Project Support and Internal Communications Officer

We’re looking for a Project Support and Internal Communications Officer to support War Child UK and War Child Holland design a shared platform which would maximise our collaboration and ensure that together we have the biggest possible impact on our mission, helping hundreds of thousands of children each year to cope with the terror and disruption of armed conflict.

The successful role holder will ensure the project is supported to a high standard of quality and is carried out on schedule and in its entirety. The role has a central and coordinating role within the change team and is responsible for developing and implementing the internal communication strategy.

Shared knowledge and understanding of the progress of the change project / exploration phase between all internal stakeholders. Demonstrates high level stakeholder engagement skills in written and oral form to support collaborative working and project progress

If you share our values and believe that children’s lives should not be torn apart by war, we want to hear from you.

About us

War Child, the specialist charity for children affected by conflict. For more than two decades we’ve delivering high-impact programmes that are rebuilding lives across Afghanistan, Iraq, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Central African Republic and Yemen. We understand children’s needs, respect their rights, and put them at the centre of the solution – from reintegrating children formerly associated with armed groups and armed forces (CAAFAG) in the Central African Republic to reuniting children with their families in Afghanistan. We look forward to a world in which the lives of children are no longer torn apart by war. This is a vision that can only be realised through the collective actions of children themselves, communities and their leaders, organisations like War Child, governments and key decision makers.

Child safeguarding and Adults at Risk

Our work with children and at-risk adults to keep them safe is the most important thing we do. We are committed to the safeguarding of children and vulnerable adults in all areas of our work. We have zero tolerance for any behaviours and practices that puts children and/or vulnerable adults at risk of abuse and/or harm

Background to the role

War Child UK was founded in 1993 to support children affected by the conflict in Bosnia. Shortly afterwards some friends of our founders created War Child Holland. The two organisations have worked alongside each other ever since but did not sign a formal agreement to collaborate until 2017. In the meantime, War Child Holland opened a fundraising office in Germany and Sweden, whilst War Child UK established Children in Conflict as a fundraising office in New York.

In 2019 War Child Holland approved a vision document for creating a network expert organisation with a Shared Platform, for reasons of efficiency, inclusion and anti-colonialisation, but also to achieve more ownership of the organisation by all representatives of the War Child network including country offices, fundraising offices, partners and communities. In 2020, War Child Holland started preparing for the design of such a network expert organisation and Shared Platform and in 2021, the Shared Platform was designed and implementation has started. War Child Sweden, War Child Germany, War Child Netherlands and War Child Holland’s country offices are the “co-owners” of the Shared Platform. Through their representation in the IMT (International Management Team) and other governance bodies of the Shared Platform – the highest level of operational decision making in the organisation – the co-owners jointly co-create, develop, influence, decide on, and execute the operation of the War Child network.

War Child UK and War Child Holland see this process as an opportunity to develop the current design of the Shared Platform collectively further and to explore opportunities for closer collaboration.

Your role

The Project Support and Internal Comms Officer provides project management expertise to help prepare and carry out the change project for exploring closer collaboration between WCH and WCUK and the further design of the Shared Platform. The position has a central and coordinating role within the change team and is responsible for developing & implementing the internal communication strategy.

Your responsibilities

1. Project management support

Carries out a variety of project management work within the project team to help prepare, carry out and complete the project:

• Supports in preparing, finetuning and updating the project working plan, establishing a budget and preparing updates and reports for the Steering Committee.
• Coordinates projects and sub-projects by monitoring progress, identifying budget overruns and reporting on problems as they arise.
• Advises on, assists with and carries out matters relating to setting up the project’s accounts and records / files.
• Support the governance of the project by taking comprehensive, high-quality minutes and undertaking appropriate post-meeting action to ensure accurate recording and implementation of decisions arising from all Steering Group meetings
• Reviews projects together with the working group leads and documents suggestions for improvement.

1. Internal communications

Responsible for development and implementation of the internal communication strategy in relation to the change project / exploration phase:

• Works with Change Manager and the Steering Groups to develop and implement internal communication plans as part of the change process / exploration phase, including the development of effective tools and channels to agreed timelines.
• Drafts / edits messages or scripts from senior stakeholders for presentation to staff
• Ensures internal communication messages are consistent across all internal channels as well as with external messages

1. Stakeholder Coordination

• Proactively coordinate and monitor stakeholder activities; co-determine issues & bottlenecks and work these through to resolution to ensure project progress is on target.
• Operate as point of liaison between the Steering Group, working groups and senior stakeholders
• Assist stakeholder groups / individuals to build positive working relationships and work collaboratively towards a defined common goal.
• Contribute to creating a culture committed to the safeguarding of children and adults and compliant to WCUK’s Child Safeguarding and Adults at Risk Policies.

These duties provide a framework for the role and should not be regarded as a definitive list. Other reasonable duties may be required consistent with the grade of the role.

You have

• Experience of project management, managing your workload to meet deadlines, managing priorities and achieving targets. This includes experience of managing a project budget
• Exceptionally organised with the ability to produce high-quality outputs in a short timeframe
• Understanding of different styles of internal communications and experience of using different forms of communication and reporting.
• Ability to work under pressure, organised to meet deadlines whilst maintaining an eye for detail.
• Significant experience compiling reports from a wide variety of information sources with the ability to clearly articulate and express thoughts and ideas both in writing and in person.
• Willing and able to adjust to multiple demands and shifting priorities
• Enthusiastic and determined to retain momentum and drive a project forward.
• Able to manage the expectations of stakeholders internally and externally whilst building and maintaining long-lasting, mutually beneficial relationships, particularly in multi-cultural environments with sensitivity and respect for diversity.
• Able to process and articulate complex issues in a clear and coherent way so that they can be shared with a wider audience.
• Self-motivated approach to work, whilst working accurately and efficiently to deadlines and multiple priorities.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English