The Policy and Campaigns department seeks to change the policies, practices and attitudes of the UK Government, international institutions and decision-makers in the North, in order to tackle the root causes of poverty and to promote development in the South.

They do this, working closely with the rest of ActionAid International, by:

• lobbying for change in policy through research
• mobilising our supporters to campaign, and raising public support on development issues
• working with the media team to draw attention to ActionAid’s analysis and perspective.

Key responsibilities:

• provide strategic direction to ActionAid UK’s public policy and political advocacy work on cross-cutting development issues and thematic campaign issues
• ensure ActionAid UK public policy messages and advocacy materials are coherent, of a high quality and consistently promote women’s rights issues and perspectives
• represent ActionAid as a senior level lobbyist, media and public spokesperson for cross-cutting targets and issues and ensure that ActionAid makes full use of presenting opportunities to advance its advocacy on the range of issues it works on
• manage the Public Affairs Team and women’s rights advocacy work.

Essential skills/experience:

• ability to jointly design and steer ActionAid’s political influencing work at a strategic level
• strong political judgement and experience of high level policy influencing/lobbying work
• detailed knowledge of decision-making processes and influencing opportunities in the UK government, and at least one of the international bodies of which it’s a member
• extensive experience of media-based advocacy and of being a media spokesperson in both broadcast and print media
• experience of policy and advocacy work on women’s rights issues
• strong presentational skills, especially the ability to digest large amounts of information, and present complex issues clearly and concisely to a variety of specialist and non-specialist audiences
• extensive experience of networking and contact-building in Whitehall, Westminster, political think-tanks
• experience of management of both staff and projects
• excellent negotiation and communication skills, including demonstrated ability to work collaboratively with colleagues in teams
• proven initiative, flexibility and enthusiasm in responding to changing priorities and tight deadlines
• a strong commitment to ActionAid’s values
• proven ability to work in an accountable and flexible way in an international organisation.

To apply:

Please download the full job information pack and email your CV and covering letter along with your equal opportunities monitoring form to jobsactionaid.org quoting Head of Public Affairs and job reference 1001-14.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

ActionAid is an equal opportunities employer. We warmly welcome applications from all sections of the community and aim to promote diversity. Reg. Charity No. 274467.