Advocacy & Policy Coordinator

ROLE PURPOSE:

The Advocacy & Policy Coordinator will coordinate and provide technical support for the implementation of TeachWell Voices advocacy, policy and influencing work in Kenya. The role will advance the recognition, inclusion, professional development, wellbeing and meaningful participation of refugee teachers and learners within national education systems.

The post holder will translate project evidence and learning into practical advocacy and policy actions; coordinate engagement with national and county government institutions, teacher professional associations, refugee teacher platforms, civil society, research partners and development partners; and support implementation of agreed reforms and commitments.

The role will also coordinate advocacy planning and delivery processes, including Movement Plans, Political Will Monitoring Tool processes, Terms of Reference, PRIME updates, award reviews, implementation tracking, donor reporting inputs, knowledge management and follow-up of agreed actions. The coordinator will work closely with the TeachWell Voices Team Lead and Deputy Team Lead, MEARL colleagues, technical advisers, communications staff and field teams to ensure advocacy is evidence-based, politically informed, child-sensitive and delivered within approved plans and budgets.

SCOPE OF ROLE:

Reports to: Advocacy Deputy Team Lead

Staff directly reporting to this post: None

Key staff engaging directly with this post: TeachWell Voices Team Lead and Deputy Team Lead; MEARL Coordinator; Education and Child Protection Technical Specialists; Head of Advocacy; Communications colleagues; Awards, Finance and Operations colleagues; field office teams; and relevant programme managers.

Key external relationships: Ministry of Education, Teachers Service Commission, Department of Refugee Services, county governments, teacher professional associations, refugee teacher platforms and communities of practice, civil society organisations, research institutions, United Nations agencies, development partners and donor representatives.

Country Dimensions:

Save the Children has been operational in Kenya since 1950 and in Madagascar since 2016. As of 2024, Save the Children operates throughout Kenya & Madagascar with 10 field offices, approximately 450 staff, managing portfolio of USD 40million. In 2023, we directly reached more than 780,000 people through our humanitarian and longer-term development work in Health, Nutrition, Water, Sanitation & Hygiene (WASH), Education, Food Security and Livelihoods (FSL), Child Protection and Child Rights Governance. The Country Office oversees more than 45 active awards totaling $40 million from a variety of governmental and institutional donors, including some of our largest donors such as USAID, ECHO, EU, LEGO and FCDO.

KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY:

1. Advocacy strategy, political economy and policy influence

• Coordinate implementation and periodic review of the TeachWell Voices advocacy strategy, annual advocacy priorities, and stakeholder engagement plans.

• Undertake and regularly update political economy, power and stakeholder analysis to identify policy windows, decision makers, allies, blockers, incentives and risks relevant to refugee-inclusive education and teacher policy.

• Monitor national and county policy, legislative and budget processes and advise the project team on timely and realistic influencing opportunities.

• Support analysis of education financing, public investment in children and relevant budget commitments, and translate findings into targeted advocacy asks.Use the Political Will Monitoring Tool and other evidence to assess progress, test assumptions and recommend adaptations to advocacy tactics.

• Ensure advocacy positions and messages are grounded in project evidence, child rights principles, refugee and host-community perspectives, and Save the Children quality standards.

2. Policy engagement, partnerships and participation

• Coordinate strategic engagement with the Ministry of Education, Teachers Service Commission, Department of Refugee Services, county governments and other relevant public institutions.

• Build and maintain effective working relationships with teacher associations, refugee teacher platforms, civil society organisations, research institutions, United Nations agencies and development partners.

• Plan and support policy dialogues, technical working groups, consultations, learning forums and other influencing moments, ensuring clear objectives, decision points and documented follow-up actions.

• Strengthen meaningful and safe participation of refugee teachers, learners and host communities in policy and advocacy processes, in line with safeguarding and participation standards.

• Represent Save the Children in agreed coordination and policy forums and communicate organisational positions accurately and professionally.

3. Evidence, communications and knowledge management

• Translate research, programme evidence and monitoring data into concise policy briefs, position papers, submissions, talking points, presentations, opinion pieces and other audience-appropriate products.

• Work with MEARL and technical colleagues to define advocacy indicators, monitor contribution to policy and practice change, and document outcomes, lessons and stories of change.

• Maintain an organised evidence and knowledge repository and ensure current advocacy products, decisions and supporting evidence are accessible to the project team.

• Coordinate dissemination and uptake of project evidence and learning among government, teacher bodies, partners and other priority audiences.

• Work with Communications colleagues to ensure external messaging is accurate, approved, safeguarding-sensitive and aligned with the project advocacy strategy.

4. Project coordination, award management and delivery support

• Maintain and update PRIME and other agreed project management and reporting systems with accurate, complete and timely information.

• Coordinate preparation for monthly, quarterly and annual award reviews, consolidate inputs, track decisions and follow up actions to closure.

• Develop high-quality Terms of Reference for consultancies, assessments, technical working groups, learning activities and strategic engagements, and support associated procurement and quality-assurance processes.

• Maintain workplans, movement plans, implementation trackers, risk and issue logs, stakeholder commitment trackers and decision records for advocacy workstreams.

• Provide timely inputs to donor narrative reports, annual plans, progress updates, presentations and management briefings, ensuring that reported results are supported by evidence.

• Track advocacy expenditure with the budget holder and Finance team, flag variances early and support realistic forecasting and corrective action.

• Coordinate across technical, MEAL, awards, finance, operations, communications and field teams so that advocacy deliverables are sequenced, resourced and completed on time.

5. Learning, adaptation and programme development

• Facilitate periodic reflection and learning sessions to assess what is changing, why it is changing and how advocacy approaches should adapt.

• Document and share promising practices, implementation challenges and lessons from refugee teacher inclusion and systems reform.

• Contribute advocacy and policy analysis to proposal development, programme design, budgets, results frameworks and sustainability or transition planning.

• Participate in cross-country and partner learning processes and apply relevant learning to the Kenya context.

6. General responsibilities

• Comply with Save the Children policies and procedures, including safeguarding, code of conduct, data protection, security, health and safety, and equality, diversity and inclusion.

• Undertake other reasonable duties consistent with the purpose and grade of the role.

SKILLS AND BEHAVIOURS (our Values in Practice)

Accountability:

• Holds self-accountable for making decisions, managing resources efficiently, achieving and role modelling Save the Children values
• Holds the team and partners accountable to deliver on their responsibilities - giving them the freedom to deliver in the best way they see fit, providing the necessary development to improve performance and applying appropriate consequences when results are not achieved

Ambition:

• Sets ambitious and challenging goals for themselves (and their team), takes responsibility for their own personal development and encourages others to do the same
• Widely shares their personal vision for Save the Children, engages and motivates others
• Future orientated, thinks strategically

Collaboration:

• Builds and maintains effective relationships, with their team, colleagues, members and external partners and supporters
• Values diversity, sees it as a source of competitive strength
• Approachable, good listener, easy to talk to

Creativity:

• Develops and encourages new and innovative solutions
• Willing to take disciplined risks

Integrity:

• Honest, encourages openness and transparency

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

• Bachelor’s degree in public policy, education, governance, political science, development studies, social sciences, law, public administration or another relevant field. A relevant postgraduate qualification is an advantage.

• At least five years of progressively responsible experience in advocacy, policy influencing, education systems, governance, public finance or programme coordination, including experience contributing to advocacy strategy development and implementation.

• Demonstrated experience engaging government institutions and coordinating multi-stakeholder policy processes involving civil society, professional associations, research partners or development partners.

• Practical understanding of Kenya’s national and county policy, legislative and budget processes, including public investment in children and education financing.

• Experience translating research and programme evidence into clear policy asks, briefs, submissions, presentations and other influencing products for specialist and non-specialist audiences.

• Experience planning and tracking workplans, deliverables, risks, actions and budgets within a donor-funded programme. Experience using PRIME or a comparable project information system is desirable.

• Proven ability to develop clear Terms of Reference and coordinate consultants, technical inputs, reviews or learning activities.

• Knowledge of refugee inclusion and education policy in Kenya, including relevant government and regional frameworks, and an ability to apply this knowledge without losing sight of host-community needs.

• Strong political judgement, analytical ability and diplomacy, with the confidence to engage senior officials while maintaining constructive working relationships.

• Excellent written and spoken English and Kiswahili, including strong facilitation, presentation and report-writing skills.

• Strong organisation and prioritisation skills, attention to detail, and ability to coordinate several interdependent workstreams and meet deadlines.

• Commitment to Save the Children’s mission, values, safeguarding standards and rights-based approaches.

Equal Opportunities

The role holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with the SCI Equal Opportunities and Diversity policies and procedures.

Child Safeguarding:

We need to keep children safe so our selection process, which includes rigorous background checks, reflects our commitment to the protection of children from abuse.

Health and Safety

The role holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with SCI Health and Safety policies and procedures.

THE ORGANIZATION

We employ approximately 25,000 people across the globe and work on the ground in over 100 countries to help children affected by crises, or those that need better healthcare, education and child protection. We also campaign and advocate at the highest levels to realise the right of children and to ensure their voices are heard.

We are working towards three breakthroughs in how the world treats children by 2030:

• No child dies from preventable causes before their 5th birthday.
• All children learn from a quality basic education and that,
• Violence against children is no longer tolerated.

Save the Children is an equal opportunity employer and seeks to employ and assign the best-qualified talent.

Female Candidates are encouraged to apply.

Disclaimer:

Beware that there are individuals who may take and use SCI’s name in an attempt to solicit fees from interested job-seekers. We do not use recruiting persons or agencies to help us identify candidates for employment. If you’re contacted by a person promising you recruitment or placement at SCI for a charge, do not accept, and please get in touch with us at SCIFraud@savethechildren.org.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.