Fairtrade Africa Policy and Advocacy Officer

JOB PURPOSE AND REPORTING:
This position will be responsible for public policy engagement and advocacy on ASM issues to influence key stakeholders in governmental and non-governmental sectors in their policy and decision making towards ASM. The position requires: strategy development, research, communication and advocacy in ASM; whilst developing connections between the FT Precious metals project in East Africa and the broader priorities of FT Precious metals Standard to position Fairtrade as a lead voice on ASM issues in Africa and beyond

Work is to be carried out independently and in close collaboration with Public Policy Committees (PPC), the FT precious metals Steering Group and Fairtrade in ensuring that challenging communication and advocacy targets are met, outreach of the work to the target audience is effective, and new opportunities are explored to sustain and increase policy engagement and advocacy scope. The position will create and execute an innovative two year strategy and annual action plan including the compilation of Public Policy Committee (PPC) reports and develop information material for different audiences.

Specific Tasks
•Maintain a strategic overview of the range of ASM issues in Africa and internationally and work with FT precious metal Project Partners to design a public policy strategy, select core advocacy priorities and support their implementation in East Africa with local and international partner organizations;
•Responsible for Africa-based policy engagement on ASM issues, including representation and participation in regional and global spaces for advocacy in the Extractive Sector and Mineral Certification in line with the FT Precious metals Standards for ASM;
•Undertake research including monitoring influential government and inter-governmental organisations (IGOs) position and developments on selected matters of interest to ASM and the Extractive sector and develop policy positions, produce briefings and other advocacy materials in close collaboration with other partners and FT Gold Steering Group;
•Identify country forums/spaces for ASM policy engagement or lead formation of country Public Policy Committees (PPC) in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania and support the implementation of their strategies in line with FT advocacy priorities;
•Work with Gold Project Manager to ensure connections with Project Partners on advocacy plans, and work to gain appropriate profile and coverage of FT Gold Standard and priority issues in social and traditional media;
•Work with Project Partners to identify, build and maintain strategic allies for policy engagement and advocacy and expand a network of contacts on ASM issues, including donors, NGOs, government officials, regional and international organizations, academics, and journalists;
•Build the Capacity of ASM representatives and other local partners including the PPC on ASM policy issues including awareness creation, advocacy training and representation;
•Work with FT Gold Steering Group to think through development and the measurement of impact in policy engagement and advocacy, to ensure that lessons learnt are captured and shared;
•Support the development of a sustainability strategy and funding for the PPCs or policy engagement and advocacy on ASM including Long-term collaboration with other institutions;
•Efficiently manage all stages of policy engagement and advocacy and coordination including reporting on advocacy work.

Knowledge and Experience

Required:
•A bachelor's in political science, law and communications or relevant qualification and extensive relevant experience and/or training, or equivalent combination of education and experience;
•3-4 years relevant working experience in project management/advocacy, including managing multi-stakeholder partners and managing project budgets;
•Strong background with programs advancing social justice through advocacy, community organizing, legal advocacy, research or policy reform work.
•Experience in developing country contexts of working with local partners to address policy issues and other advocacy objectives;
•Experience conducting monitoring and evaluation especially in relation to assessing the impact of policy engagement and advocacy.
•Available for frequent travelling, mostly in the Eastern Africa region;

Desired:
•Post-graduate qualification in a relevant discipline (environmental conservation, human rights, international relations, sustainable development or a related field);
•Experience in capacity building on public policy and advocacy engagement with NGOs, IGOs and Government institutions within East Africa;
•Experience with certification schemes, ethical standards and standards setting processes.
•Knowledge and/or network to key organizations and stakeholders active in the Extractive field;

Skills

•Excellent computer and good organizational skills;
•Effectively work as a team member and independently, with a high-level of self-motivation and ability to set and meet goals;
•Poses strong research and analysis skills, with exceptional attention to detail;
•Pleasant, diplomatic manner and disposition in interacting with colleagues and the general public;

Competencies:
The following are core competencies required for the role:
•Delivering results - Ability to deliver high quality measurable results whilst at the same time maintaining or even raising quality of work;
•Passionate Commitment - Personal commitment to public rights awareness and promotion of social justice;
•Knowledge management – working in a way that promotes, information and knowledge sharing to the team and our broader network

Notes: This job description is intended as a guide and should not be viewed as an inflexible specification as it may be varied from time to time in the light of strategic developments following discussion with the post holder. The post holder will be expected to work to agreed objectives, which should facilitate achievements of the key responsibilities in accordance with the Performance Review Process.

How to apply:

APPLICATION (Deadline 31st July 2013)
An application form (CVs will not be accepted) can be found on the jobs and volunteering page of our websitewww.fairtradeafrica.net . If you have any queries, please e-mail recruitment@fairtradeafrica.net or call +254202721930 and ask to speak to a member of the Admin team. Qualified applicants will be subjected to background checks as a condition of employment. The final hiring decision is anticipated mid August for a start date on 1st September 2013. Completed applications should be e-mailed to recruitment@fairtradeafrica.net All applicants should state how they meet essential requirements of the post and include their email address, telephone contacts and three referees with contact details on the application form.