Advocacy Advisor

We are looking for a highly qualified Advocacy Advisor for our program in Antakya- Hatay, Turkey.

Who are we?

The Danish Refugee Council (DRC) is a humanitarian, non-governmental and non-profit organization, founded in 1956, that works in more than 35 countries around the world. DRC has been operating in Turkey since early 2013, working with by and large with non-camp Syrian refugees and affected host communities. DRC is committed to basic humanitarian principles; including impartiality and neutrality, and offers the highest standards of accountability to the people it serves. The overall objective for DRC in Turkey is the protection and promotion of durable solutions to displacement affected populations on the basis of humanitarian principles and human rights with more immediate objectives focusing both on the immediate subsistence needs, protection and self-reliance support as well as a more long term focus on capacity building. In Turkey, DRC works partially through partners, also providing intensive capacity building support, while also conducting direct implementation.

About the job

Develop expert policy guidance for public and private messaging and advocacy with key stakeholders on Turkey, while driving and shaping DRC’s profile on Turkey (public and private) on priority issues.

Duties and Responsibilities

The Advocacy Advisor will have the following duties and responsibilities:

Overall Responsibilities

Advocacy

• Develop advocacy and positioning strategy for DRC Turkey
• Develop and update talking points, topline messages and advocacy asks for the DRC Turkey team
• Create a contextual update and a crisis info document on Turkey, detailing the current context, protection space and regulatory situation
• Establish strategic relationships with media outlets to ensure push of key advocacy messages

  Strategy

• Ensure DRC MENA RO, HQ, Brussels and Geneva rep offices are in line with DRC Turkey advocacy strategy and understand and promote its asks
• Liaise with key UN, NGO and other interlocutors in the Turkey to ensure Danish Refugee Council has up to date information on the humanitarian situation and response in the region

  Situation and advocacy analysis

• Suggest actions to national policy responses and policy frameworks, as well as other factors such as UN coordination, funding for the response, security and current and future challenges that have an impact on displaced populations and their access to humanitarian assistance and protection services.
• Suggest key advocacy opportunities and targets at national and regional levels

  Advocacy products

• Draft and otherwise support the production of advocacy products as outlined in the advocacy strategy for use at the country, regional and international levels.
• When necessary ensure advocacy products are signed-off according to DRCs international sign-off procedures.

  Other

• Any other duties related to the nature of the job as directed by the CD

  About you

  To be successful in this role you must have University degree or higher education relevant to human rights, law, political sciences, social sciences, or development field

  Moreover, we also expect the following:

  Essential Qualifications:

• Prior experience working in an emergency response contexts or fragile states.
• Significant prior experience working in advocacy on humanitarian issues, refugee rights, human rights, and/or development issues.
• Experience of influencing and advocacy work including lobbying, policy development and information provision in humanitarian issues.
• Excellent skills in advocating towards government officials.
• Experience of and strong skills in developing and implementing humanitarian advocacy strategies and campaigns.
• Good attention to detail.
• Extensive knowledge of refugee rights and international humanitarian law.
• Understanding of UN and donor operations at country and regional level.
• High level analytical and strategic thinking skills.
• Cultural awareness and ability to build relationships quickly with a wide variety of people.
• Patient, adaptable, flexible, able to improvise and remain responsive and communicate clearly and effectively under pressure.
• Excellent planning, management and coordination skills, with the ability to organise a substantial workload comprised of complex, diverse tasks and responsibilities.
• Strong communication (written and spoken), and interpersonal skills, with experience in coordinating multicultural teams.
• Commitment to Danish Refugee Council values

  Essential Experiences:

• At least 3 years of proven experience in field-based humanitarian settings or in the private sector

  Preferred Qualification:

• Above average computer literacy

• Proven skills in advocacy work.

Preferred Experience:

• Experience working with social work, community mobilization and social science research is an asset

  Required Skills and Competencies

• Strong communications skills
• Capacity to work independently
• Ability to engage with a wide range of actors operating in different sectors and environments
• Ability to create linkages between different departments including between programmes and support functions
• Capacity to create linkages and positive exchanges between different geographic areas
• Strong initiative and self-motivation, with a commitment to teamwork and humanitarian principles
• Flexibility, enthusiasm, and willingness to learn from others
• Ability to quickly develop good insight and understanding of the conflict, the human rights situation and the political environment
• Excellent analytical and strategic thinking skill, with proven ability to create and utilize qualitative and quantitative analyses in organizational planning;
• Strong report writing skills;
• Effective verbal and written communication, multi-tasking, organizational, and prioritization skills;
• Ability to live and work closely with a diverse team of individuals in a highly intense and fluid work and security environment;
• Capacity to spark innovative approaches to programming and to inspire groups to collaborate closely to implement high-quality programs;
• Ability to navigate complex situations with diplomacy;
• Ability to manage ambiguity, frustration and stress in self and others;
• Confident and decisive leadership;
• Desire and ability to learn and grow, both personally and professionally;
• Demonstrated attention to detail, ability to follow procedures, meet deadlines and work independently and cooperatively with team members;
• Demonstrated experience and ability to professionally and appropriately represent the organization and negotiate and defend DRC’s interests with a diverse range of government officials, local organizations and other groups.

  Language Skills:

• Fluency in the English language, both written and verbal and knowledge of Turkish or Arabic is an advantage.

In this position, you are expected to demonstrate DRC’ five core competencies: 

Striving for excellence: You focus on reaching results while ensuring an efficient process.

Collaborating: You involve relevant parties and encourage feedback.

Taking the lead: You take ownership and initiative while aiming for innovation.

Communicating: You listen and speak effectively and honestly.

Demonstrating integrity: You act in line with our vision and values.

We offer

DRC will offer the successful applicant a 4 months’ contract, renewable dependent on both funding and performance. You must be available to start work ASAP and be willing and able to work in Antakya-Hatay.

We offer a fair compensation package depending on your qualification and experiences as well as additional allowances such as relocation allowance and living allowances, if applicable. DRC Turkey is income tax exempted.

Application process

Interested? Then apply for this position by clicking on the apply button. 

All applicants must send a cover letter and an updated CV (no longer than four pages). Both must be in the same language as this vacancy note. CV only applications will not be considered.

If you have questions or are facing problems with the online application process, please contact recruitment@drc-turkey.org  

Applications close 28 August 2017. The interviews are expected to take place within 2 weeks after the application close date.

Need further information?

For more details on this position please contact HR Team at recruitment@drc-turkey.org.

Please note that applications sent directly to HR Team will not be considered.

For further information about the Danish Refugee Council, please consult our website www.drc.ngo