Fixed term contract - Maternity Cover 

The job of Save the Children's UK Head of Health Policy and Advocacy is varied and fulfilling.

• Are you an enthusiastic and experienced policy advocate?
• Do you have the ability to conduct policy research and communicate clearly with different audiences?
• Do you have expertise in the field of global health?
• Are you motivated by our vision of creating a world where every child doesn't just survive, but thrives, and can go on to change the world?

If the answers to these questions are yes, we would love to hear from you!

About Us
Save the Children UK believes every child deserves a future. In the UK and around the world, we work every day to give children a healthy start in life, the opportunity to learn and protection from harm. When crisis strikes, and children are most vulnerable, we are always among the first to respond and the last to leave. We ensure children's unique needs are met and their voices are heard. We deliver lasting results for millions of children, including those hardest to reach.

Job Purpose
As Head of Health Policy and Advocacy you will directly impact on Save the Children’s Survive Breakthrough which aims to ensure that no child dies before their fifth birthday by 2030. Addressing key barriers to accessing quality health care and promoting the right to health for all are critical to achieving our goal and you will work to influence key global and national policy makers to achieve policy and system change. Our goal is to ensure that the most marginalised and vulnerable children and their families have access to quality health care based on their needs and not on their ability to pay or the country they live in.

As Head of Health Policy and Advocacy, your focus will be on leading a group of expert health policy and advocacy advisers to meet their goals in the key areas of universal health coverage, health financing, primary health care, reproductive maternal and child health, social accountability and global health governance, immunisation and the COVID-19 response. You will also be responsible for relationship management with key donors and partners. In addition you will be responsible for high-level advocacy and policy to ensure that international commitments to access are fulfilled, with a focus on international institutions such as Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the World Health Organisation, UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and the GFF among others.

In this role, you will lead the SCUK Health Global Policy Advocacy and Research team for a year as a maternity cover and this is a fantastic opportunity to be able to own professional relationships and grow your network, getting to know the development sector and architecture. Health Policy is a significant priority for the organisation and this role will position you well for your future career and personal development opportunities.

Key accountabilities:

• Oversee the organisation’s policy, advocacy and research on Health by supporting the highest quality analysis and delivery
• Provide excellent management support, including performance management, pastoral care and ensuring that line reports have development and career-progression opportunities
• Contribute to the success of SCUK’s multi-disciplinary teams by providing resource and technical expertise as required
• Ensure close working with key internal stakeholders, including programming, humanitarian, fundraising, comms and other colleagues across Save the Children UK and the Save the Children movement
• Lead a community of practice for technical experts that keeps abreast of best practice and external trends and innovates to maximise impact for children
• Represent the organisation externally including in meetings, media and other opportunities as
• required
• Be a visible and credible voice externally, strengthening Save the Children’s global profile
• Build relationships with and influence key decision makers and opinion-leaders
• Give strategic leadership on grants for advocacy including liaison with donors
• Carry out the responsibilities of the role in a way that reflects:
  • Save the Children’s commitment to safeguarding children in accordance with its Child Safeguarding Policy
  • A commitment to Save the Children’s vision, mission, values and approach
  • A commitment to effective management of risk, by operating within the Charity’s code of conduct, policies, procedures and controls and by carrying out the risk management and assurance responsibilities of the role as set out in the Risk Policy and Procedures

Person Specification

The ideal candidate would be an enthusiastic and experienced policy advocate, motivated by a desire to make children’s rights a reality for all and address inequality. They will have expertise in the field of global health and have managed a team of policy experts to deliver change at a global and national level. The candidate will be a strong project and people manager with policy experience and strong networking skills. The candidate will have experience of leading teams and matrix working within organisations.

The candidate should be a team-worker, thriving on collaborating with others to achieve shared objectives within dynamic and agile teams. Excellent communication and influencing skills are essential, coupled with technical expertise global health and  the ability to conduct policy research and communicate clearly with different audiences.

Technical Skills:

• World-class knowledge and analysis of global debates in international development, children’s rights and your area of expertise, especially for low- and middle-income countries with the highest inequalities

• Effective line-management experience or clearly evidenced potential, including in setting direction, performance management and feedback, with the ability to matrix-manage staff across teams, in order to lead, motivate, retain and manage a diverse team of professionals
• High-level knowledge of human rights, international relations and politics and the international humanitarian system.
• Exceptional understanding of the role of NGOs in influencing change and ability to negotiate and strategize to ensure impact

Personal Skills:

• Proven successful track record in policy and advocacy and demonstrated leadership in development of advocacy strategies and approaches
• Excellent networking and experience of building coalitions and working with civil-society actors to achieve change
• Excellent written and oral communication skills and the ability to inspire and engage with a wide range of audiences
• Proven ability to build relationships with and influence decision-makers and policy specialists, including politicians and donors, and other key actors globally
• Outstanding interpersonal communication skills
• Ability and willingness to travel for up to six weeks per year
• Ability to operate within a predominantly self-servicing administrative environment

Education/Professional Skills:

• Masters’ degree or equivalent experience in your area of expertise.

Save the Children UK is committed to diversity and equality of opportunity in all aspects of our work both external and internal. We strive to be an inclusive employer and particularly encourage applications from under-represented groups such as returning parents or carers who are re-entering work after a career break, people who are LGBT+, from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds, with a disability, impairment, learning difference or long-term condition, with caring responsibilities, from different nations and regions, and from less advantaged socioeconomic backgrounds.

Policy Officer - Sustainable Agriculture
Reference: JUN20211770
Location: RSPB Northern Ireland
Salary: £27,574.00 - £30,590.00 Per Annum
Benefits: Pension, Life Assurance, Annual Leave
Duration: Up to 31 May 2022

The RSPB’s vision is for a sustainable food and farming system which is good for people and good for nature. We want to see systems of farming across the UK that sustain and restore farmland biodiversity as well as producing safe, healthy food, protect the natural resources of soil, air and water that farming itself depends on, provide income and employment for famers and other workers in rural areas and contribute to a diverse rural economy.

To deliver our vision we need to work with others to change our food and farming system so that it provides farmers with the right balance of support to allow them to deliver for nature in addition to food and other services and engages wider society to support these changes and make nature and environmentally friendly choices in the way they eat and live.

The Policy Officer - Sustainable Agriculture will develop RSPB policy positions and proposals on food and farming, and advocate for the creation of a sustainable and integrated agriculture policy. It involves working with a range of stakeholders, advocates, particularly farmers, but also farming representatives/unions, agri-businesses, food groups etc. to build, shape and advocate to the NI Assembly and the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, to change the food and farming system to help save nature in Northern Ireland.

Key deliverables include:

• Developing policy positions in relation to, future agriculture and sustainable land management in Northern Ireland.
• Contributing to the development of other RSPBNI positions and advocacy on related land use policy issues including climate change, forestry, peatlands and water.
• Working with colleagues across the RSPB, and where appropriate, with other NGOs, to ensure key messages and policy positions are aligned.
• Working closely with staff delivering communications and public engagement to build public and political support for our food and farming and land use policy priorities.
• Working closely with farmer advocates, such as the Nature Friendly Farming Network, to develop a strong movement for change
• Working closely with staff delivering ‘on the ground’ activities, such as farm advisors, to help showcase best practice and develop learnings for future policy and advocacy.
• Increasing public awareness about the connection between farming, food and the nature and climate emergencies.

Essential Skills and Abilities

We are looking for a professional, persuasive and engaging individual with an excellent understanding of current agricultural policy, and credibility within the farming community. They should have the skills and personality to be able to bring together a dynamic coalition, particularly farmers, but also farming representatives/unions, agri-businesses and food groups, to build, shape and advocate for new policies for food and farming in NI that are good for people and good for nature.

• Experience of working in a policy or advocacy role to influence the development of government policy
• Experience of advocating policy effectively to external audiences (including government, relevant businesses, NGOs) to further specific policy and advocacy objectives.
• Knowledge of biodiversity and climate policy at international, EU, UK and NI level
• Knowledge of EU, UK and NI Institutions relevant to the role 
• Ability to monitor external policy developments and horizon scan for relevant issues and opportunities
• Excellent understanding of agriculture, food and related land use and climate policy in a European, UK and specifically Northern Ireland context.
• Ability to write reports, consultation responses and concise policy briefings to support advocacy efforts.
• Excellent communication, writing and negotiation skills.
• Ability to develop policy positions and to communicate effectively to a range of audiences, including politicians, farmers and the public.
• Ability to work as part of a team to deliver a project and achieve shared objectives and outcomes.
• Experience of working with others to develop and deliver a shared vision or set of proposals
• Ability to communicate complex ideas and proposals to a variety of audiences in a concise and clear way
• Proven ability to build and maintain effective relationships with external stakeholders

This is a full-time fixed term position until the end of May 2022 working 37.5 hours per week and we would be willing to consider a secondment.

The RSPB reserves the right to extend or make this role permanent without further advertising dependent on business needs at the end of the contract term.

The post holder will be working within the RSPBNI Policy and Advocacy team, which is based at RSPBNI Headquarters in Belvoir Forest Park, Belfast. There is an option to work remotely.

Closing date: 23:59, 20 June 2021
We are actively recruiting to this role and will be reviewing applcations as they are received with a view to inviting to interview as soon as possible.
We therefore reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient interest.

To Apply and For More Information:

If you would like to apply or find out more please click the 'Apply' button. You will be directed to our website where you can complete your application for this position.

No agencies please.