Comic Relief
Senior Advocacy and Communications Manager
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Purpose of Job
This senior role will oversee and deliver strategic communications and influencing agenda under the Shifting the Power civil society strengthening programme, co-funded by UK Aid. Through the Shifting the Power programme, Comic Relief intends to disrupt the power imbalance in our sector and start funding fairer, and to shift mainstream narratives amongst the British Public about aid. We collaborate with a set of local partners, who we refer to as ‘Anchor Partners’ working in Ghana, Zambia, and Malawi. They’re bringing local expertise and knowledge to co-create and shape the direction of the programme and co-lead on communication activities.
With oversight and support from the Head of the Shifting the Power Programme and cross-organisational colleagues, and through quality relationship management with a diversity of stakeholders within and outside of Comic Relief, the postholder will drive transformational change in the international development funding ecosystem by influencing donors, policy makers and the British public to embrace locally led development approaches. They will ensure all deliverables for the advocacy and comms element of the programme are completed on time, to a high quality, and driven by the programme’s values.
Key Objectives
- Improving donors’ perception of locally led development, practices and policies by demonstrating positive impact of local organisations’ capability and expertise and undertaking strategic influencing activities
- Increasing understanding among the British public about the impact locally led development achieves
- Support, coach and collaborate with Anchor Partner colleagues to catalyse robust, locally rooted communications ecosystems across all programme countries, increasing understanding, commitment and support amongst programme country citizens for the programme objectives.
Key Responsibilities
Advocacy and Influencing
- Strategically steer the co-design and coordinated implementation of an advocacy agenda and collective influencing strategy together with FCDO and Anchor Partner colleagues to influence traditional funders, donors, philanthropist and the wider sector to change who and how they fund.
- Spearhead and drive initiatives with internal and external partners to secure tangible policy and advocacy outcomes around the power of communities and organisations.
- Identify proactive and reactive opportunities for effective influencing of international programming.
- Represent Comic Relief and the Shifting the Power programme at high-level national and global forums, conferences, and panels, articulating the case for locally led development to high-level audiences.
- Influence key UK ministers, parliamentarians, and high-level decision-makers through strategic engagement, briefings, and targeted advocacy interventions.
- Engage with internal and external partners to secure tangible policy and advocacy outcomes, including measurable changes in donor funding practices.
- Oversee strategic engagement with local and national partners in priority countries, including delivery of advocacy strategy work-plans for Ghana, Zambia and Malawi.
- Guide and advise partner organisations to build and sustain local platforms and alliances.
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Communications
- Design, lead and deliver the StP Communications Strategy, including setting communications objectives based on clear audience strategy and landscape mapping.
- Lead on the development of compelling communications materials to influence change, engaging with key internal to generate tailored products for target audiences and events e.g. policy makers, global meetings, social media.
- Catalyse grassroots change by working collaboratively with local organisations to involve and amplify the voices of people with lived experience.
- Establish strong partnerships with African creative agencies, Comic Relief’s Strategic Comms team, FCDO’s Communications team and anchor partner(s) to ensure delivery of the communication strategy for the programme.
- Work closely with the Head of the Shifting the Power Programme and Shifting the Power Lead to magnify programme impact through policy and advocacy.
- Work closely with STP Programme Lead MEL Manager, and Head of Communications and Brand Marketing to identify and disseminate success stories and key learnings around social change rooted in Comic Relief’s principles of documenting real lived experience.
Programme Facilitation
- Act as an ambassador for collaborative cross-functional working both within the Funding team and across the wider organisation.
- Serve as a key interlocutor with the FCDO communications and learning leads to magnify programme impact through integrated policy and advocacy approaches.
- Communicate in an open, honest and transparent way with all partners and stakeholders.
- Occasional international travel to programme countries and external influencing events will be required.
Budget and People Management
- Ownership of the communications and influencing budget (£5.3 million in total), including budget management and escalating cases of risk.
- Proactively undertake business planning, prioritise activities and set clear and realistic objectives based on capacity, expertise and aspirations.
- Provide balanced, constructive feedback, undertake effective performance management to embed accountability and proactively support the professional development and growth of staff.
- Maintain regular two-way communication and dialogue with staff, ensuring information is cascaded and escalated as needed.
- Model an enabling, inclusive and empowering leadership style that builds a values-based culture throughout the charity.
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Person Specification
Essential Criteria
- Significant experience of leading strategic advocacy initiatives within the international development context.
- Strong experience developing and delivering high-level influencing and communications strategies
- Strong experience of international and domestic policy influencing in the Global South and in the UK, with a firm understanding and commitment to a more equitable development system and shifting power.
- Strong interpersonal skills and political awareness, with the ability to influence targets and build and sustain excellent relationships.
- A creative and strategic thinker with strong analytical skills and a proven ability to inspire change.
- A confident, collaborative, cross-functional professional with an engaging personal communications style.
- Strong planner with outstanding attention to detail and time management.
- Highly effective communication skills, written and oral.
- A proactive, positive and fun professional with high resilience.
- Strong empathy and sensitivity to working in a diversity of cultural contexts, with commitment to EDI and tackling social injustice and prejudice.
Desirable Criteria
- Experience of working directly with African Civil Society organisations and understanding of local development contexts in Ghana, Zambia or Malawi
- Established networks within multilateral organisations, philanthropic foundations and the charity sector
- Significant experience with media/ communications partnerships and public engagement campaigns that shift mainstream narratives
- Knowledge of UK Aid funding mechanisms and experience of working with government funded programmes
- Understanding of narrative change and the decolonisation discourse in international development and shifting power dynamics
- Digital communications experience including social media strategy and measurement of engagement metrics
- Knowledge of and experience measuring impact of influencing efforts
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