Technical Advisor - Advocacy at Catholic Relief Services (CRS)

Catholic Relief Services (CRS) carries out the commitment of the Bishops of the United States to assist the poor and vulnerable overseas. Our Catholic identity is at the heart of our mission and operations. We welcome as a part of our staff and as partners people of all faiths and secular traditions who share our values and our commitment to serving those in need.

We are recruiting to fill the position of:

Job Title: Technical Advisor - Advocacy

Location: Abuja

Job Summary

• The Advocacy Technical Advisor (ATA) will liaise with and technical experts on issues related to advocacy, policy analysis and the development of an investment case in a sustained OVC-response, including HIV-sensitive social service systems at National, State and LGA levels.
• This information will be used to support the PEPFAR OVC Implementing Partners (IPs) and their collaborating CSO/CBOs and relevant OVC networks to develop and implement a joint advocacy agenda and strategy to increase Government of Nigeria (GON) commitment towards a sustained OVC-response and a HIV-sensitive social service system.
• S/he will work closely with short term technical assistance providers and PEFPAR OVC IPs to development a joint advocacy agenda and strategy, ensuring that advocacy messages are clear, evidence-informed whenever possible, and designed according to the specific needs, utilizing contextually appropriate language and delivery methods for the intended audience.
• The ATA will play a key role in ensuring that the experience and evidence created by the PEPFAR OVC IPs, CSO/CBOs and OVC networks is translated into advocacy evidence and tools to engage, convince and foster better understanding and eventual ownership by other actors such as government, academia and private sector to sustain the Nigerian OVC response and HIV-sensitive social service system.

Specific Responsibilities

• Support the conceptualization and implementation of 4Children Nigeria’s harmonized, standardized, and contextualized approach to holistic, costed sustainability planning at the PEPFAR OVC Implementing Partner (IP), government, civil society, networks, community, household and individual levels to support OVC and household graduation/transition and social service system strengthening; ensure there is a component to assess relevant advocacy needs at the State, PEPFAR OVC IP, CSO/CBO and network levels.
• Support PEPFAR OVC IPs to carry out baseline assessments and use the results of this (or previous) assessments to develop, implement and track progress towards supporting HIV and child sensitive budgeting at the State/LGA levels and the ability of CSO/CBOs and networks to advocate for a sustained OVC-response and a HIV-sensitive social service system; develop measures and tools to hold stakeholders accountable to commitments.
• Support PEPFAR OVC IPs, Zonal or State costed sustainability planning workshops ensuring advocacy-related activities are incorporated into costed sustainability plans; participate in National level sustainability planning workshop.
• Design, conduct and/or oversee special studies and policy analysis to inform joint advocacy strategies such as a costing study to inform an investment case in the OVC-response and a HIV-sensitive social service system in collaboration with the 4Children Core Team.
• Work with PEPFAR OVC IPs/CSOs/CBOs/networks to develop, implement and monitor an evidence-informed joint advocacy agenda, strategies and tactics to increase GON ownership and commitment towards a sustained OVC-response and a HIV-sensitive social service system including but not limited to goal setting, building relationships, problem identification, stakeholder analysis, audience-specific communication strategies (e.g., using data to inform communication, crafting and presenting messages, identifying messengers, message medium, timing etc.), monitoring and reporting.
• Support the development of teams and coalitions to accomplish advocacy goals, provide mentoring as necessary.
• Leverage data from other 4Children Nigeria Technical Advisors, MEAL Manager and PEPFAR OVC IPs, CSO/CBOs and networks to inform the design and implementation of the joint advocacy strategy.
• Explore opportunities to increase ownership and demonstrated commitment to a sustained OVC-response and HIV-sensitive social service system from other stakeholders such as academia and the private sector.
• Strengthen the leadership capacity of SMWASD and other relevant GON entities to foster greater intragovernmental collaboration to develop child-sensitive budgets that support the OVC-response and a HIV-sensitive social service system aligned with Nigerian frameworks and policies in collaboration with the Government System Strengthening Technical Advisor and Zonal State Coordinators.
• Represent the 4Children Nigeria consortium at key stakeholder meetings.

Qualifications

• Advanced university Degree, preferably in Law or Social Sciences (e.g. International Relations, Political Science, Public Affairs, and/or International Development).
• Five years professional experience in advocacy with at least three years of experience in advisory roles in development projects preferably focused on HIV care and treatment and/or OVC programming.
• Advanced technical expertise in advocacy – including planning, tactic selection, policy and political economy analysis, communications, network and coalition-building, etc.
• Experience conducting high-level advocacy including to government, donors and international organizations (e.g., UN agencies).
• Proven experience of both coordinating and working within national networks and coalitions.
• Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to manage complex and sensitive organizational relationships.
• Familiarity with the legislative, planning, budgeting and allocation processes at the LGA, State and Federal levels, particularly as it relates to child-related issues.
• Familiarity with the use of social auditing tools and network analysis in relation to support advocacy agendas a plus.
• Knowledge of GON and PEPFAR programming, process, guidance and frameworks is strongly preferred.
• Strong analytical, negotiation, facilitation / training and mentoring skills.
• Excellent written and oral communications skills in English.
• Proficiency in the use of Microsoft Office suite, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook as well as popular social media platforms (e.g. Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn).

Application Closing Date
4th February, 2016.

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should download the CRS Application Form below and send with a detailed 3-page resume in a one-word document to: [email protected]

Click here to download the CRS Application Form