Health Policy and Advocacy Advisor

Opening date: 15th February 2018

Closing date: 21st March 2018

We are looking for an experienced and committed individual to join us as Health Policy Advocacy Advisor. You will be responsible for all key aspects of our health advocacy, especially on preventable child deaths through pneumonia and other causes.

Our Policy, Advocacy, and Campaigns department is where we drive political agendas at national and global levels. We’ve integrated lobbying, policy, research and campaigning into one agile, powerful engine for change. Together, we save children’s lives, fight for their rights and help them fulfil their potential.

As Health Policy and Advocacy Advisor you will:

• To lead global and national policy and advocacy on children’s access to healthcare that can prevent and treat pneumonia, with a focus on primary health care as the priority for Universal Health Coverage

• To support Save the Children’s contribution to RMNCH policy and advocacy initiatives

• To maintain an overview of RMNCH policy and advocacy including through the Partnership for Maternal Newborn and Child Health, Every Woman Every Child and other partnerships, to monitor trends in the external environment, identifying opportunities for our advocacy and provide input to joint initiatives

• To support country offices in ensuring appropriate and effective national influencing, including strategies to secure financial resources and deliver advocacy grants
• To represent Save the Children externally, including at events, conferences and through civil society networks
• To develop policy positions, submissions to consultations, speaking notes, reports and briefings including leading on analysis and research where appropriate
• To support other key aspects of our policy and advocacy work on health and child survival as requested, including influencing the monitoring and implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals
• To carry out the responsibilities of the role in a way which reflects Save the Children's commitment to safeguarding children in accordance with the Child Safeguarding Policy
• A commitment to Save the Children’s vision, mission, values and approach
• To keep our promises to children, to safeguard our staff, and to meet our obligations to those who support us and give us funding, we must identify – and effectively manage – the risks we face in all we do.  We believe that managing risk is the responsibility of everyone within Save the Children UK, so you will be expected to play your part by
• understanding what we mean by risk, and by identifying, reporting and managing the risks associated with your role; and
• operating within the policies, procedures and controls set out by the charity from time to time.

To be successful you will have an academic qualification at post-graduate level or equivalent experience on issues directly related to global health policy. In addition you will have:

• Substantial experience of health-focused advocacy or advocacy work, as well as leading the development and delivery of advocacy strategies on RMNCH.

• Strong conceptual understanding of gender and the right to health and evidence of working on these topics.

• Experience of policy research, having written reports and briefings and evaluating evidence of their impact

• Excellent understanding of international development and aid debates, and specific understanding of reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health and universal health coverage

• Good understanding of the UK, global, regional and national external advocacy environment and ability to assess trends and developments likely to affect advocacy.

• The ability to translate complex arguments into accessible English for target audiences, and the ability to write articles that would be published in the mainstream press

• Excellent verbal communication skills, appropriate for external representation

• Good working knowledge of French (strongly desirable)

• Commitment to Save the Children’s mission, values and approach

• Experience of effective team work and outstanding inter-personal communication skills

• Ability to operate within an administratively self-servicing environment 

• A willingness to travel to remote and occasionally to insecure locations.

At Save the Children we are committed to the safeguarding and protection of children in our work. We will do everything possible to ensure that only those who are suitable to work with children are recruited to work for us. This post is subject to a range of vetting checks including a criminal records disclosure.

Our mission is to inspire breakthroughs in the way the world treats children and to achieve immediate and lasting change in their lives. If you share our mission, are passionate about making it happen and strongly believe you can contribute then join us and we'll give you every opportunity to succeed. We look forward to hearing from you.

To apply please visit our website.

Closing date: 21st March 2018