Senior Adviser, External Engagement

*Position location to be determined by home country of successful candidate in the United States of America, Europe or the Middle East & Eastern European Region where WVI is registered to operate.

*Please submit your CV in English.

PURPOSE OF THE POSITION:

Our Promise - Going Further, World Vision's long-term strategic plan for bringing brighter futures to vulnerable children, recognizes high quality, focused, strategic external engagement is critical to achieving World Vision’s objectives.

The Senior Adviser leads, operationalises and develops a global External Engagement Framework which enables targeted, aligned and leveraged external engagement with Tier 1 and 2 Stakeholders on priority agendas. This role coordinates and facilitates the contribution of more than 20 global and regional teams, building consensus for and input to co-created strategic planning, operationalisation, reporting and intelligence sharing processes.

The Senior Advisor is also Relationship Manager for a leading external stakeholder (such as bilateral, multilateral or global financial institutions). As such, the Senior Advisor leads internal collaboration and planning processes to develop a comprehensive Stakeholder Engagement Plan supporting income, influence and impact objectives; and is also responsible for leading and coordinating external engagement with priority individuals, teams and functions within the institution.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

Lead operationalisation of World Vision’s global External Engagement Framework, enabling targeted, aligned and leveraged external engagement with Tier 1 and 2 Stakeholders on priority agendas. Tier 1 & 2 Stakeholders are strategic WVI partners considered critical to the achievement of Our Promise. [Tier 1’s are: UNICEF, World Food Program, European Union, Joining Forces/Child Rights Now, the World Bank, the Global Fund for AIDS, TB & Malaria, Tier 2s include FAO, UNHCR, UN OCHA and 21 other faith- and issue-based, sector, regional, bilateral and multilateral partners.]
Chair the External Engagement Advisory Group, coordinating inputs and contributions from 20 multi-disciplinary, multi-locational teams at global and regional levels.
Review, update and operationalise an External Engagement Results Framework enabling shared reporting on external engagement impact and contribution to Our Promise, and for sharing valued intelligence from engagement across the Partnership in support of income, influence and impact objectives.
Oversee engagement, support and enabling of senior leaders to contribute to high quality strategic external engagement.
As global Relationship Manager for engagement with a global Tier 1 stakeholder (tbc), coordinate, develop and operationalise a strategic Stakeholder Engagement Plan delivering against income, influence and impact objectives and enabling intelligence sharing and reporting on engagement results.
Manage the Adviser, External Engagement.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES:

Deep knowledge and understanding of operational approaches and methodologies across a broad range of advocacy and external engagement disciplines—e.g. stakeholder engagement, public policy, local level advocacy, communications, campaigning, social mobilisation, child participation, resource acquisition, faith engagement, sectoral/technical engagement.
At least 10 years of relevant job experience, including management, in complex, global development/humanitarian organization; and Masters degree in Public Policy, International Relations, International Development, International Law, Political Science or a related field. An undergraduate degree with 12 years of relevant experience will be considered.
Strong experience in matrix management, coordination and direction of large numbers of dispersed, multi-disciplinary internal stakeholders and teams, including senior leaders.
Strong understanding of key global development agendas, including the 2030 Agenda for the SDGs and the Global Climate Action Agenda, and entry points for civil society engagement and leverage.
Strong familiarity with relevant UN and coalition processes across global capitals (NY, Geneva and Brussels).
Strong understanding of advocacy and external engagement design, monitoring and evaluation, including the development of multi-disciplinary results frameworks.
Excellent writing skills and the ability to translate complex material and data into coherent narratives that resonate with both internal and external stakeholders.
Experience in enabling collaboration and consensus building across multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural teams, including virtual teams.
Demonstrated ability to think strategically, synthesize complex information and develop innovative influencing and engagement approaches.
Strong relational and communication skills with a demonstrated ability to communicate successfully with internal and external stakeholders in all segments of the development and humanitarian field, including high level decision-makers.
Ability to lead independently on fast-paced issues, tight deadlines and the ability to juggle competing demands.
Ability to travel internationally.
Professional fluency in English.