Communications and Advocacy Manager - Resilient Water Accelerator

Communications and Advocacy Manager  - Resilient Water Accelerator

Contract: 2-year Fixed-term contract, with the potential to extend, Full-time.

Location: The role can be based in the UK or USA
For the UK Location: Hybrid working, WaterAid is located at Canary Wharf, London and this will be your location and contract base. To apply for this post, you must be able to demonstrate your eligibility to work in the UK. A minimum of 40% of working time is spent face to face, either in London office, or as a result of external engagement or travel for WaterAid.
For the USA Location: WA USA and their offices.

Salary: Salaries and benefits for different countries will vary in line with the location of the successful candidate and depending on experience. See further details below:

• UK: £43,668 - £45,851 with excellent benefits
• USA: competitive salary package with excellent benefits

About WaterAid:
WaterAid is an international not-for-profit, determined to make clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene normal for everyone, everywhere within a generation.

WaterAid is fully committed to protecting those with whom it comes into contact. WaterAid is committed to ensuring that wherever we work in the world there is no tolerance for the abuse of power, privilege or trust. WaterAid reinforces a culture of zero tolerance towards any form of inappropriate behaviour, abuse, harassment, or exploitation of any kind. The safeguarding of our beneficiaries, staff, volunteers and anyone working on our behalf, is our top priority, and we take our responsibilities extremely seriously. All staff and volunteers are required to share in this commitment through our Global Code of Conduct. We will conduct the most appropriate pre-employment references and checks to ensure high standards are maintained.

About the Team:
The Resilient Water Accelerator (RWA), hosted by WaterAid, is global initiative that aims to:

• Address the climate impacts on water to strengthen resilience in vulnerable communities;
• Secure greater investment from public and private sources in water infrastructure and services;
• Ensure this work can be replicated and scaled to increase long term water security.

To achieve this we will work with policy makers, experts, investors and communities to identify critical climate risks to water and shape a business case for priority projects. We will work to ensure these projects act as positive examples of a new approach to programme development in the water and climate sectors. This role will play an essential part in delivering our international programme of work.

As Communication and Advocacy Manager you will play a key role in delivering our global thought leadership objectives

About the Role:
As Communication and Advocacy Manager you will  help to draw links between our work in country and the much needed action on international finance for climate resilience. You will be ready to engage strategically with influential governments and organisations to influence their policies and practices as they relate to water.

As a leader on communications you will be a critical part of the RWA’s global team — helping to link the different parts of the RWA together and co-ordinate with our partners around the world. You will ensure the team has a line of sight to the relevant policies and initiatives affecting the RWA’s work, and that there is clear, consistent and compelling messaging of the Accelerator through different communications channels. They will bring a fresh and inventive approach lead the communication of that thought leadership with key stakeholders. You will lead internal communications with WaterAid and the Steering Committee and work with colleagues across WaterAid’s network to build awareness of the Accelerator’s work. This will be vital to amplifying our messaging around global water security and climate adaptation. As this work is in its early stages, a flexible approach to the team’s work will be helpful, adjusting to changing priorities and progress on the ground.

The position will be hosted by WaterAid, which has been acting as the Accelerator’s interim host until an agreement with a long-term host has been finalized.

The successful candidate will:

• Take the lead on development and delivery of the Accelerator’s communications and advocacy strategy as a key measureable output
  • Initiate the creation of an advocacy “campaign” to ensure awareness of the RWA its objectives – drawing on our work.
  • Lead in publication materials and branding
  • Managing internal comms, online and social media engagement
• Enable impactful advocacy
  • Co-lead on strategic engagement with key institutions including national governments, multilateral banks, and UN bodies
  • Co-ordinate relevant events, communications and policy developments with partner organisations in water and climate finance
• Support Partnerships
  • Liaise regularly with key partners including Arup, Sustainable Markets Initiative, FCDO water team, CDP and others.
  • Co-ordinate external communications efforts with partners

About you:

• Ability to act on your own initiative to ensure momentum of our work is maintained
• Experience with developing internal or external communications strategies
• Experience of develop an impactful advocacy strategy
• Experience in assessing policy documents and evidence, summarising this and pulling out relevant information in an accessible way.
• Ability to produce high quality written work in English with a strong eye for detail
• Experience of organising events
• Experience of working in a public policy or campaigning organisation
• Passionate about climate adaptation and water security, and driven to make a difference in the lives of vulnerable communities
• Strong team player and willingness to be flexible to respond to changing priorities.

Closing date:  Applications will close at 23:59 on 29 September 2024. Availability for interview is required in the week commencing 7 October 2024 for a video interview.

How to Apply: To see the full job pack, please click ‘Apply’. Please apply by submitting your CV and a cover letter into one document in either Word Document or PDF format. 

Pre-employment screening: To apply for this post, you must be able to demonstrate your eligibility to work in the respective country. All pre-employment checks will be carried out according to the applicable laws in the respective countries.  All our UK-based vacancies require a basic Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check to comply with our Safer Recruitment policy. 

Our Commitment

Our People Promise:
We will work with passion and focus to ensure safe and sustainable water, toilets and hygiene are available to everyone, everywhere. WaterAid is a place of purpose – where people have a real commitment and shared responsibility for the impact we have.  We are a global community with diverse backgrounds and perspectives, motivated by inspiring, stimulating work. We are determined to put the wellbeing of our people first, to be a place where people feel safe and able to contribute their voice and truly live our values.     

Equal opportunities:
We are an equal opportunity, disability-confident employer and are dedicated to achieving the highest standards of diversity, equity and inclusion. We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds, beliefs, customs, traditions and ways of life. This includes, but is not limited to, race, gender, disability, age, sexual orientation, religion, national or social origin, health status, and economic or social situation.

Safeguarding:
We are also committed to protecting everyone we come into contact with. We have a zero-tolerance approach to abuse of power, privilege or trust across our global work, and any form of inappropriate behaviour, discrimination, abuse, bullying, harassment, or exploitation. Safeguarding the people and communities we work with, our staff, volunteers and anyone working on our behalf is our top priority, and we take our responsibilities extremely seriously.