Global partnerships advisor jobs in edinburgh, scotland
Global Influencing Lead
Permanent, Full time.
Location: The role can be based in any of our UK offices: Cardiff, Edinburgh, London, or Warrington
Salary: £59,570 for Cardiff, Edinburgh, or Warrington. £64,454 for London (including London allowance)
If we receive a high volume of applications, we reserve the right to close the advert before the scheduled closing date. Therefore, we encourage interested applicants to apply at their earliest convenience.
About us
Christian Aid exists to create a world where everyone can live a full life, free from poverty. We are a global movement of people, churches and local organisations who passionately champion dignity, equality and justice worldwide. We are the changemakers, the peacemakers, the mighty of heart.
We’re committed to building a diverse and inclusive workplace, and recognise the value this brings in forming strong, creative and high performing teams. We welcome applications from all sections of the community, and from those with experience from outside of the voluntary sector. And no, you don’t have to be Christian to work here – we encourage people of all faiths and none to apply. We just ask that everyone lives out our values of dignity, equality, justice and love. We value a good work-life balance, so we’re open to part-time and flexible working. We also offer hybrid working for our office-based colleagues.
About the role
Reporting in to the Head of Policy and Influencing, the Global Influencing Lead provides strategic leadership and oversight of Christian Aid’s global advocacy work in global spaces to ensure advocacy achieves maximum impact.
The role fosters inclusive and collaborative leadership across diverse teams and geographies, ensuring advocacy is rooted in programme evidence, and theological reflection.
Collaborating with Programme and Partnership Leads, and working closely with partners and faith groups, the post-holder will develop joint strategies and manages global partnerships, including faith partnerships that strategically align.
The role will effectively manage Global and Pan African Policy and Advocacy Leads to coordinate, develop and deliver effective advocacy and matrix manage the Senior Gender Advisor. The role represents CA in global spaces and in global coalitions and acts as a media spokesperson.
Some of the main responsibilities of the Global Influencing Lead include:
- Provides strategic oversight for global advocacy in global spaces, to ensure advocacy is impactful, inclusive, and collaborative, rooted in evidence and theological reflection and aligns with organisational values and goals.
- Develops relevant relationships with key stakeholders within global institutions and collaborates on advocacy strategies and initiatives for greater impact.
- Leads on the development and management of strategic partnerships with global partners – including faith partners - including supporting the funding teams to seek additional funding to maximise impact and income.
- Leads on the development of global policy and advocacy positions and oversee their integration into external communications, programme strategies, and donor engagement.
- Leads the Global Influencing team, enabling the Global and Pan African Policy and Advocacy Leads to coordinate, develop and deliver effective advocacy in global spaces in collaboration with the rest of Christian Aid and with partners to promote the exchange of ideas and knowledge, to maximise impact; and supporting the Senior Theology Advisor to ensure that theological reflection underpins our programme, advocacy and supporter facing work.
- Represents Christian Aid in global spaces, including as a media spokesperson, ensuring messaging is meaningful, impactful and consistent, aligning to organisational values and goals.
- Oversees global advocacy budget to support with financial sustainability.
- Deputises for Head of Policy and Influencing, as needed.
About you
Who we are looking for
Essential:
- Degree level qualification in a relevant field.
- Substantial experience of leading and implementing advocacy strategies.
- Extensive experience of international networking, building alliances and coordinating initiatives and networks.
- Substantial experience of working in international faith networks.
- Substantial experience of representing an organisation at a senior level, and in communicating to to diverse and non-specialist audiences.
- Significant experience of planning, leading and managing complex cross-organisational projects.
- Highly developed ability to lobby effectively and successfully build relationships with key advocacy targets.
- Highly developed ability to analyse complex information, present that information, and frame arguments, in a simple way.
- Substantial line management experience and proven ability to lead diverse teams with inclusivity and respect, fostering collaboration including remote management.
- Experience in policy oversight and quality assurance
- Detailed understanding of international policy and advocacy processes, including in the UN system.
- Detailed understanding of ecosystems of faith actors at global and UK level.
- Detailed understanding of global poverty and international development trends and debates
- Highly developed verbal and written communications experience.
- Highly developed public speaking ability.
- Highly developed ability to deal sensitively and discreetly with people and information.
- Highly developed ability to devise, lead and implement advocacy strategies.
- Highly developed ability to work across cultural contexts with civil society and faith leaders from the global south.
- Highly developed ability to manage complex projects.
Further information
At Christian Aid we strive to be an inclusive and diverse employer and recognise the value that this brings in helping to build strong, creative and high performing teams.
We are actively encouraging racialised minorities, LGBTQ+, people with disabilities, returning parents or carers who are re-entering work after a career break, people with caring responsibilities, people from low socioeconomic backgrounds, women, and older workers to apply. This is because these groups are under-represented within our teams, especially at senior level, and we recognise and value the contributions members of these groups make to strong, creative and high performing teams.
We have a strong Christian ethos and we encourage applications from all faiths. Applicants will be expected to demonstrate an understanding of and sympathy with Christian Aid’s faith identity.
All successful candidates will require a DBS/police check appropriate to the role and location and a Counter Terrorism Sanction check as part of your clearance for commencing your role with us. We also participate in the Inter Agency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme. In line with this Scheme, we will request information as part of the referencing process from job applicants’ previous employers about any findings of sexual exploitation, sexual abuse and/or sexual harassment during employment, or incidents under investigation when the applicant left employment. By submitting an application, the job applicant confirms their understanding of these recruitment procedures.
This role requires applicants to have the right to live and work in the country where this position is based and undertake the role that you have been offered. If you are successful and we make you an offer for the role, we will be required to conduct a right to work check on your immigration status in the UK. We will contact you regarding the documentation you will need to provide to evidence this.
Registered Charity 
501 - 1000
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Thank you!
Contract: 2-year rolling
Location: Remote working (with occasional international travel for events)
(For non-UK candidates, please note that you would be hired via Deel either as a contractor or as an employee with local national benefits)
Reporting to: Policy & Advocacy Advisor
The organisation
United for Global Mental Health was founded in January 2018. It exists to support and unite the global effort to promote good mental health. Through our campaigning, advocacy and financing work, we aim to create a world in which everyone, everywhere has someone to turn to in support of their mental health. Since 2018, we have worked with a variety of international and national partners to help us reach this goal.
The Initiative:
The WHO Constitution and several UN human rights declarations affirm everyone’s right to the highest attainable standard of mental health. However, many countries’ laws and policies fall short of enabling this. Human rights violations and barriers to access persist, often due to the prioritisation of institutional care over primary and community-based services, and the existence of discriminatory laws, such as those criminalising suicide. Addressing these issues is a key focus of UnitedGMH’s human rights pillar under its current three-year strategy.
The Role:
You have the opportunity to join this initiative, working as part of a global policy, advocacy and financing organisation that puts its national partners and persons with lived experience of mental health at the forefront of their advocacy efforts. You will work with the Policy and Advocacy Advisor and colleagues, to develop, coordinate, support and implement policy and advocacy projects including; influencing global, regional and national law and policy, conducting research, report writing, drafting policy briefs and positions, partnership building and management, supporting national partners with their advocacy and representing the organisation at online and in-person events, including at key global moments. You will be working to achieve the objectives of our strategic pillar on rights, delivering on the 2026 strategy and action plan for the project on decriminalising suicide worldwide and supporting the project to deinstitutionalise mental health care, as well as contributing to the work across the organisation. You will also have the opportunity to help shape our next three-year organisation strategy from 2027-2029.
You:
You have a proven track record in international health policy and advocacy with an eye for detail and an entrepreneurial spirit. Confident to work across the range of advocacy and policy activities you are flexible, competent and take initiative, and have a desire to learn and grow. You are a true team player; able to take both responsibility in managing important projects and relationships and unafraid to take on essential tasks to support the team. You have a passion for international development, law and policy and mental health.
Responsibilities:
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Partner Support: Help to build and manage partner relations with external stakeholders including national and global civil society, research institutions, governments, UN agencies, donors etc. Support them with their national advocacy and assist them in developing and managing national coalitions to advance their work at a national level.
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Stakeholder relations: Support, and sometimes lead, engagement with key governments, the UN and other international organisations. As appropriate, directly engage and manage relationships with key decision-makers and global and regional advocacy organisations.
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Engagement of Experts by Experience and young people: ensure experts by experience of mental health conditions and young people are provided opportunities to influence global and national policy through your projects
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Grant and contract management: Lead in the identification of funders in your program area and develop funding proposals for work on policy, advocacy and financing; track and report on grant deliverables.
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Policy, advocacy & financing strategies: Lead the design and implementation of policy, advocacy and financing strategies for UnitedGMH and in collaboration with, or for, a range of stakeholders.
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Policy reports and papers: Draft policy reports and papers to support high level influencing.
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Briefings, policy packs and influencing language: Preparing briefings, policy packs and influencing language for senior government officials, Ministers, and other decision-makers as well as national partners as required.
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Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning: regularly update UnitedGMH’s MEL system with relevant data and information around your projects
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Communications: Support the internal and external communication activities of the organisation and develop project-based communications plans.
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Funder profiles: Maintain updated profiles on key mental health funders.
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Events: Organise meetings, events (including side-events at key global moments), workshops and small gatherings of partners and other stakeholders.
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Represent the organisation: Speak on behalf of the organisation on your project areas at key global moments and in-person and virtual events, webinars and conferences
Experience:
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You will have at least five years of experience working in country and/or global health policy, advocacy and/or financing for a UN agency, non-governmental organisation, think tank or decision-maker.
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You will have undertaken work related to public health and/or human rights and have a track record of advocacy with policy makers, brief/report writing and research.
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A background in health, including mental health, either professionally or through lived experience.
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Demonstrable experience of having worked on health legislation and policy in low- and middle-income countries, including drafting, reviewing and/or having been part of consultative processes at a government level. Experience working on suicide prevention policies/strategies or the decriminalisation of suicide and/or the repeal of other discriminatory legislation will be preferred.
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Low-to-middle income country level experience engaging with different stakeholders – persons with lived experience of mental health conditions, governments, civil society, donors etc.
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Experience of representing your organisation at key global, regional or national political gatherings
Skills:
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Project management and reporting.
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Networking and relationship management
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Ability to perform research and report writing
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Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning.
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Grant Proposal Writing.
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Ability to work as part of a team but equally a self-starter capable of devising and delivering work under your own direction
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Experienced in and thrive working in a fast-paced environment, with the ability to respond quickly and effectively to changing agendas
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Strong organisational skills to plan, meet deadlines and successfully deliver events
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Ability to multitask and prioritise workload over short time frames
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Knowledge of foreign languages is desired but not mandatory.
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A good knowledge of Microsoft Office and other project management tools e.g., Trello, Google Suite, among others.
Qualifications:
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A degree in a relevant discipline (e.g. health, law, human rights)
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Ability to work remotely and travel internationally
Benefits
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28 days of holiday a year plus national holidays in your country of residency
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Possibility of being hired by Deel as a local employee (with local pension and social security benefits) or as a contractor (decision up to the employee based on personal preference)
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Up to £1000 a year of allowance for coworking space
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Up to £500 a year in personal development training allowance
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A minimum of 1 in-person team retreat a year
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Possibility to work from anywhere in the world (where you have the legal right to work)
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Possibility to work compressed hours
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Access to Employee Assistance Programme via HealthAssured
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[For UK-based staff] You contribute 5% of your salary and we pay for 3% (8% total)
Diversity and inclusion
Equity, diversity and inclusion are central to UnitedGMH’s core mission and values, and the organisation is dedicated to promoting this across our work and also within the workplace. We will ensure that this commitment is embedded in all operational aspects of the organisation and also implemented within our day-to-day working practices.
Reasonable adjustments statement
We aim to ensure that all applicants are provided with the same opportunities during the recruitment process. Should you have a disability and require a particular adjustment to be made to allow you to fully participate in the recruitment process, please ensure that this is made known to the person arranging your interview.
Interviews: There will be 2 interview rounds, and a short task for those who progress to the second round of interviews. Interviews will be arranged between the last week of November to the 12th of December.
Closing date: 9am on Monday 24th November
Application: To apply please submit your CV and a cover letter (800 words maximum) via Charity Job.
