Senior Policy and Advocacy Officer

International Alert is seeking a brilliant Senior Policy and Advocacy Officer to bring about policy change for a more peaceful world.

This is an exciting role that drives the delivery of International Alert’s policy and advocacy work at a global level, and supports our country teams to deliver the policy change needed to build peace locally and nationally. Reporting directly to the Director of Alert’s Global Peacebuilding Unit, you will develop global policy positions and advocacy plans across a range of peacebuilding themes and portfolios, linking our work with communities in conflict contexts to global influencing priorities.

Your focus will be on global structures and institutions that can effect positive policy change, and you will play an important role in the UK advocacy space. You will offer support and guidance to our country teams as they develop their own policy and influencing strategies, and link these to our global advocacy work, identifying ways to influence global policy change to contribute to country objectives.

You will be a great communicator and strategic thinker, with good judgment and a calm and organised approach. You’ll be an excellent people person, able to work with people from a range of backgrounds, nationalities and locations, and the ability to engage with decision-makers at all levels. You’ll have experience of policy development in a related field and be eager to learn and apply your existing skills and knowledge to contribute to Alert’s policy expertise. You’ll love developing and implementing thoughtful advocacy strategy and campaigns, and you’ll be passionate about building a more peaceful world.

Role duties and responsibilities:

Global Influencing

• Work with the Director of the Global Peacebuilding Unit and closely with the Communications and Media teams to formulate and deliver Alert’s global influencing objectives based on the organisation’s strategic goals and devise the global advocacy plan for influencing key policy actors
• Understand Alert’s role as an international peacebuilding organisation in the global North contexts we seek to target (including but not limited to the UK, Netherlands, Sweden, US, Ireland and UN) and monitor for political changes, policy developments and events that Alert may want to target for advocacy, e.g. conferences, debates or working group meetings. Communicate these internally to colleagues
• Identify, plan and deliver advocacy activities that target Alert’s key stakeholders in the global North to achieve the influencing objectives – this role involves leading on some projects and supporting on others
• Work closely with the Global Peacebuilding Unit to support them to shape their policy positions and global messages and deliver influencing objectives on climate, gender, peace economies and peace integration
• Monitor for impact of advocacy activities and share learning with the organisation
• Budget management of discrete projects

Amplifying advocacy from our peacebuilding contexts

• Work with Alert’s country teams to identify specific advocacy opportunities that connect Alert’s work on the local level to global developments, develop a plan with clear goals, stakeholders and timelines, deliver the project and monitor impact

• Accompany and support country teams on advocacy approaches to stakeholders in the global north

• Work with the resource development team to integrate advocacy and communications activities and goals into programme bids, design and budgeting

• Develop and deliver advocacy training and learning resources

Representation and relationship management

• Represent Alert and build relationships with donor governments, international institutions (e.g. UN, World Bank), and global civil society partners and networks that support delivery of Alert’s strategic objectives

• Act as liaison to the networks Alert is an active member of, including Gender Action for Peace and Security (GAPS) UK and British Overseas Network for Development (BOND) Conflict Policy Group;

• Monitor other networks (e.g. European Peacebuilding Liaison Office (EPLO), Alliance for Peacebuilding (AfP)) and identify opportunities to engage when it would support delivery of Alert’s global advocacy objectives

Contribute to the effective working of Alert generally

• Provide oral and written policy inputs in support of the communications team and of high-level advocacy engagement with our target audiences

• Undertake rapid turn-around policy and research tasks and collaborate with thematic and country teams as needed

• Provide written or oral briefings to senior staff members as required

• Organise events as required

• Other responsibilities as may be required.

Please note that the above are just some of the role requirements. For the full requirements, please click here to view the job description.