Global Emergency Advocacy Specialist At Norwegian Refugee Council

Job Purpose

The Emergency Advocacy Specialist is part of the Emergency Response Section (ERS) in the Field Operations department in Head Office. S/he will work closely with Regional Advocacy teams and the Advocacy and Media Section in the Partnerships & Policy Department (PnP). The Specialist will also work with other parts of Field Operations (FO), including the Field Operations Management Team (FOMT) to capitalise on strategic advocacy opportunities.

The Emergency Advocacy Specialist will be based in Head Office, and travel 50% of time to other NRC offices. The role reports to the Global Emergency Response Director, with a Technical Line to the Advocacy and Media Director in Head Office. When the Specialist is deployed to a country that falls within an existing NRC regional structure, there will be dotted line management to the Regional Head of Advocacy in the relevant region.

What you will do:

The Emergency Advocacy Specialist role is comprised of two main parts:

1. An Emergency Response position that will deploy up to 50% of the time to start-ups and major humanitarian crises. The scope of work will depend on the nature of the deployment, but may include: developing strategies, training staff, gathering evidence and content, developing advocacy and media products, and identifying advocacy opportunities for these situations. The Specialist may also be required to play a facilitative, leadership or coordination role related to NRC advocacy with external targets, as determined in cooperation with the responsible section within the Partnerships and Policy department. (50%)
2. A Head Office position within Field Operations, focusing on support, capacity building, and developing advocacy components of relevant guidelines, tools, templates etc. (50%).

Generic responsibilities include the below elements:

A) Emergency Response/Deployment

• In the case of triggered Crisis Activation mechanism, support and/or deploy to the relevant country/region.
• Provide advocacy support to country-offices in the case of new emergencies and start-ups.
• Provide advocacy support to country and regional offices in case extra resources are needed.
• Establish and strengthen strategic advocacy networks and alliances and support the CD (or RD) in engagement with the international community, humanitarian actors and national and local authorities.
• Support or lead the development advocacy products such as briefing notes, position papers, talking points and reports.
• Support or lead the gathering of information, data and evidence about the situation in humanitarian crises from our programmes and field presences, for use in strategic advocacy.
• Support and advise field/programme staff in planning and implementation of advocacy activities linked to programmes (i.e. within education, shelter, etc.) and the production of advocacy materials.
• Conduct advocacy training for country programme staff as relevant.
• Follow the global humanitarian agenda, identifying opportunities for NRC advocacy, working with selected countries to ensure relevant good quality advocacy materials are produced. Special attention will be given to following the agenda of the Emergency Directors Group (in coordination with NRC Geneva/PnP).
• Identify funding opportunities and develop good quality proposals for NRC’s advocacy work in relevant emergencies/start-ups.

B) Head Office

• Support the Emergency Response Director with representation, including by following relevant discussions and processes at NRC representative offices and the policy level in Geneva.
• Provide support on Advocacy to the Executive Director of Field Operations, and the Emergency Response Director.
• Support the FOMT on strategic advocacy initiatives.
• Support and collaborate with the ERT and ERS Roving staff to include advocacy as part of the emergency response.
• Act as a media spokesperson on relevant issues as needed and represent NRC in relevant discussions, panels and global events related to advocacy and emergency response.
• Support the ERS on strategy documents and development of emergency processes.
• Contribute to the creation and revision of advocacy tools, including templates, guidelines, policies, and procedures, and enable their use by relevant staff across the organization.
• Support efforts to ensure quality control of NRC-branded advocacy products in collaboration with other specialists.
• Contribute to improving ways of work, information sharing and coordination among relevant staff and facilitate connections with relevant experts within NRC and external stakeholders.

Professional Competencies and Qualifications Required

These are skills, knowledge and experience that are important for effective performance.

• Relevant University degree and a minimum 5 years of relevant experience within the humanitarian field.
• Experience working in emergency response.
• Experience from working in complex and volatile contexts with ability to quickly assess new contexts.
• In depth knowledge, expertise and experience in advocacy, campaigning, or similar.
• Understanding of the global humanitarian system and how it works; ability to identify key opportunities for NRC to influence humanitarian related decisions.
• Understanding of the various advocacy tools, including both public and private avenues, local and international outreach.
• Documented results related to the position’s responsibilities.
• Proven skills in building staff capacities.
• Proven ability to provide credible strategic advice to senior colleagues
• Proven coordination, networking, communication and interpersonal skills.
• Understanding of NRC Advocacy network is an asset.
• Experience representing an NGO, donor or UN agency
• Fluency in English, both written and verbal. Fluency in French and/or Spanish is desirable.
• Excellent written communication skills and experience in editing public documents

Behavioural competencies

• Handling insecure environments
• Strategic thinking
• Working with people
• Communicating with impact and respect
• Initiating action and change
• Planning and delivering with results

What We Offer

NRC is an equal opportunities employer and aims to have staffing diversity in terms of age, gender, ethnicity, nationality and physical ability.

We offer an opportunity to match your career to a compelling cause and a chance to meet and work with people who are the best in their fields.

Female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply and join our work culture that empowers every employee to share ideas and take responsibility: At NRC we think outside the box. We encourage ideas and give responsibility to all employees at all levels, to help solve the complex issues that we face. You will have many opportunities to be heard and take initiative.

We are also looking for people who share our values:

• To be dedicated in what we do;
• To be innovative with our solutions;
• To act as one unified and inclusive team;
• To be accountable to the donors that make our work possible; the people we exist to serve, and to each other… the members of our NRC family.

Additional Information:

Duty Station: Oslo preferred, other locations in a similar timezone could be considered.

Travel: Up to 50%

Duration of contract: 24 Months (with possibility of extension)

Grade 9 in NRC’s grading structure

Reports to: Emergency Response Director, Field Operations

Provides supervision to: N/A

ABOUT US

The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) is an independent humanitarian organisation helping people forced to flee. We work in crises across more than 31 countries, providing emergencies and long-term assistance to millions of people every year. We stand up for people forced to flee, advocating their rights. NORCAP, our global provider of expertise, helps improve international and local ability to prevent, prepare for, respond to and recover from crises. NRC also runs the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre in Geneva, a global leader in reporting on and advocating for people displaced within their own country.

Employment with NRC may lead to employment in or deployment to Regions, Countries, Areas or Offices that may be host to considerable health, safety and security risks. NRC takes this very seriously and we have procedures in place to reduce known risks, but will never be able to take away all risks.

NRC is an equal opportunities employer and aims to have staffing diversity in terms of age, gender, ethnicity, nationality and physical ability.