Program Officer, Advocacy and Policy Influencing at Education as a Vaccine (EVA)

Are you a youth leader?

Are you passionate about social justice?

Do you want to support adolescents and young people in their advocacy for a better quality of life for themselves and their peers?

Organization Unit:  Programs

Reports to:              Team Lead, Advocacy and Policy Influencing

Based at:                   Abuja (HQ)

Working Relationships:

The Program Officer (PO), Advocacy and Policy Influencing will work directly with the Team Lead, Advocacy and Policy influencing to strategically contribute to the design and implementation EVA’s policy and advocacy work. She/he will contribute to the management of the coalitions and initiatives in relevant advocacy alliances and forums, and coordinate EVA’s participation in social accountability and advocacy-related communication activities.  The PO will also liaise with counterparts in other field offices for coordination and will work with the program assistants, interns and volunteers in the Advocacy and Policy Influencing Team.

Time Requirements: Full time with a minimum of 45 hours per week. 

Key Task and Responsibilities:

• Assist in the day-to-day implementation of Advocacy and Policy Influencing program team activities at community, state, national, regional and global levels.
• Provide technical inputs into the design and implementation of project activities, development of advocacy strategies, delivery of capacity building activities, development and review of advocacy tools, conducting social mobilization activities and development of relevant communication materials.
• Support EVA’s advocacy agenda and play a key role in implementing EVA’s policy analyses, advocacy initiatives and events and related communications activities.
• With support from the Team Lead, identify, cultivate, and expand a network of key political allies, including relevant Nigerian government agencies, key lawmakers, staffers, advocates, NGOs/FBOs, multilateral, and the private sector to advance the policy and advocacy agenda of EVA and the coalitions the organization belongs to.
• Track project inputs, outputs and outcomes using EVA’s monitoring and evaluation tools.
• Contribute to technical briefs and publication to be shared with external stakeholders.
• Support the development of organizational newsletter, updates and annual reports.
• Contribute to the development of proposals and concept papers.
• Manage financial information and reporting requirements of EVA policy and advocacy-related grants.
• Support supervision and oversight of fellows and interns on EVA’s advocacy team.
• Handle any other task or responsibility assigned by the Team Lead, Advocacy and Policy Influencing.

Qualifications

Degree in Social Sciences, Social Work, Community Development, Public Health, Public policy, International affairs or any related field.
Minimum of 2 years relevant volunteer/work experience in the creation and implementation of policy and advocacy initiatives

Skills & Experience

• Fluency in written and spoken English
• Excellent communication skills
• Experience working with Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) and Humanitarian context
• Familiarity with policies influencing and related to sexual and reproductive health and gender issues especially with regards to children, adolescent girls and young women in Nigeria
• Good networking and alliance building skills
• Able to work under time pressure and long hours whenever required;
• A high level of social-cultural sensitivity when dealing with colleagues, partners and beneficiaries.
• Excellent interpersonal skills, including diplomacy and tact, in order to be able to liaise effectively; with a range of stakeholders, including NGO partners, community leaders, beneficiaries, key population and government officials;
• The ability for creative problem solving and innovation in complex and /or restrictive working environments
• User-level computer literacy (Office Package, Outlook, etc.)
• Willingness to travel