Policy, Advocacy and Communications Coordinator At International Rescue Committee

The International Rescue Committee responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises and helps people to survive and rebuild their lives. Founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein, IRC offers life-saving care and life-changing assistance to refugees forced to flee from war or disaster. At work today in more than 40 countries and in 22 U.S. cities, IRC restores safety, dignity and hope to millions who are uprooted by conflict or disaster. IRC leads the way from harm to home.

Contextual background

After more than eight-years of conflict Yemen remains one of the most complex operating environments in the world. Across the country families’ incomes have collapsed, including 23% of households with no income, highlighting the systemic impacts of protracted conflict. Currency fluctuation and limited fuel supplies have made both food and fuel prohibitively expensive. Today 80% of the population lives below the poverty line. This means that even basic goods like food—much of which has to be imported—and services are unaffordable for many Yemenis. Insufficient humanitarian funding has also led to a failure to meet basic needs. 21.6 million people (69% of Yemenis) are in need of humanitarian assistance, up from 20.7 million in 2021, yet the humanitarian response was only 54% funded in 2022.

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) has been working in Yemen since 2012 and rapidly scaled our programming in 2015 to address greater humanitarian needs caused by the conflict. While the ongoing conflict and restrictions of air and seaports create challenges to our operations, the IRC’s staff and paid volunteers have maintained access to affected populations and continue to provide critical healthcare, economic empowerment, women’s protection and empowerment, and education programming.

Scope of work

Reporting to the Deputy Director of Grants and Accountability, the Policy, Advocacy and Communications (PAC) Coordinator will be responsible for the design and implementation of the IRC Yemen’s advocacy and communication strategy, ensuring consistent messaging to support high-quality external relations and to enable every staff member to be an effective ambassador for the mission. This role will hold responsibility for the development of content and materials suitable for dissemination to donors, stakeholders, potential partners, and sharing via IRC’s website and other social media channels, in the context of the broader strategy. The post-holder will also coordinate closely with the Programmes, MEAL, and Grants Units and the SMT in order to inform and advance advocacy messaging to donors, within the humanitarian architecture in-country and within IRC’s global advocacy framework.

Specific responsibilities

• Lead on the design of IRC Yemen’s advocacy and communications strategy based on the S100 Strategic Action Plan; lead strategy implementation in the field, and advise and support colleagues in the MENA Region and in global capitals to implement the strategy with international targets.

• Produce high quality public and private policy, advocacy and comms materials including talking points, briefing notes, position papers, fact sheets and advocacy reports.

• Conduct a robust stakeholder mapping and maintain an updated contact list of key targets in-country.

• Regularly liaise with relevant in-country stakeholders, including UN, donor representatives, diplomatic missions, local civil society and peer agencies.

• Promote a principled approach to policy, advocacy and communications on Yemen among relevant internal stakeholders and ensure that external messaging is evidence-based and driven by field realities.

• With support from regional and global comms colleagues, facilitate the collection and sign-off of compelling client-focussed content that can be used in internal and external communications products.

• In conjunction with country program staff and the regional/global advocacy and communications teams, closely monitor humanitarian policy debates and media pertaining to Yemen, ensuring that relevant information is analyzed and disseminated in a timely and effective manner.

• Represent the IRC in humanitarian coordination and advocacy fora, conferences, lobby meetings, and other events as requested; or provide talking points for other senior representatives, including the Country Director and Regional Vice President.

• Respond to external inquiries on policy issues, including briefing policymakers and media.

• Provide trainings on advocacy and communications to field staff and develop the capacity of national staff to implement impactful advocacy interventions.

Key working relationships

Internal: Direct Reporting to: Deputy Director of Grants and Accountability.

• Management in Partnership with: Regional Director of Advocacy, Policy & Communications.

• Close collaboration with: Program Coordinators, Field Coordinators, Humanitarian Access and Security Coordinator, Regional Context Advisor, Senior Regional Communications and Media Manager, Global Advocacy and Communications Colleagues.

External: Public and private donor agencies, international and national NGOs, UN agencies, partner organizations, foreign governments. Advocacy Coordinators or similar in other organizations, Policy and Advocacy Working Groups.

Required experience/qualification/skills

• At least 4 years of progressively responsible professional experience crafting and delivering policy and advocacy work responding to complex humanitarian crises and/or development contexts;

• Experience in advocating on behalf of marginalized groups in conflict settings;

• Demonstrated creativity, ability to apply innovative thinking and problem-solving skills;

• Excellent analytical, presentation, communication and representation skills;

• Fluency in English (written and spoken) is essential, with demonstrated exceptionally strong writing skills;

• Ability to navigate interpersonal and inter-departmental organizational dynamics to keep focus on goals and products;

• Ability to work well in unstable security environments, and under significant administrative and programmatic pressures;

• Flexible to adapt to changing requirements;

• Culturally sensitive, able and interested in working with a multi-ethnic team;

• Strong commitment to the IRC’s mission, purpose and values;

• Must be able to work independently while being a team player;

• Advanced degree in relevant field desired;

• Experience with training and staff capacity building;

• Yemen and/or Middle East regional experience and Arabic language skills preferred.

Demonstrated skills and competencies

• A commitment to IRC’s mission, vision, values and IRC Way – Professional Code of Conduct.

• Credible written, presentation and verbal communication skills; ability to convey information effectively and solid experience providing training and staff development

• Validated sense of professional discretion, integrity, and ability to handle complex situations diplomatically and to effective resolution.

• Excellent management and interpersonal skills and a solid ability to promote harmonious/cohesive teamwork, in a cross-cultural context.

• Validated ability to plan long-term, organize priorities and work under administrative and programmatic pressures with detail orientation and professional patience.

• Highly collaborative and resourceful; ability to establish positive working relationships with senior level management and all other partners to maximize cooperation and productivity.

• Curiosity, a desire to continually learn and develop and a sense of humor is a must.

• Analytical ability in creating effective solutions to complex matters while adhering to labor laws and internal policies.

Travel: This position is based in Aden, Yemen in a shared IRC guesthouse apartments. All IRC sites have electricity and internet.

Working Environment: There is active conflict in parts of the country and a possibility of the conflict advancing and expanding into other locations. The situation in Aden is currently quiet but remains unpredictable. Security will be thoroughly discussed during the interview process.

Standards of Professional Conduct: The IRC and IRC workers must adhere to the values and principles outlined in the IRC Way – Code of Conduct. These are Integrity, Service, Equality and Accountability. In accordance with these values, the IRC operates and enforces policies on Beneficiary Protection from Exploitation and Abuse, Child Safeguarding, Harassment-Free Workplace, Fiscal Integrity, Anti-Retaliation, Combating Trafficking in Persons and several others.

Gender Equality: IRC is committed to narrowing the gender gap in leadership positions. We offer benefits that provide an enabling environment for women to participate in our workforce including parental leave, gender-sensitive security protocols and other supportive benefits and allowances. We welcome and strongly encourage qualified female professionals to apply.

IRC is an Equal Opportunity Employer. IRC considers all applicants on the basis of merit without regard to race, sex, color, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

How to apply

https://rescue.csod.com/ux/ats/careersite/1/home/requisition/37153?c=rescue

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