Oxfam GB
JOB DETAILS
LOCATION: HSPs are globally roving and work away from their home base continuously to a particular location, from a few weeks up to six months’ duration per assignment. HSPs are typically deployed to country programmes up to nine months a year (pro rata for part-time posts). When not deployed (or on annual leave) HSPs may be assigned project / proactive work, the location in which the HSP undertakes this work will be determined by legal and cost implications.
CONTRACT TYPE: Open ended
JOB FAMILY: Programme Technical
ONE OXFAM GRADE : C ZONE : 1
DEPARTMENT:
GLOBAL HUMANITARIAN TEAM
TEAM: PROGRAMME SUPPORT
SALARY: £34,046 net per annum
HOURS: (FTE) 36 hours per week
FLEXIBLE WORKING
We believe flexible working is key to building the Oxfam of the future, so we’re open to talking through the type of flexible arrangements which might work for you.
COMMITMENT TO DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION
We are committed to ensuring diversity and gender equality within our organization.
GLOBAL HUMANITARIAN TEAM PURPOSE: The Global Humanitarian Team (GHT) has designated responsibilities to support, coordinate and lead humanitarian response and policies to reduce the impact of, prepare for and respond to crises, harnessing the resources of the whole Oxfam confederation to deliver support for Oxfam’s strategic plan.
The GHT works across Oxfam countries and regions and in close coordination with others working GHT will work with others to maximize the quality and impact of Oxfam’s humanitarian program by:
- Delivering rapid, safe, and high-quality emergency surge capacity.
- Supporting program strategy, operational design, humanitarian preparedness, and response.
- Promote greater local humanitarian leadership and collaborate on our approach to fragility and across the nexus.
- Facilitate the development of humanitarian capacity across Oxfam and partner organizations through building and brokering a cross confederation network and community.
- Supporting the gathering of evidence to enable learning, innovation and advocating for change across the sector.
- Working with Campaigns and Policy to influence for greater respect of the basic rights of crisis affected men and women.
- Working closely with affiliates in their roles as EAs and PAs for the best interests of the humanitarian program.
- Ensure connection with global and technical humanitarian system and coordination.
Humanitarian Support Personnel (HSP)
The Humanitarian Support Personnel (HSP) Team comprises of technical humanitarian experts from various fields across the globe who bring their skills and experience to Oxfam’s country teams to help them respond to conflicts and natural disasters.
JOB PURPOSE: To be deployed to support country teams around the world to integrate advocacy into Oxfam’s emergency response this role will be particularly focused on deployments to Francophone countries. To drive change, deliver national and global advocacy, actively linking strategy and messaging to our humanitarian Programme work with crisis-affected communities and partners.
Be accountable for ensuring community participation and that local humanitarian leadership shapes programme decisions, actively seek a partnership approach and work following feminist principles including strong awareness of power dynamics. To, along with other technical staff, advisors, and managers, promote safe programming in all humanitarian responses.
JOB REPORTS TO:
Head of Humanitarian Policy and Advocacy
JOBS REPORTING TO THIS JOB
None but during deployments may manage media, communications, or policy staff
BUDGET RESPONSIBILITY
None, but when deployed will have budget management responsibility. Exact size will depend on the specific deployment but likely to be up to €5m.
GEOGRAPHICAL SCOPE
The post is roving and could be deployed to any country in the world. During deployment the scope of the role will vary.
IMPACT
The role is designed to have significant external impact, working with partners and local organisations to develop policy and advocate alongside those affected by conflict and other humanitarian crises to bring change.
External impacts include advocating towards local authorities, national governments, and international institutions. Media representation and campaigning may also be required depending on the needs of the country.
KEY STAKEHOLDERS
Internal: the programme team and other Oxfam staff.
External: people supported by the programme, the donor, local partners, local authorities.
DIMENSIONS of the Role
- Has wider span of management control (number of people supervised during deployments, size of budgets, complexity of projects or other resources).
- Deeper specialist expertise based on wider experience required.
- Higher degree of complexity in the analysis and problem solving required due to the nature of the Programme or area of activity.
- Responsible for all stages of design and implementation of a designated Programme or of policy development, campaign etc. e.g. concept design, proposal writing, implementation, monitoring, evaluation.
- Donor relations, often some role in raising funds.
- Government liaison which may include advocacy
- Impact is mainly in one deployment country/region per deployment
- Wide range of communication and representation inside and outside affiliate.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES (Technical, Leadership, People and Resource management)
This post is part of Oxfam’s team of rapidly deployable Humanitarian Support Personnel (HSPs). Deployments can last from a few weeks to several months and will be to humanitarian situations (either conflict or natural disaster or complex emergencies) or occasionally to Oxfam’s international advocacy offices. Priority will be given to rapid-onset emergencies, but deployments may also be at later stages of humanitarian response.
For each deployment, specific Terms of Reference will be agreed with relevant teams, prior to the deployment. Policy issues will cover protection and assistance and may well cover some of the following: protection of civilians, including peacekeeping and international humanitarian law principles; quality and quantity of humanitarian assistance including humanitarian access; donor performance and funding; humanitarian coordination and localization; women’s rights and/ or gender sensitive policies; food security, livelihoods, water and sanitation policy.
Deployment TOR will normally include:
Management:
People, budgets, assets, projects, and decision making
- Being the main in-country resource for producing policy and advocacy messages and papers, in consultation with Programme staff, and generating analysis and information from colleagues and Programme beneficiaries and other players.
- Provide training and capacity-building for Programme staff as necessary.
- Support the recruitment of a longer-term post holder where needed. Work with Programme colleagues to enable an efficient induction and / or handover at the end of deployment.
- Work with Programme and advocacy teams to assess and advise on risk management within advocacy strategies.
- Manage or coordinate with media and communication/information colleagues in country, where they are present. Be a media spokesperson where required.
- Support, with the rest of technical staff, advisors and managers, the understanding and use of key analytical tools and frameworks related to safe programming.
Analysis and Problem Solving
Information, complexity, creativity, and forward planning
- Analysis of context, problems, and solutions (beyond Oxfam’s programme response) to addressing a new crisis, building on information gathered by the programme. Deployment into an ongoing programme would require updating of the same.
- Develop strategies as appropriate and required – this may be an initial top-line advocacy strategy for the first month if deployed at the onset of an emergency, followed by a more developed 3 – 6 months’ strategy, or a 1 – 2 year’s strategy in ongoing programmes.
- Work with the programme team to ensure policy messaging is linked to programme priorities, programme evidence informs policy, and that programmes integrate advocacy into planning and design where appropriate.
- Ensure programmes are safe, are sensitive to gender and other power dynamics and ensure that they are informed by the community to benefit from the work.
Impact
Contacts, communication, advice, and consequences
- Write policy papers, confidential lobby briefs to inform in-country, regional and global advocacy actions, and advice to media and campaign colleagues, as part of the delivery of the advocacy strategy, coordinating closely with programme colleagues, and local, national and international organisations.
- In-country representation and lobbying with UN, donors, government officials, in agreement with management line in terms of division of labour.
- Proactive networking to continually inform, challenge, and improve advocacy messaging and tactics, developing and investing in relationships and attending meetings. This particularly includes working closely with local actors. Support the campaign manager where there is one in post, to coordinate a global Oxfam International crisis campaign group to agree and implement strategy, messaging, short term actions/tactics, and sign off. Where there is no campaign manager, this may be part of the Policy Advisor’s role. Networking across Oxfam International and affiliates to build support for actions is essential.
- To foster an appropriate working culture built on Oxfam’s values, respectful and cognisant of power imbalances internally and between Oxfam, our partners and the communities we serve.
- Ensure that advocacy messaging and tactics clearly articulate a gender perspective whenever appropriate.
When not on deployment the post holder will:
- Undertake tasks or research from home base or an Oxfam location – this may be remote ongoing support to the crisis base or work on other crisis, and/or inputting into global projects, or documenting lessons learnt and contributing to institutional learning.
- Undertake public speaking and media work on emergency work as requested.
- Provide cover for Oxfam colleagues when necessary.
PERSON SPECIFICATION
Most importantly, every individual in Oxfam needs to be able to:
- Live our values of INCLUSION, ACCOUNTABILITY, EMPOWERMENT, COURAGE, SOLIDARITY and EQUALITY (read more about these here)
- Ensure you commit to our ORGANIZATIONAL ATTRIBUTES (including adhering to the Code of Conduct):
1. Be committed to our feminist principles, and to applying them in your day-to-day behaviour and your work. Be ready to keep learning, with accountability to those who experience oppression as a result of their identities, such as their gender, race/ethnicity, disability, class, or LGBTQIA identity.”
2. Be committed to undertaking Oxfam’s safeguarding training and adhering to relevant policies, to ensure all people who come into Oxfam are as safe as possible.
EXPERIENCE, KNOWLEDGE & COMPETENCIES
For this role, we have selected the most relevant feminist leadership practices which we will use for assessment purposes (which you can read more about here)
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Influencing
– Agility, Complexity, and Ambiguity
– Relationship building
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Influencing
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At interview, shortlisted candidates will also be assessed on our values and organizational attributes, as outlined above.
Minimum requirements all HSPs are expected to fulfil:
- Ability to deploy at short notice to areas affected by crisis and support the rapid scale up of humanitarian programmes to meet lifesaving needs of affected people.
- Demonstrate Oxfam values and behavioral competencies.
- Management skills: HSP deployments usually involve managing a team to deliver the work, HSPs will need to demonstrate management competencies, of international and multi-cultural teams, in difficult and stressful environments.
- Behavioral skills: all HSP deployments require the individual to successfully work with and mentor others, often under challenging circumstances. HSPs should demonstrate competencies around “listening and creating dialogue” and “working with others” as well as networking skills.
Other
- Eager and required to adhere to Oxfam’s principles and values as well as the promotion of gender justice and women’s rights.
- Understanding of and commitment to adhere to equity, diversity, gender, child safety and staff health and wellbeing principles.
Essential – Experience, Knowledge, Qualifications & Competencies
- Fluency in spoken and written French & English.
- Knowledge of and demonstrated commitment to Oxfam’s values, mission, and work
- Knowledge and understanding of global justice, social change, women’s rights, and gender equality and commitment to delivering humanitarian work through feminist principles.
- Practical experience of humanitarian work with a good understanding of context, dilemmas, challenges and ways of working
- Proven track record in policy/advocacy, influencing government, donors or other organisations through advocacy at national and or international levels
- Good understanding of key global humanitarian issues and institutions.
- Strong analytical ability and ability to prioritise issues in complex situations
- Ability to think strategically and beyond the local/country context
- Excellent communication skills, oral and written
- Training and capacity building skills and ability to support programme staff to take on advocacy work
- Sensitivity to cultural differences, and the ability to work in a variety of cultural contexts.
- Excellent inter-personal and teamwork skills and an ability to build good relations both internally and externally
- Thorough understanding of and a commitment to promoting gender equity and the interests of marginalized people
- Willingness to travel at short notice and often to work in difficult circumstances, and an ability to
manage workload and stress in often insecure environments.
Desirable
- Languages, particularly Spanish or Arabic
- Understanding of humanitarian policy debates.
SAFER RECRUITMENT
Oxfam is committed to preventing any type of unwanted behaviour at work including sexual harassment, exploitation and abuse, lack of integrity and financial misconduct; and promoting the welfare of children, young people, and adults. Oxfam expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment through our code of conduct. We place a high priority on ensuring that only those who
share and demonstrate our values are recruited to work for us. Offers of employment will be subject to satisfactory references and appropriate screening checks, which can include criminal records and terrorism finance checks.
How to apply
As part of your online application, please upload your up-to-date CV and a covering letter explaining your suitability against the essential criteria in the job profile.
Please Follow the Link To Apply: