Advocacy Manager at Action Against Hunger | ACF-International

Location: Abuja, FCT
Start date: As Soon As Possible
Direct Line Manager: Country Director

Objective 1

• Lead and manage the implementation of the mission’s advocacy and communications strategy at Federal and State levels.

Tasks and Responsibilities:

• Lead on the implementation of the country-specific advocacy and communications strategy in close collaboration with other Coordinators and HQ advisors ensuring alignment with ACF’s global and regional Advocacy strategy and objectives.
• Implement the advocacy work plan with specific advocacy and communications objectives and activities, as well as a calendar and budget.
• Develop monitoring and evaluation tools that assesses the impact and cost effectiveness of advocacy and communications activities and helps in the development of new activities
• Track, set up a calendar and guide the management of key advocacy opportunities and targets at regional, Federal and State levels.
• Incorporate advocacy and communications objectives within mission’s proposals and reports, to ensure the integration of advocacy in regular programming and implementation of innovative advocacy activities.
• Work with Field teams identify advocacy related issues based on program delivery including the development of a plan for achieving their priority advocacy objectives in both an emergency and development context.
• Analyze the situation on advocacy issues: Collect and update the data, follow political, financial, and administrative, States, Federal or international dates, follow the positioning of relevant parties and their changes.
• Take lead on the development of advocacy products such as human interest stories, policy briefings, speeches, talking points, letters, submissions and other advocacy and communication materials
• Engage with the field offices, regional office and the HQ advocacy offices on shared advocacy messaging and campaigns
• Ensure advocacy and communications teams at field offices are in line with the mission’s advocacy and communications strategy and contribute to achieving its set objectives.
• Overall responsibility for the management of ACF’s social media accounts.

Objective 2

• Collaboration and representation in advocacy fora

Tasks and Responsibilities:

• Develop a mapping using a power analysis of key decision makers (in the ACF operational areas) for nutrition sector (both nutrition-specific and nutrition-sensitive interventions)
• Develop and coordinating partnerships with other parties on advocacy activities (NGO, civil society) and facilitating joint advocacy activities.
• Engage in networking, building relations with Federal and States stakeholders to continually inform, challenge and improve advocacy messages and tactics
• Represent ACF and contribute to advocacy related working groups (INGO and UN Working groups & task forces) and other coordination meetings.
• Undertake advocacy and lobbying as required with in-country Federal and States decision-making bodies and stakeholders.
• Support the Country Director (or Deputy CD) in establishing strategic contact with the media in order to have channels for advocacy messages and representation.
• Engage in networking, building relations with Federal and States stakeholders to continually inform, challenge and improve advocacy messages and tactics.
• Coordinate the collection of evidence from ACF programs in the country according to opportunities to influence.

Objective 3

• Capacity building and repository of information

Tasks and Responsibilities:

• Provide technical support and capacity building to state level advocacy and communications states leads.
• Train programme staff on communication and advocacy as per the capacity needs identified.
• Responsible for regular progress reports on advocacy activities, outcomes, lessons learned, best practices and challenges for the mission.
• Create repository of advocacy and communication initiatives, tools and documents and support colleagues in identification, documenting and drafting of best practices and lessons learned from ACF interventions.
• Provide context specific, field-level information to regional and global advocacy efforts.

Internal & External Relationship
Internal:

• Country Director: Direct manager – technical support – exchange of information.
• Deputy Country Directors and Technical Coordinators: Technical support
• Program Managers: Exchange of information and collaboration on program, operational and issues
• Media and Communications Officer: Collaboration and exchange of information on media and communications agenda
• State level Advocacy and Communications teams: Work very closely to provide information, specifically around challenges and concerns within the context, stakeholder engagement, program delivery and humanitarian response.

External:

• Governmental and non-governmental partners: exchange of information, coordination, training, supervision, influence on choice of technical options
• International and Local Aid Organizations: exchange of information
• Donor representatives: hosting field visits, exchange of information
• Cluster and other coordination forums

Position Requirements
Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s Degree in Development related fields, with at least 2-3 years of relevant work experience in development and humanitarian. A Master’s degree will be added advantage.
• Minimum of 2 years experience in an Advocacy position
• Experience in working with coalitions and within multi-agency forums.
• Engaging with governments and/or multilateral institutions at different levels.

Skills & Experience
Essential:

• Credibility to lobby, network, influence and represent ACF Nigeria at all levels.
• Must be disciplined and able to work autonomously and arrive at decisions and conclusions with minimal guidance.
• Proven ability to learn and adaptpProfessional, motivated, open, creative, mature, responsible, flexible and, culturally sensitive
• Previous experience with advocacy or communication duties
• Microsoft Office Skills (Outlook, Excel, Power Point, Word)
• Willing and able to be based and travel regularly within remote areas, where services are limited.
• Excellent writing/editing, analytical and verbal communication skills
• Fluency in English and Hausa/Kanuri (written and spoken)
• Good written and oral communication skills
• Commitment to AAH mission, values and policy
• Familiar with Northeast Nigeria context

Preferred:

• Knowledge and practical experience of general humanitarian standards and principles such as Sphere Standards, HAP, and the Red Cross Code of Conduct, Do No Harm and conflict sensitivity.
• Up to date knowledge of the humanitarian discourse around key concepts such as devolution, resilience, LRRD
• Advanced knowledge of donors’ guidelines/procedures
• Excellent knowledge of Microsoft Package and Adobe photoshop
• Good understanding of all three ACF’s technical sectors is desirable