SayPro Head of Advocacy, Campaigns, Communication and Media

HEAD OF ADVOCACY, CAMPAIGNS, COMMUNICATION AND MEDIA (ACCM)

Team/Programme: Senegal Country Management

Locality : Senegal

Grade: 2

Post type: 1 year renewable

Child Safeguarding:

Level 3 – the responsibilities of the post may require the post holder to have regular contact with or access to children or young people.

ROLE PURPOSE:

Campaigning, advocacy and communication are central to Save the Children’s theory of change and to achieving our 2030 ambitious goals for children. The Head of Advocacy, Campaigns, Communication and Media (ACCM) drives our policy, public engagement and communication efforts, in close collaboration with Programme Operations and Programme Development and Quality teams and in alignment with global policies and practices. In so doing, s/he provides overall leadership, strategic direction and management to the advocacy, campaigns and communication work of Save the Children in Senegal to bring about change in the fulfillment of children’s rights. The incumbent’s responsibilities include strategy formulation, design and coordination of campaigning, advocacy and communication initiatives as well as their quality control and evaluation. S/he manages the local advocacy, campaigns and communication team and contributes to the positioning of Save the Children as a leading child-focused campaigning and advocacy organisation, while also helping strengthen capacity to deliver on this mission.

As such, the incumbent’s first responsibility will be to undertake advocacy work to advance Save the Children’s policy positions and influence decision-makers. S/he will support our Senegal Country Office to shape and ensure the delivery of high quality efforts to influence and bring about change in the awareness, attitudes, behaviors and policies related to the rights of children in Senegal. S/he will take shared responsibility for the delivery of Save the Children’s 2030 ambition and strategy and coordinates with our team across functions within the Country Office.

S/he is the public face of campaigning efforts and drives excellence in media and communication regarding our policy and advocacy plans. S/he represents Save the Children at a senior level to key stakeholders, with the ambition to position Save the Children as a leading child-focused campaign and advocacy organisation in Senegal.

S/he is responsible for creating an enabling internal environment for campaigning and advocacy by leveraging resources, building partnerships, and strengthening capacity and capabilities within our Country Office.

SCOPE OF ROLE:

Reports to: Country Director

Directly reporting to this post:

• Advocacy and Campaigns Officer
• Communication and Media Officer

KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITIES

As a member of the Senior Management Team, contribute to:

• Support the development of an organisational culture and structure that reflect our dual mandate values, promotes accountability and high performance, encourages a team culture of learning, creativity and innovation, and frees up our people to deliver outstanding results for children and excellent customer service for our members and donors
• Help establish, maintain, and improve active and regular working relationships with host government authorities, partner agencies including humanitarian and development donors, local and international NGOs and internal stakeholders within the Save the Children network
• Engage with others departments to ensure Senegal Country Office complies with all Save the Children Essential Standards and the Save the Children Quality Framework and consistently integrate advocacy into its programmes.
• Support Country Director and Senior Management Team in strengthening the profile and credibility of Save the Children in Senegal;
• Support Country Director and Senior Management Team in identifying and managing potential risks associated with Save the Children’s public positions and design strategies to mitigate those risks.

Strategy and management

• Ensures that the Senegal Country Office has a robust advocacy, engagement and communication strategy integrated with programmes and aligned with country strategic plan and global priorities and initiatives;
• Ensures that Country Office staff understand the approved strategy and can actively contributed towards its implementation;
• Oversees the Advocacy, Campaigns, Communication and Media team and ensure all Country Office staff understand its responsibilities;
• Leads execution of this strategy and identification of necessary resources, alongside senior management team;
• Ensure that advocacy and campaigning are consistently and adequately budgeted in all new proposals;
• In close collaboration with SCI global initiatives, organises and supports capacity building workshops on advocacy, campaigns and communication for Country Office staff and key partners;
• Ensures useful advocacy and communication resources are easily available to all staff;
• Coordinates with relevant staff at regional and global levels as well as members, as required.

Influencing, Advocacy and Campaigns

• In coordination with Country Director and Programme Operations and Programme Development and Quality teams, develops and coordinates implementation of annual advocacy plans reflecting identified country strategic priorities and programme needs;
• Monitors the execution of the plan and reports on progress, results and impact;
• Develops, in close collaboration with programme staff, evidence-based advocacy messages and supports the development of advocacy materials and their dissemination;
• Works with Country Director and senior staff to represent Save the Children in engaging external contacts and stakeholders;
• Builds and manages alliances and partnerships with other NGOs at national and regional levels to undertake coordinated advocacy initiatives;
• Identifies opportunities to engage the public through campaigning on issues of relevance to programme team and partners;
• Organises advocacy training for staff and partners and helps build capacity for them to take the lead on specific advocacy issues and articulate policy change objectives;
• Keeps a watching brief on policymakers and other key players in relation to children’s health, protection, nutrition, education and governance and identifies opportunities to raise awareness and influence policy change;
• Develops and nurtures solid relationships with other organisations engaged in advocacy and policy work and maintains a network external contacts among government, donors, civil society, media;
• Represents the country office by participating in key national or international initiatives or conferences, as required.

External Communication and Media

• Ensures the Country Office has a communication and media strategy, aligned with Country Strategic Plan and oversees its implementation;
• Oversees production of high quality, accurate, clear and consistent information and communication outputs as well as production of high quality media engagement materials;
• Ensures Save the Children has a coherent branding and positioning towards external audiences including government, partners and the general public;
• Works with communication and media officer and programme staff to ensure the branding guidelines of Save the Children and its donors are consistently followed;
• Pro-actively seeks out communication opportunities to showcase the Country Office programme successes;
• Oversees fielding of all media requests;
• Upon the request of the Country Director or Senior Management Team, acts as a spokesperson for Save the Children to external audiences.

COMPETENCES AND BEHAVIOURS (Our Values in Practice)

Core Competencies

Delivering results – Innovating and adapting – Applying technical and professional expertise – Working effectively with others – Networking

Adhere to SCI Values: Accountability; Ambition; Collaboration; Creativity; Integrity

Accountability:

• Holds self- accountable for making decisions, managing resources efficiently, achieving and role modelling Save the Children values
• Holds the team and partners accountable to deliver on their responsibilities – giving them the freedom to deliver in the best way they see fit, providing the necessary development to improve performance and applying appropriate consequences when results are not achieved.

Ambition:

• Sets ambitious and challenging goals for themselves and their team, takes responsibility for their own personal development and encourages their team to do the same
• Widely shares their personal vision for Save the Children, engages and motivates others
• Future orientated, thinks strategically and on a global scale.

Collaboration:

• Builds and maintains effective relationships, with their team, colleagues, Members and external partners and supporters
• Values diversity, sees it as a source of competitive strength
• Approachable, good listener, easy to talk to.

Creativity:

• Develops and encourages new and innovative solutions
• Willing to take disciplined risks.

Integrity: honest, encourages openness and transparency; demonstrates highest levels of integrity

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCES

Essential

• Strong background in advocacy leadership at a senior level, including policy influencing and the ability to link programmes with advocacy work;
• Solid experience in advocacy, campaigning and communication, working efficiently with governments, media, international organisations and civil society and successfully building partnerships and forging coalitions;
• Experience in leading the creation and implementation of a strategy, demonstrating the ability to identify the necessary steps towards an ambitious goal;
• Proved experience in developing strong programmes integrating advocacy or mobilising funding for advocacy, including good experience in proposal development;
• Sound understanding of the major economic, social development and poverty issues in Senegal;
• Master’s degree in international development, law, social sciences, political science, journalism, public policy, communications or other equivalent degrees;
• Excellent command of French and English languages, both verbal and written, including the ability to clearly articulate complex issues in a compelling way to a variety of audiences;
• Excellent organizational skills and proven experience in managing and inspiring a team;
• Excellent communicator, highly developed interpersonal skills including influencing and negotiation, and proven experience in external representation and building personal networks;
• Proven ability to work effectively across teams and functions and navigate complex environments;
• Excellent organizational skills, including time management, and ability to meet deadlines and work under pressure;
• Commitment to Save the Children values.

Desirable

• Experience in child participation as well as training others in advocacy and influencing strategies and tactics;
• Experience as spokesperson;
• Knowledge of the policies, functions, structures and decision-making processes of key national institutions with regard to child rights issues;
• Experience working with children on Health, Education, Nutrition, Child Protection, Child Rights’ Governance;
• Knowledge of local languages including Wolof will be a strong advantage;
• Knowledge and understanding of development issues particularly in relation to poverty reduction

Additional job responsibilities

The duties and responsibilities as set out above are not exhaustive and the role holder may be required to carry out additional duties within reasonableness of their level of skills and experience.

Equal Opportunities

The role holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with the SCI Equal Opportunities and Diversity policies and procedures.

Child Safeguarding:

We need to keep children safe so our selection process, which includes rigorous background checks, reflects our commitment to the protection of children from abuse.

Health and Safety

The role holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with SCI Health and Safety policies and procedures.