Established in 1949, SOS Children’s Villages International is a dynamic, international social development organization working globally to meet the needs and protect the interests and rights of orphaned and vulnerable children.

Within the Eastern and Southern Africa region, SOS CV International is headquartered in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and has member associations in Nigeria, Ghana, Ethiopia, Sudan, South Sudan, Somali/Somaliland, Djibouti, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Zambia, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland, Botswana, Namibia, Mauritius, Angola and Madagascar.

Mission of the position:

As a member of the Programme Development, Advocacy Advisor: Provides quality technical leadership and advice for the design, implementation and monitoring of Advocacy and Gender mainstreaming related projects in the ESAF region. The incumbent will provide technical guidance to NAs teams and ensures that high-quality activities are implemented in a timely manner; Leads on developing proposals and securing funding for Programming and Advocacy projects; Ensures the coordination of Advocacy activities through active participation in coordination meetings and working groups; Ensures qualitative support to countries for advocacy projects.

Key performance areas and main responsibilities:

• Provides information, advice and expertise in the field of work, in line with the priorities identified
• Finds information on important activities and events of the civil society, international organizations, NGOs and suggest to the Regional PD Director and the appropriate participation.
• Liaises with partners, recommend, organize and prepare meetings with key potential partner organizations as agreed with the PD Advisor
• Leads the development of tools, systems and structures to support child protection, advocacy and child safeguarding and Gender mainstreaming work
• Interprets the organization’s policy frameworks and actively participate in to the development of the work advocacy
• Tracks and records the work within the countries through reviewing progress reports & statistics, other monitoring & evaluation reports, and regular contact with relevant staff and country/programme visits
• Advises national focal persons on the development of required resources (tools, systems  &
• Ensure development of clear regional strategy for Advocacy including Gender mainstreaming
• Coordinate, support and ensure the consistency of MA strategic and annual planning on advocacy and Gender
• structures), through relevant regional forums and processes
• Drives regional planning processes in this area of work, facilitates relevant sessions of regional forums. Ensure that appropriate targets, objectives and actions are set
• Gather relevant information, from inside and outside the organisation, to support the development of these areas of work. This includes information regarding OVCs, child rights- based approaches, and alternative forms of childcare
• Where appropriate liaises with International Competency Centre, Liaison and Advocacy to link regional advocacy action with international strategy
• Guides and supports, through capacity building and monitoring and evaluating, key advocacy campaigns in the regions, e.g. Care for me
• Is a resource to other Programme Advisors in advocacy issues?
• Represents SOS CVs in relevant forums

Supervisor: Regional Director of Programme Development ESAF

Region: East and Southern Africa (ESAF)

Position requirements

• Master or Bachelor degree in Social Sciences, Humanities or related field
• Extensive minimum 6 years’ experience in advocacy, especially in assisting countries implement projects
• Proven representation and advocacy skills, such as:

• • Relationship building – strong networking, influencing and stakeholder management skills

• • Communication skills – high level writing and presentation skills – able to write a succinct, impactful brief or communication

• Familiarity with key international standards for alternative care, e.g. UN Guidelines on Alternative Care including De- Institutionalization
• Familiarity with key organizational planning tools, such as Log Frame, Feasibility Studies, Assessments, NGO Alternative Country Report for, SDG etc.
• Competence in monitoring and evaluation
• Excellent written and oral communications skills in English, with additional skills in either / or Portuguese and French an advantage
• Ability to work under pressure and willingness to work flexible hours in the event of major emergencies
• Good interpersonal skills with the ability to communicate and negotiate clearly and effectively at all levels, taking into account cultural and language difficulties.
• Capacity to influence key decision makers and build networks within the organization
• Ability to coach and / mentor teams of varying skill levels in geographically widespread locations
• Experience of solving complex issues through analysis, definition of a clear way forward and ensuring buy in
• Ability to present complex information in a succinct and compelling manner.