INGO Forum Senior Liaison Advisor at Mercy Corps Nigeria

Mercy Corps, is a leading global organization powered by the belief that a better world is possible. In disaster, in hardship, in more than 40 countries around the world, we collaborate to put bold solutions into action — helping people triumph over adversity and build stronger communities from within, now and for the future. In Nigeria, Mercy Corps operates in over 13 states focusing on key thematic areas of humanitarian response, conflict mitigation and adolescent girls’ empowerment.

Wea re recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: INGO Forum Senior Liaison Advisor

Location: Maiduguri, Borno

Program / Department Summary

• The Nigeria International NGO Forum (INGO Forum) is a civil society mechanism comprising of approximately 40 members (confirmed and prospective) and 4 observers active in the humanitarian and development fields in Nigeria.
• The purpose of the Forum is to provide an inclusive and consistent space for INGOs to develop and employ collective strategies and approaches to enhance the overall effectiveness and efficiency of humanitarian and development initiatives throughout Nigeria.
• The INGO Forum exists primarily to serve the needs of its members and to act in their interest for the betterment of serving beneficiaries.
• The main objectives include information sharing/ communication; coordination; policy development and advocacy; engagement with national civil society; and external representation of the INGO community. With 2 current staff (Coordinator and Support Manager) the INGO Forum plans to expand its reach with the goal of improving services to its members and increasing advocacy related to identified key priority issues. As of March 2017, the INGO Forum will be hosted by Mercy Corps in Nigeria’s capital city of Abuja.

General Position Summary

• Reporting to the NIF Coordinator, the post-holder is responsible for the policy analysis and strategic planning support to NIF members, reflecting NIF-identified priority issues within the political, operational, and humanitarian spheres.
• The post holder will chair sub-Working Groups.
• The post-holder will facilitate the establishment of a strategic humanitarian policy and engagement presence on behalf of NIF members, in collaboration with members’ dedicated engagement and policy teams (where available), humanitarian managers, and directors.
• The post holder will support the NIF Coordinator and Executive Committee to engage effectively in the various avenues available to NIF to effect policy change. 
• The post holder is responsible for supporting the overall strategic planning with the Membership, together with the Coordinator, and will deliver regular reports, briefing papers, key messages or position papers as required. Where joint messaging on behalf of all NIF members is either unproductive or impossible, the post-holder will aim to facilitate and support joint works through “coalitions of the willing.”
• The post-holder will likewise be responsible for outreach and coordination to local NGO networks to support coordinated engagement work in Nigeria. 

Essential Job Responsibilities
Identifying and Developing Areas for Engagement by NIF Members:

• Stay abreast of political developments and humanitarian trends in Nigeria, with an emphasis on the humanitarian crisis in the NE, informing NIF members where relevant.
• Ensuring sufficient capacity and knowledge to support policy analysis and strategic planning around the humanitarian architecture and operational issues.
• Collaborate with the NIF Coordinator to represent NIF at meetings with external engagement targets.
• Identify and liaise with external partners, including ICVA, Crisis Action and InterAction, to identify lobby opportunities out of country.
• Develop a calendar of upcoming lobby opportunities to be tapped by NIF members and partners

Leading the Creation and Implementation of the NIF Influence and Negotiation Strategy:

• Stemming from priorities identified by NIF membership, the post holder is responsible for developing, updating and implementing NIF influence and negotiation strategy on behalf of/in collaboration with the NIF membership.
• Lead the process of drafting NIF positions and related negotiation strategies based on priorities identified by NIF members
• Advise and contribute to and coordinating the development of NIF positions, managing various communication activities, leading on the communication of NIF positions amongst key stakeholders including, where necessary, national and international media, and the wider humanitarian community
• Serves as chair and provides leadership to the NIF Engagement Working Group and the implementation of decisions taken at their meetings
• Coordinate and monitor Engagement messages and initiatives to ensure impact and that NIF external Engagement is in line with good humanitarian and development principles
• Update the NIF Engagement strategy in collaboration with the NIF membership and Executive Committee, developing a periodical review and feedback of the implementation of NIF Engagement activities
• Develop and implement an annual Engagement strategy for the Forum in collaboration with the membership with clear timelines and products
• Identify and lead (when appropriate) engagement initiatives for the membership through mobilising members and through the production of joint influencing products
• Support overall Forum engagement efforts through developing and facilitating relevant influencing products including policy briefs, briefing notes, position papers and background papers. Lead the process as appropriate and get member consensus for sign on
• Liaise with leads from international coordination structures such as InterAction and ICVA to strengthen linkages with Nigeria for better engagement to prioritize Nigeria agenda.
• Support state representatives in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe to identify opportunities for engagement with authorities on thematic issues
• Engage with peace building and resilience working groups, through calling for meetings, drafting action-oriented meeting notes, support in sourcing for presenters and developing agenda for the meetings.

Coordinating, Internally and also with External Actors:

• Foster relationships with political and diplomatic stakeholders, raise awareness about the NIF Influencing and negotiation strategy and messages among political stakeholders
• Ensure more effective and consistent communication and engagement with the UN, local authorities, civil society, donors, embassies and other stakeholders
• Organize and facilitate NIF lobby subcommittee meetings in both the Abuja and the field
• Develop strong policy links and clear ways of working between NIF and National NGOs
• Ensure collaboration with the OCHA-chaired Humanitarian Communications Working Group.

Engagement with National Civil Society Actors and Other Stakeholders:

• Develop relationships with NNGO consortia to explore partnerships and related capacity gaps
• Identify opportunities for capacity building for NNGOs, as well as opportunities for INGOs to learn from NNGO practices
• Assure NNGO interests are represented within INGO Forum key messages, and actively seek allies/partnerships
• Provide linkages between INGO and NNGO community / identify opportunities for collaboration
• Organize and facilitate workshops and other capacity development, as necessary.

Target Outcomes:

• INGO influencing WG is coordinated and contributing regularly to the dialogue using evidence from the field
• INGO Forum influencing and negotiation strategy is updated, is practical and actioned by Forum members
• Post holders work plan identifies key dates and opportunities, and plans activities accordingly
• Iinfluencing and negotiation Strategy is revised regularly depending on changing context
• INGO Forum Influencing WG produces, or facilitates the production of, a significant number of products on behalf of the Forum or coalitions of the willing, and targeted follow up is supported with policy briefs, key messages, talking points, etc.
• Partnerships are fostered with NNGOs, UN agencies, donors, and other key stakeholders
• Humanitarian capacities of INGOs and NNGOs are built to lobby through trainings/workshops
• Humanitarian capacity of INGO Forum Communication Officer is built in order to assume oversight of influencing and negotiation strategy.

Finance & Compliance:

• Ensure compliance with donor and host agency (in this case, Mercy Corps) regulations
• Draft or review scope of work to hire and manage technical consultants, including review for technical efficacy and contract budget, as required.

Security:

• Ensure compliance with security procedures and policies as determined by country leadership.
• Proactively ensure that team members operate in a secure environment and are aware of policies.

Accountability To Beneficiaries:

• INGO Forum team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our beneficiaries and to international standards guiding international relief and development work.

Knowledge and Experience

• Advanced university degree in related field
• Relevant work experience in policy analysis, influence, strategic planning, communications, research, media, data gathering and/or information management
• Demonstrated capacity to develop and implement strategies with clear theories of change
• Excellent writing, editing and analytical skills and ability to formulate well-targeted strategic documents
• Ability to work independently in a fast-paced and often demanding environment
• Fluency in English required, with demonstrated writing skills
• Computer literacy in using Microsoft Office and email/internet.
• Previous humanitarian Liaison and engagement experience within NGO forum/Forum highly preferred
• Previous experience working in humanitarian context with a national or international NGO
• Prior experience coordinating a large number of diverse actors
• Background including knowledge of developments and trends in NE Nigeria Humanitarian context
• Knowledge of and contacts in Nigerian NGOs
• Experience using Microsoft Publisher or other relevant software.

Success Factor:

• Commitment to achieve results in a timely manner
• Trustworthiness and integrity
• Committed to humanitarian values and principles
• People management skills
• Influencing and negotiation skills
• Communication
• Cultural sensitivity
• Gender equity and protection sensitive
• Creative solutions to problems

Application Closing Date
12th June, 2017.

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should submit their CV's and Cover Letter in one document, addressing the position requirements to: [email protected]

Note

• All applications must include the position title in the subject line.
• Only short-listed candidates will be contacted for interview and we are an equal opportunity organization so women are strongly encouraged to apply for this position.