads and field offices for popular mobilisation, partner engagement and social media.

- Relying on key advocacy and campaign priorities, collate, analyse and disseminate information within the organization.

Integrated Program Support

- Support programme leadership to articulate their top priority advocacy or campaigns priorities in line with the Country Office Strategic Plan.

- Ensure clear links and mutual reinforcement between programmatic approaches and CO campaigns, and links external advocacy strategies where appropriate.

- Write regular progress reports as needed, to keep the CO and regional team updated, and contribute to the Regional advocacy updates for the HAWG as required. Ensure that SC responds appropriately to emergencies, providing policy analysis and support around humanitarian space issues, and support the Comms focal point to meet emergency comms requirements, including sitreps, fact sheets, updates and other required products.

- Perform other tasks as required to ensure the smooth running of the country programme.

QUALIFICATIONS, EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS:

Essential

- At least 5 years experience in a humanitarian or development environment, preferably leading advocacy and policy change in the Middle East.

- Fluency in writing and presentation skills in English and Arabic required

- Prior management experience working in emergency response contexts or fragile states

- Significant prior experience working in advocacy on humanitarian issues, child rights, human rights, and/or development issues.

- Experience of influencing and advocacy work including lobbying, policy development and information provision in humanitarian issues

- Experience in developing and implementing humanitarian advocacy and campaigns strategies

- Demonstrated ability to develop and lead research, surveys, and other activities oriented towards developing positions and evidence base

- Highly developed communication skills both written and verbal in order to establish effective relationships with a wide variety of internal and external audiences including at a geographical distance.

- Knowledge of child rights and international humanitarian law

- High-level analytical and strategic thinking skills

- Cultural awareness and ability to build relationships quickly with a wide variety of people

- Experience in managing risks associated with advocacy and communications in high-risk settings, including in developing risk management plans and mitigation measures

- Advanced understanding of protection issues arising from a crisis setting, impact on protected populations, and implications for humanitarian aid agencies

- Ability and willingness to dramatically change work practices and hours, and work with incoming surge teams, in the event of emergencies

- Commitment to Save the Children values

Desirable

- Experience working for an international humanitarian organisation in Lebanon (or the Middle East) preferred

- Experience with programmes, programme development, proposal writing, or implementation a plus

- Experience in coordination of various stakeholders a plus

- Experience solving complex issues through analysis

- Proven skills in media and communication work, including interviews on Radio and TV

- Experience in coaching, capacity building and supporting the development of a team, including supporting junior members of staff to deliver high-quality output

Additional Job Responsibilities

The duties and responsibilities as set out above are not exhaustive and the role holder may be required to carry out additional duties within reasonableness of their level of skills and experience.

Equal Opportunities

The role holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with the SCI Equal Opportunities and Diversity policies and procedures.  Persons with disabilities are encouraged to apply.

Child Safeguarding

We need to keep children safe so our selection process, which includes rigorous background checks, reflects our commitment to the protection of children from abuse.

Health and Safety

The role holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with SCI Health and Safety policies and procedures.