Deployable Humanitarian Policy & Advocacy Specialist at Plan International

Role Purpose

• Plan International country offices in response to an emergency, often need additional experts to support their response and help those affected by crises.
• Plan International’s core surge team is composed of technical, global experts who can deploy to emergency responses within 72hoursfor up to 4 months.
• The post holder will be expected to provide leadership to their area of technical specialism to support the country team they are deployed to.
• Core surge team members are globally roving and work away from their home base continuously, from a few weeks up to four months per assignment.
• Core surge is typically deployed to country programmes for up to nine months a year (pro rata for part-time posts).
• When not deployed (or on annual leave), core surge team members may be assigned project/proactive work.
• Plan International’s global strategy has placed an increased emphasis on influencing as a key strategy to achieve the outcomes we seek for children in both development and humanitarian contexts.
• Humanitarian influencing has a critical role to play to ensure children, and particularly girls, realise their rights before, during and after disasters and conflicts, and therefore makes an important contribution to the implementation of Plan International’s Global Strategy.
• Emergencies provide an opportunity to call on humanitarian actors, including governments, donors and other agencies, to respond effectively to the needs and rights of children, and especially girls, to deliver on commitments and implement policies.
• Emergencies can also present a window of opportunity for changing discourse and policy.
• As Humanitarian Policy & Advocacy Deployable Specialist, your main responsibility will be overseeing the design and implementation of the advocacy strategy for the humanitarian responses that you are deployed to and ensuring that the aims and objectives of these strategies are implemented according to agreed plans.

Dimensions of the Role

• This position may line manage a team when on deployment to a Country Office.
• No budget responsibility is required for this position.
• Develops and maintains relationships with stakeholder groups both within Plan International and externally.
• May deploy at short notice to a Country Office for up to 4 months
• The post is expected to be on deployment for up to 9 months per year.

Accountabilities
Support to and advising Country Offices:

• Ensure all work has a focus on the impact of a crisis on girls, ensuring that gender equality is promoted as part of solutions.
• Support with analysis and monitoring of the policy context in-country.
• Advise country and emergency response staff on humanitarian and political issues, legal frameworks and humanitarian standards relevant to advocacy, particularly those related to children’s rights and gender in emergencies.
• Support with the development of crisis-specific policy positions and messages
• Support with the development of briefings and other policy documents for external and internal audiences.
• Assist in the development of research to support influencing work.
• Support communications planning and messages to ensure communications and media work strategically supports the influencing objectives. Support with internal advocacy coordination with emergency response teams and with different levels of the organisation, including convening and chairing internal advocacy working groups where relevant.
• Support the inclusion of policy and advocacy in funding submissions.

Advocacy and Representation:

• Position Plan International as the ‘Go-To’ agency for gender equality in emergencies.
• Represent Plan International and advocate with decision-makers, partners and other key stakeholders such as donors, at the national level.
• Assist in the establishment of effective policy and advocacy relationships with the humanitarian community in country and engage in external advocacy working groups
• Share information on upcoming events, visits, and strategic meetings in a timely and effective manner.

System Strengthening and Capacity Building:

• Develop and pilot tools, templates, and guidance to support advocacy in emergencies.
• Capture and share learning on humanitarian advocacy across the organisation.
• Undertake capacity-building activities on humanitarian advocacy at different levels of the organisation.

Supporting Humanitarian Advocacy at other levels:

• Documenting and sharing of case studies and evidence for use in thematic and crisis-specific advocacy.
• Advising on crisis-specific advocacy at the international and capital levels.
• Building and maintaining an internal network amongst DRM and advocacy staff.

Safeguarding:

• Ensures that Plan International’s global policies for Safeguarding Children and Young Peopleand Gender Equality and Inclusion are fully embedded in accordance with the principles and requirements of the policy including relevant Implementation Standards and Guidelines as applicable to their area of responsibility.
• This includes, but is not limited to, ensuring staff and associates are aware of and understand their responsibilities under these policies and Plan International’s Code of Conduct (CoC), their relevance to their area of work, and that concerns are reported and managed in accordance with the appropriate procedures.

Key Relationships:
Internal:

• Works closely with Humanitarian Director and the Humanitarian Policy and Advocacy Adviser.
• Regional Heads of DRM.
• CDs and CMT and ERM in the countries of response.
• National Organisations (NOs) disaster risk management network to coordinate global DRM coordination and Advocacy.
• NY, Geneva, Brussels and African Union Liaison Offices.

External:

• Peers, policymakers, information officers and other officials of the host government, donors and donor governments, other agencies and groups, and media representatives responding to the emergency.

Technical Expertise, Skills and Knowledge
Essential:

• Considerable and demonstrable experience in advocacy strategy and messaging development, particularly in humanitarian contexts.
• Proven experience and highly developed skills in policy influencing at the national level with a range of audiences, including experience in conveying complex messages in politically sensitive environments.
• Demonstrable and substantive knowledge of currenthumanitarian issues and relevant legal and policy frameworks.
• Specific knowledge and expertise on children’s rights and gender in emergencies.
• Demonstrable commitment to gender equality.
• An in-depth understanding of the humanitarian architecture, coordination mechanisms and its various working groups, including experience in influencing within these structures.
• Discretion and sound reasoning in dealing with sensitive matters; ability to independently solve complex and challenging problems.
• Stronginterpersonal skills with the ability to work effectively and smartly within a complex organisation balancing consultations and coordination with getting things done.
• Strong networking and negotiation skills.
• Ability to develop and maintain collaborative relationships in a range of cultural contexts.
• Experience managing themselves in a pressured and changing environment.
• Adherence to humanitarian values and standards.
• Working proficiency in Microsoft applications and able to effectively adapt to relevant Plan International data systems.
• Committed to actively upholding Plan International's vision, values and behaviours and policies, including the Say Yes! To Keeping Children Safe Policy.

Desirable:

• Fluency in English and at least one other language (e.g., French, Spanish, Arabic, Portuguese).

Plan International’s Values in Practice
We are open and accountable:

• Promotes a culture of openness and transparency, including with sponsors and donors.
• Holds self and others accountable to achieve the highest standards of integrity.
• Consistent and fair in the treatment of people.
• Open about mistakes and keen to learn from them.
• Accountable for ensuring we are a safe organisation for all children, girls & young people

We strive for lasting impact:

• Articulates a clear purpose for staff and sets high expectations.
• Creates a climate of continuous improvement, open to challenge and new ideas.
• Focuses resources to drive change and maximise long-term impact, responsive to changed priorities or crises.
• Evidence-based and evaluates effectiveness.

We work well together:

• Seeks constructive outcomes, listens to others, willing to compromise when appropriate.
• Builds constructive relationships across Plan International to support our shared goals.
• Develops trusting and ‘win-win’ relationships with funders, partners and communities.
• Engages and works well with others outside the organization to build a better world for girls and all children.

We are inclusive and empowering:

• We empower our staff to give their best and develop their potential
• We respect all people, appreciate differences and challenge equality in our programs and our workplace
• We support children, girls and young people to increase their confidence and to change their own lives.

Physical Environment:

• As part of the core surge team, the primary purpose of the role is to deploy to emergencies globally. The post holder will deploy to a diverse range of countries and contexts. This can range from insecure environments to countries that have just been impacted by a rapid-onset disaster.
• The post holder will be provided with the necessary support for such varied locations, including security training, well-being and mental health support and briefings before all deployments.
• While on deployment, the accommodation, transport, and availability of services will be dependent on the context and the specific country offices policies. 

Level of contact with children

• Low contact: No contact or very low frequency of interaction