Manager, Social Mobilisation at ActionAid Nigeria

Responsible to: Director of Programmes
Line Management: SCRAP-C Project Manager, SIP Manager, Policy/Campaign Advocacy Officer (EC - PANAF)
Grade: 8

Overall Purpose

• The post holder will be a member of the Country Management Team and will be expected to oversee and manage all AAN projects under this strategic focus; s/he will have oversight on the policy and campaigns projects, tax justice, social investments and other campaign related projects within the organisation.

S/he will also provide high quality service to ActionAid Nigeria in the following areas:
Programme:

• Identify gaps in knowledge, thinking & practice around public policy and movements in AAN and developing alternative concepts for filling these gaps.
• Provide & create knowledge using Human Right based approach, especially on working within a RBA (e.g. inputs into training programmes, conferences & ambassadors’ events) to  strengthen ActionAid Nigeria staff capacity and motivation for knowledge-use, critical thinking, experiential learning, popular and participatory methods of knowledge capture, processing, packaging and sharing.
• Provide leadership in identifying gaps in public policies and work out detailed official policy alternatives from the perspectives of the poor and excluded in Nigeria in response to identified gaps
• Provide leadership in the development and strengthening of partnerships among stakeholders, government departments and NGOs for effective collaboration and co-ordination on strategic national & global concerns.
• Monitor and assess trends, developments, forces, tendencies; make critical analysis of the public sphere at national and international level and advise AAN on appropriate responses to such emerging trends.
• Lead AAN engagement with policy making institutions and organs and provide proper linkage between local policy initiatives and national and international policy issues
• Work with IASL in Knowledge Management for the purpose of harnessing critical and analytical learning from all ActionAid’s work to create proper documentation, resources for evidencing our work, evidencing for advocacy and campaigns, analytics new knowledge and continued learning.
• Strengthen inter-thematic linkages in AAN’s social movement initiatives and interventions.
• Contribute to ActionAid single campaign.
• Contribute to AAI annual plans and reports

Representation and communications:

• Overall responsibility for AAN participation in and contribution to the international policy advocacy and campaigns.
• Represent AAN in official and non-official policy forums
• Participate in relevant national advocacy networks and initiatives
• Develop a national institution advocacy strategy (intergovernmental, economic, trade, development, co-operation bodies)
• Contribute to AAN’s strategic decision making, particularly relating to policy work
• Provide quarterly State of the Nations Report to AAN Governing Board to guide the board in its communications on the state of affairs of the nation.
• Represent AAN in Tax Justice working group of International Platform 2

Movement & alliance building:

• Engage in formal partnerships and build alliances with national institutions and academic bodies around specific issues.
• Identify organisations with expertise in advocacy mainstreaming and right based approaches to implement mainstreaming strategies in Nigeria.
• Link with influential policy institutes, NGOs, and academic bodies in Nigeria for exchange of ideas, experience, access to talent, and explore potential for supporting independent thinking, and strategic alliances.
• Identify for the organisation informal networks, pre-existing institutional structures and formal organisations who share common views with AAN and have the capacity for organisation and the actual mobilisation of citizens for collective action.
• Identify instances of favourable changes in the external political system and other shifting levels of opportunity that emerge across time and place which could generate and sustain collective actions on issues of the poor, good governance and accountability.

Development of Knowledge & Alternatives:

• Policy advocacy and campaign positions, quality, standards and associated capacity strengthening
• Learn about the most interesting policy-related issues and methods in Nigeria (particularly relating to rights approaches and participatory policy work) and disseminate and encourage critical debate
• Work out and present detailed official policy alternatives from the perspectives of the poor and excluded.
• Promote the development of core positions for AAN on key strategic themes and issues
• Develop and maintain a database on thematic issues, methodologies and institutions for policy development and influencing.
• Coordinate collaborative action/research with other independent CBOs, NGOs, policy institutes and academic institutions.
• Serve as a policy research resource and link person.
• Generate, document, disseminate and promote the results of our policy work, capturing new knowledge and learning.

Strategic Thinking and Planning:

• To work with others to promote accelerated knowledge and learning on key ActionAid thematic areas
• Support project managers to ensure that quality of policy research outputs are consistent with ActionAid ALPS & Campaign vision
• Ensure there is in place effective mechanisms for the dissemination of policy research findings and their promotion to key policy makers and relevant stakeholders for the purpose of policy influencing.
• Lead the team in project steering committee meetings

Others:

• Work with the Head Resource Mobilisation to raise adequate resources for Policy and
• Advocacy work.
• Any other task as assigned by line manager.

Key Relationships:

• Internal Relationships: AAN team
• External Relationships: CSOs, Research institutes, and relevant government agencies.

Persons Specifications
Education/Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Social Sciences or Arts/Humanities - Essential
• Masters’ degree in a relevant field - Essential
• Membership of relevant professional Institute - Desirable

Experience:

• A minimum of 8 years’ work experience - Essential
• A minimum of 4 years’ experience in policy, advocacy and campaigns in Nigeria - Essential
• Experience of, and commitment to, policy influencing, networking and advocacy work. - Essential
• History of working with and within movements. - Essential
• Knowledge of policy, CSOs, media and youth movements landscape in Nigeria - Essential
• Experience in community-based work and engagements with CSOs - Essential
• Experience in working in an International Development organisation - Desirable

Skill Abilities:

• Strong communication and writing skills - Essential
• Excellent research, analytical and writing skills - Essential
• Proven strong and charismatic management and leadership skills and experience - Essential
• Excellent strategic planning and analytical skill - Essential
• Negotiation skills - Essential
• Demonstrable IT skills - Essential
• Highly numerate - Desirable

Personal Qualities:

• A strong commitment to human rights and socio-economic justice and proven track record in exercising human rights - Essential
• An appreciation of the need for innovative ways of learning and knowledge development - Essential
• Flexibility to travel - Essential
• Willing to work additional hours at crucial times - Essential
• Self-motivated person able to work without close supervision - Essential
• Able to work effectively in a diverse team environment - Essential
• Effectively promote the AAN’s mission, values and objectives - Essential