The Global Network of Civil Society Organisations for Disaster Reduction (GNDR) was established in 2007. Since then GNDR has grown as the largest international network of civil society organisations working to strengthen resilience and reduce risk in communities worldwide. We are more than 1,500 organisations, many of them grassroots and local community groups as well as national, regional and international organisations and networks. We support the interface between civil society organisations at the frontline and local, national and international policy-making institutions and governance structures. GNDR members work together to amplify the voices of people most at risk and to influence policies and practices. We strengthen our capacities by creating knowledge, and through collaborative learning and action. Together our network is working to make an impact in over 120 countries.
The Policy Lead, as a member of the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) and wider secretariat team is responsible for leading all Policy work, including overseeing policy research and analysis; networking and representation at the global level; overseeing all GNDR’s influencing and lobbying on policy issues and supporting the Regional Teams at regional and national level; Coordinating GNDR’s thought leadership on “Risk Drivers”; coordinating all donor funded policy projects; and overseeing GNDR’s external communications; supporting the regional team in the recruitment and management of and communication with the members; overseeing the election of Board and RAG members; coordinating the member led capacity strengthening; and internal and external communication.
Specific Responsibilities
1. Policy analysis and research
- Horizon scan emerging global and regional socio-economic, political developments and humanitarian situations, donor policies, and trends UN, NGO and civil society response in sector good practice to identify emerging policy issues;
- Oversee, support and commission the high quality research and analysis of selected policy issues drawing on learning and experience from members, academic institutions and other resilience actors;
- Based on research findings, develop policy recommendations and messaging for influencing decision-makers, promotion to members and adoption as GNDR practice;
- Develop policy position papers, reports, case studies, and other learning materials
2. Influencing and Lobbying
- Directly engage in evidence-based lobbying activities with key decision-makers at global levels on selected policy issues;
- Lead innovative advocacy campaigns towards set goals, linked closely with the findings from GNDR’s Views from the Frontline;
3. Support to Regional and Global Advocacy
- In collaboration with regional staff, develop an advocacy strategy to contribute to the outworking of the GNDR strategy setting out priorities and targets.
- Develop messaging on selected policy issues for use by regional staff
- Support regional teams in lobbying activities with key decision-makers at national and regional levels on selected policy issues;
- Coordinate GNDR advocacy both within specific projects and more broadly, including identifying, mapping and facilitating connection of GNDR members with SFDRR and other post-2015 processes, key national and high level events and relevant stakeholders and policy-makers at national, regional and global levels;
4. Networking
- Position GNDR as a leading Risk-Informed Development network working with civil society organisations dealing with issues of localisation, disaster risk reduction, resilience and sustainable development.
- Develop and maintain strong working relationships with GNDR external stakeholders, including governments, UN agencies, institutional donors, media, representing GNDR externally as required;
- Strengthen and facilitate links between GNDR and its members with relevant resilience actors (including academic and knowledge institutions) to develop members expertise and capacity in Risk-Informed Development;
- Attend relevant conferences and events and interact with academics and practitioners;
5. “Risk Drivers”
- Coordinate the development of GNDR’s knowledge base on the 6 identified “Risk Drivers” and any agreed thematic area, and their interconnections, drawing information from GNDR secretariat, members and external sources;
- Coordinate and support the “Risk Driver” leads in developing GNDR’s knowledge base and capacity;
- Provide advice and guidance to secretariat staff and members at a global level on the “Risk Drivers” and thematic areas, including inputting into proposal submissions;
6. Membership Engagement
- Oversee the development of a membership engagement plan to allow members to engage in GNDR’s activities and with each other to enhance their capacity;
- Oversee support for the recruitment and registration of new members ensuring enquiries from interested parties and applications from potential members are dealt with in a timely and effective manner;
- Oversee the development and maintenance of accurate and relevant membership database and distribution lists;
- Responsible for the election of members of Global Board and Regional Advisory Groups;
- Support the Executive Director to work with Board members to strengthen and enhance representative governance structures and processes at global, regional and national levels;
- Oversee the management of the digital platform (community platform) to support the sharing of information;
- Coordinate and support member-led capacity strengthening and shared learning at global level;
7. External communication
- Oversee the development of an external communications plan to maintain strong two-way flow of information with external stakeholders to support the outworking of the corporate strategy and support the implementation of our Policy work;
- Oversee the development and maintenance of GNDR’s brand and guidance, ensuring compliance across the secretariat;
- Support the External Communications Coordinator to produce communications materials and messaging to support the policy work;
- Support the External Communications Coordinator to support to produce communications materials and messaging for the wider organisation, ensuring consistency and coherence of messaging across the organisation;
8. Project Management
- Responsible for the development, implementation, monitoring and reporting of policy plans, projects and associated budgets
- Oversee the management and implementation of a portfolio of donor funded contracts and grants, ensuring appropriate contractual arrangements with donors, partners, suppliers and consultants
- Identify and develop new opportunities for future advocacy projects
- Preparation and dissemination of regular activity updates and progress reports to relevant stakeholders, including timely preparation of donor and partner reports
9. Team Management
- As a member of the senior leadership team, assist with the overall coordination, management, development and representation of the Secretariat team
- Develop and model a team culture characterised by a shared understanding of GNDR’s vision and strategy and commitment to values.
- Lead the Policy group, ensuring clarity over plans, budgets and priorities, providing supervision, guidance and mentoring, encouraging effective teamwork and inclusiveness.
- Implement GNDR’s performance management policy with direct reports, with objective setting, probationary reviews, regular catch ups, 6-monthly performance appraisals, development planning and exit interviews, carried out for staff, and take appropriate remedial action to address areas of poor performance.
How to apply:
TO APPLY: To apply for this position all applicants should send a brief cover letter and CV to jobs@gndr.org with subject line referencing the role title. Phone/Skype and/or Face-to-Face interviews will be arranged for short-listed candidates on a rolling basis. Only candidates selected for interview will be contacted. Closing date: Friday 27th August
UK Salary is £54,149. Competitive salary and benefits will be offered based on local market rates for Candidates outside of the UK. No expat benefits are provided.
Only candidates who are eligible to reside and work in locations where GNDR has offices should apply.
GNDR offices are based in: Dakar, Senegal, Delhi, India, Guatemala City, Guatemala, London, UK, Nairobi, Kenya, The Hague, The Netherlands, Yogyakarta, Indonesia.