UK Influencing Lead

UK Influencing Lead

10-12 month Fixed Term Contract. Full Time. Hybrid working (2 days per week in the office)

Location - London

Salary - £65,099 per year

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 UK Influencing Lead provides strategic leadership and oversight of all the UK advocacy work and the advocacy unit, aligning with organisational values and goals, to ensure advocacy achieves maximum impact.

The postholder will represent Christian Aid in UK advocacy spaces and UK coalitions and acts as a media spokesperson. The role will lead the development of the UK Influencing Strategy, bringing together our work with the UK Government, Faith Leaders, Private Sector, Campaigns, etc, including through coalition networks.

The role will collaborate with the Campaigns & Youth Lead, to matrix manage the Campaigns Advisor, to foster a team mindset and ensure coherent and joined up approach to influencing and campaigns and church engagement output.

Some of the main areas of responsibility of the UK Influencing Lead include:

• Leads on and is accountable for Christian Aid’s influencing and engagement strategy development, ensuring that it is aligned with our mobilisation and movement building work, that it maximises the involvement of churches, the INGO sector, and is effective at engaging decision to drive meaningful change.
• Leads, internally and externally, in shaping and securing our influence towards the government and decision makers, leads external engagement for impact with senior government ministers, MPs, civil servants, private sector partners, faith leaders, and INGO convened spaces to drive meaningful change.
• Leads on the processes to develop and deliver influencing strategies and activities, fostering a team mindset and a mindset of connection across the organisation to ensure an integrated approach to influencing policy and political change in the UK.
• Leads (jointly with relevant income lead) growth strategy for UK aid (and other UK government related) funding opportunities to maximise income and impact.
• Leads the UK Influencing Team, to deliver influencing projects and policy products to UK decision makers and ensure they meet their outcomes on budget, and staff are guided and coached to enable high-impact initiatives to be achieved that maximise our impact.
• Represents Christian Aid in UK spaces, including as a media spokesperson, ensuring messaging is meaningful, impactful and consistent, aligning to organisational values and goals.
• Oversees UK advocacy budget to support with financial sustainability.
• Deputise for Head of Policy and Influencing, as needed.

About you

Who we are looking for

Essential:

• Degree in Politics/International Relations.
• Extensive experience in in UK advocacy/public affairs.
• Substantial experience and detailed understanding of successful advocacy and influencing strategy development.
• Detailed understanding of UK advocacy context for international and geopolitical issues.
• Detailed understanding of the UK political landscape, the role of Christian Aid’s sponsoring churches and Civil Society.
• Substantial experience of strategic planning.
• Substantial budget management.
• Substantial experience in public speaking and communicating to non-specialist audiences.
• Substantial line management experience and ability to provide high quality leadership and support to staff, including remote management.
• Highly developed ability to analyse complex information, present that information, and frame arguments, in a simple way.
• Highly developed negotiating and influencing skills within a large or complex organisation.
• Highly developed ability to work cross-organisationally and build internal stakeholder relationships, delivering outstanding partnership working.
• 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.
• Highly developed influencing and negotiation skills.
• Significant experience of representing an organisation at a senior level.

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. tian 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.