Policy & Advocacy Advisor at FHI 360

Job Description

• Alive & Thrive is an initiative to save lives, prevent illness, and ensure healthy growth and development through improved breastfeeding and complementary feeding practices. In its first five years (2009 to 2014), A&T demonstrated that innovative approaches to improving feeding practices could be delivered with impact and at scale in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, and Viet Nam.
• Alive & Thrive continues its work there and is supporting others to scale up nutrition by applying and adapting tested, proven approaches and tools in Burkina Faso, India, Southeast Asia, and Nigeria.
• Alive & Thrive is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the governments of Canada and Ireland.

Job Summary / Responsibilities
Basic Functions:

• In Nigeria, the Alive & Thrive Policy & Advocacy Advisor will develop and implement strategic communications and advocacy plans to improve support for infant and young child nutrition among policymakers and opinion leaders in the public, NGO, and commercial sectors at the national level, and specifically in Kaduna and Lagos states.
• Work will include messaging and earned media, advocacy trainings and workshops, outreach to issue champions and opinion elite, and coordinating advocacy meetings and events at the national and states’ levels.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Develop and implement a strategic communications and advocacy plan to achieve key objectives around infant and young child nutrition in Nigeria, including the promotion of exclusive breastfeeding and complimentary feeding
• Conduct outreach to members of the government of Nigeria, nutrition experts and regional and international NGO representatives, and commercial sector influential.
• Develop and implement specific strategies and tactics for outreach to policymakers, potential advocates, and other stakeholders in the public, NGO, and commercial sectors
• Develop ideas and maximize opportunities for broadcast and digital/social media outreach, and develop and maintain relationships with the news media
• Work to position and integrate the project into existing public, NGO, and commercial sector coalitions (as appropriate), and manage coalition relationships in collaboration with the in-country Project Director.
• Identify, recruit, cultivate and engage champions, spokespersons, and advocates at the national and state levels (specifically Lagos and Kaduna) from the public, NGO, and commercial sectors, including professional associations, affinity groups, service-based organizations, and faith-based organizations.
• Develop media and policymaker outreach materials, including but not limited to policy briefs, presentations, op-eds, press releases and articles.
• Coordinate and manage meetings and events at the national and state level (specifically Lagos and Kaduna)
• Assist with the development and analysis of stakeholder assessments
• Develop and deliver advocacy-related presentations
• Coordinate advocacy activities with other organizations
• Track policy and budgetary landscape and changes
• Closely coordinate media and advocacy activities to support the overall program plan
• Contribute to development of annual work plans, budgets, reports & document case studies and success stories
• Travel as required to Kaduna and Lagos in support of advocacy strategy

Qualifications

• Master's degree (or bachelor's degree with 4 years' related experience) in communications, behavioral sciences, health promotion, law or social science
• A minimum of 5 years’ experience (in addition to education) in a senior capacity designing and implementing communications/advocacy programs
• Demonstrated fluency in English.
• Demonstrated experience working with government, NGOs, the commercial sector, and donors nationally, and at the state level (preferably in Lagos and Kaduna)
• Demonstrated experience in successfully working with coalition partners nationally and at the state level (preferably in Lagos and Kaduna).
• Proficiency in the use of MS Office and the Internet.