Advocacy Advisor

Scope

Under the supervision of the Country Director, the Advocacy Advisor will be responsible for pushing forward the design and implementation of the IRC Lebanon advocacy strategy and for further development of IRC Lebanon’s advocacy work. The Advocacy Advisor will liaise with IRC’s global advocacy and communications team.

Responsibilities

• Under the guidance of the Regional Director of Advocacy, Policy & Communications, define the advocacy strategy and priorities for Lebanon; lead strategy implementation in the field and advise and support colleagues in global capitals in implementing the strategy with targets in London, Brussels, DC/NY, and the region.
• Produce high quality public and private policy and advocacy materials including talking points, letters, briefing notes, position papers, and advocacy reports.
• Regularly liaise with relevant in-country stakeholders on issues of concern, including UN, donor representatives, diplomatic missions, and peer agencies, and grow the IRC’s bilateral relationships with government counterparts.
• Conduct a robust stakeholder holder mapping and maintain an updated contact list of key targets in-country.
• Promote a principled approach to advocacy and communications on Lebanon among relevant internal stakeholders and ensure that external messaging is evidence-based and driven by field realities.
• Serve as a member of the expanded Senior Management Team to ensure a strategic approach to advocacy engagement.
• In conjunction with country program staff and the global advocacy and communications teams, closely monitor humanitarian policy debates and media pertaining to Lebanon, ensuring that relevant information is analyzed and disseminated in a timely and effective manner.
• Provide analysis for Country Director and inputs for meetings, as well as key cluster meetings.
• Represent the IRC in humanitarian coordination fora, conferences, lobby meetings, and other events as requested; or provide talking points for other senior representatives, including the Country Director.
• Respond to external inquiries on policy issues, including briefing policymakers and media.
• Provide trainings on advocacy to field staff and develop the capacity of national staff to implement impactful advocacy interventions.

Professional Standards

The IRC and IRC workers must adhere to the values and principles outlined in the IRC Way - Standards for Professional Conduct.  These are Integrity, Service, and Accountability.  In accordance with these values, the IRC operates and enforces policies on Beneficiary Protection from Exploitation and Abuse, Child Safeguarding, Anti Workplace Harassment, Fiscal Integrity, and Anti-Retaliation.

Key Working Relationships:

• Direct Reporting to: Country Director.
• Indirect Reporting to: Regional Director of Advocacy, Policy & Communications.
• Close collaboration with: Program Coordinators, Field Coordinators, Regional Context Advisor, field staff, Global Advocacy and Communications Colleagues.

Requirements:

• At least four years of professional experience crafting and delivering policy and advocacy work responding to complex humanitarian crises and/or post-conflict situations;
• Demonstrated creativity, ability to apply innovative thinking and problem-solving skills;
• Excellent analytical, presentation, communication and representation skills;
• Fluency in English (written and spoken) is essential, with demonstrated exceptionally strong writing skills;
• Ability to navigate interpersonal and inter-departmental organizational dynamics to keep focus on goals and products;
• Ability to work well in unstable security environments, and under significant administrative and programmatic pressures;
• Flexible to adapt to changing requirements;
• Culturally sensitive, able and interested in working with a multi-ethnic team;
• Strong commitment to the IRC’s mission, purpose and values;
• Must be able to work independently while being a team player;
• Advanced degree in relevant field desired;
• Experience with training and staff capacity building;
• Middle East regional experience and Arabic language skills preferred.

IRC is an Equal Opportunity Employer IRC considers all applicants on the basis of merit without regard to race, sex, color, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status or disability.