Senior Advocacy Manager
Join WaterAid Sweden as a Senior Advocacy Manager to work in a vibrant organisation that makes a difference. It's an exciting time to join our dynamic and growing Policy and Advocacy Team and lead our influencing work on WASH and public health in Sweden.
Background
With 10 years to achieve Agenda 2030, the SDG 6 targets on clean water, decent sanitation and good hygiene are among the furthest behind. Achieving universal, sustainable WASH will require a major mobilisation of resources, public demand and political will. WaterAid Sweden’s Policy and Advocacy team works to address this challenge by influencing the prioritisation of WASH in Sweden’s international development agenda.
The Role
Reporting to the Director of Policy and Advocacy, you will play a crucial role in shaping the way we influence the Swedish Government, Parliament, and Sida. This work will be based on WaterAid’s global advocacy priorities and an expert understanding of how WASH contributes to public health.
You will be responsible for developing and delivering WASH advocacy strategies from a public health perspective while playing an active role in the wider work of the Policy and Advocacy Team in Sweden.
Accountabilities
1. Advocacy Leadership
- Together with advocacy colleagues, lead the development of advocacy strategies to influence the Swedish Government, Parliament and Sida. This involves contextualising global advocacy priorities, with a specific focus on the prioritisation of WASH in Sweden’s international development agenda, from a public health perspective.
- Maintain knowledge and analysis of the policy and practice of selected key targets in Sweden to inform the delivery of WaterAid’s advocacy work.
- Develop and strengthen existing partnerships with civil society allies and networks and other interested actors, develop joint advocacy objectives, campaigns and action and collaborate over strategic opportunities to advance and consolidate the WASH voice in Sweden.
2. Advocacy Delivery
- Coordinate and lead on the delivery of key advocacy strategies, working closely with advocacy and policy colleagues in Sweden and globally, as well as with communications, strategic partnerships and programme funding colleagues.
- Be responsible for coordinating, and sometimes producing, effective policy or campaign products to support advocacy efforts. • Plan, organise and coordinate strategic advocacy engagement at priority campaign moments and events.
- Provide occasional support to EU and UN advocacy colleagues.
3. Teamwork:
- Be an active member of the Policy and Advocacy Team as we scale up our ambition on WASH advocacy in Sweden and the Nordics across several thematic areas.
- Work closely with advocacy, communications, programme funding, fundraising and strategic partnership colleagues to identify opportunities to maximise the impact of WaterAid advocacy objectives towards priority targets.
- Coordinate with WaterAid’s global teams as part of delivering on work priorities, both learning from and contributing to the depth of experience across the wider organisation.
- Build excellent working relationships with Country Programmes and Federation members to understand the scope for amplifying advocacy efforts and rooting our messaging in on-the-ground experience.
Person Specification
Essential skills
- At least 7 years of advocacy experience, demonstrated by examples of strategic impact on policy change and experience of using policy, research, lobbying, public campaigning, media and digital work to influence a political agenda.
- Experience in influencing policy changes processes across: Swedish - International, public health and/or WASH development arenas.
- A keen political ‘savviness’ and an awareness of the potential for achieving political change, with proven experience of engaging with and influencing decision makers in Sweden’s government and parliament.
- Extensive experience of the techniques and skills required for effective advocacy project development, strategy development, and management.
- Experience as a media spokesperson and ability to give talks, webinars and participate in, and moderate, external panel discussions.
- Imaginative, creative and accurate written and verbal communications skills in Swedish and English (both are working languages), and experience of producing advocacy materials and resources.
- Excellent analytical and critical thinking skills.
- Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to successfully manage complex and sensitive organisational relationships to achieve cross-organisational, collectively agreed goals.
- Ability to work under own initiative, self-starter, self-motivated.
- A postgraduate degree, or university degree, or equivalent work experience with experience in the multisectoral factors contributing to public health.
- Ability to travel to WaterAid’s global teams (predominantly based in our London office), Country Programmes or international events as required, up to 4 weeks per year (once Covid-19 related travel bans are lifted).
- Commitment to WaterAid’s values and a working style that reflects these.
Desirable
- Understands how the different Swedish Health Agencies relate and ideally have an established network within those agencies.
- Experience of working in an organisation or alliance on both the domestic and international level to achieve change.
- Experience of budget-tracking and understanding how spending on WASH changes over time.
Application and Notes
This is a permanent position. The WaterAid office is situated in Solna.
Please send your CV and a personal letter to jobba@wateraid.se by 5th October 2020. Interviews will be held in late-October, in English, and the process will include a presentation to the interview panel and a short test exercise to assess writing skills. Further details will be provided to successful interview candidates prior to interview. The interview process will accommodate Covid-19 restrictions.
Feel free to email any questions regarding the position to email jobba@wateraid.se or contact Virginia Newton-Lewis, Interim Director of Policy and Advocacy, on +46 7536799 or by email: virginianewtonlewis@wateraid.org.
We look forward to receiving your application!