Alliance2015 is a strategic partnership of 7 European NGOs working together to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The members are ACTED, Cesvi, Concern Worldwide, HELVETAS Swiss Intercooperation, Hivos, People in Need, and Welthungerhilfe. United by their European values of human rights, solidarity, and tolerance, they save lives in emergencies and fight against the root causes of hunger, poverty, and inequality.
The Role
Advisor role is to facilitate the development of quality joint programmes and initiatives across Alliance partners. This entails support on effective collaboration among Alliance members in identified partner countries for emergency response, development and advocacy work, as well as support on fundraising for those purposes. The role also ensures that relevant analysis and evidence are derived from these joint efforts, and provides internal links between what members do on the ground, at their HQs, and as Alliance in Brussels. The Senior Programme Advisor keeps strategy delivery grounded in the members’ concrete work, through close interactions with the various Alliance2015 working groups, and carefully targeted support to country programmes.
Main duties & Responsibilities
General Alliance2015 management:
The overall objective is to work in close collaboration with the Director in defining, implementing, and monitoring the Alliance2015 strategy by being the key linkage between the hub and Alliance2015 members’ development, humanitarian, and advocacy work. This includes the following tasks:
1. Work with the Director on processes and approaches to define, achieve, and monitor the Alliance2015 strategic objectives.
2. Maintain the overview of, and coordinate and support the work of specific Working Groups, fostering an open and dynamic information flow between the groups and the Alliance2015 team.
3. Keep updated with key relevant sector developments to help groups absorb them and define their priority and relevance to the achievement of Alliance2015 objectives.
4. Ensure the preparation of the Annual Meeting and other Alliance2015 external events in close cooperation with the Alliance2015 Director and the host agency.
Programming, Fundraising, and Evidence Harvesting Support:
The key methodology to deliver on the role is through supporting the Alliance2015 core working groups (Programme, Emergency, Advocacy). The Senior Programme Advisor also works with the other working groups (e.g. Communications, Food and Nutrition Security, Institutional Fundraisers, Security, Knowledge-Sharing and HR; and any others that may arise to meet a specific need).
More specifically, the Senior Programme Advisor shall:
1. Act as the key dynamic liaison point between the relevant substantive work of the members, and the Director’s positioning, representational, advocacy, and fundraising functions in Brussels
2. Act as the executive secretary of the Programme, Emergency, and Advocacy Groups (intern support is available for administration), and support those providing executive, secretarial functions to the other strategic groups by maximizing synergies between groups; participating in the various groups’ meetings whenever possible, and at least once a year.
3. Support the design, funding and implementation of quality joint initiatives; support inter-agency cooperation to feed the delivery of the strategic objectives; help to overcome the constraints for
increased cooperation.
4. Advise the Programme, Emergency, and Advocacy Groups on relevant policies, approaches and funding opportunities relating to Alliance2015’s strategic objectives; support group analysis on EU funding trends and opportunities.
5. Upon request from the Emergency Group and Director’s approval, support Alliance2015 cooperation in the early phases of an emergency.
6. Undertake country/programme visits in support of joint initiatives.
7. Develop and adjust tools to initiate, monitor, and sustain cooperation between Alliance2015 members, and develop evidenced learning product(s) on how to support complex structures like the Alliance to deliver meaningful results.
8. Support and help Alliance2015 members to document and learn from cooperation initiatives, and to translate this into evidence for positioning and advocacy where relevant, as well as to support further cooperation towards delivering greater impact.
9. Manage and oversee the use of Alliance2015 New Initiatives Fund (ANIF); ensure that all applications are analysed and processed rapidly.
10. Support the assessment and follow-up of applications to the Emergency Fund of Alliance2015 (EFA).
11. In all these tasks, liaise closely with the Director to ensure high quality information flow and optimal, flexible delivery on Alliance2015 objectives.
Person specifications
• Educated to the Master’s Degree-level in a relevant discipline
• Substantial experience, including at the seniorlevel, in programming and management in humanitarian and development contexts, ideally with advocacy responsibilities
• Proven fundraising experience, ideally including with EU mechanisms
• Proven advanced skills in facilitation, and working effectively in multi-cultural and complex settings
• Exceptional conceptual and analytical skills
• Ability to think and operate innovatively, flexibly, and strategically
• Excellent oral presentation and written skills
• Excellent interpersonal skills (ability to share and receive feedback, but also an understanding of the specifics of working for a network/in multicultural settings; ability to build trust)
• Willingness to travel (approx. 30%-40% of the time; regular visits to coincide with working group and other key Alliance meetings there, at least once every two months)
• EU knowledge is an asset
• Fluency in English is essential; Fluency in French and/or any other Alliance member languages is an asset