Policy & Legislative Affairs Officer at Global Communities

The program will be designed to

• promote the adoption and implementation of cooperative legislation and policies that support and strengthen cooperative businesses in 25 counties;
• strengthen the business acumen and performance of cooperative businesses while integrating and empowering youth and women within cooperative business structures in targeted urban and peri-urban markets to increase economic participation and county revenue growth; and
• improve understanding of the psychosocial behavioral impacts associated with membership in cooperatives and determine whether those behaviors contribute positively to household and community resilience strategies.

The Policy & Legislative Affairs Officer (P&LAO) will report to the CLEAR Kenya Policy & Legislative Affairs Specialist (P&LAS).

Essential Duties & Responsibilities

The Policy & Legislative Affairs Officer will work closely with the P&LAS and the CLEAR/Kenya Team Leader to interact directly with county government officials on aspects of the devolution of cooperative functions at the county level, and provide capacity building to cooperative officials in various county government bodies.

S/he will assist in organizing and leading workshops with county officials, facilitating public forums, and designing technical approaches that enhance the enabling
environment for cooperative business in Kenya.

The P&LAO will work locally with the team and the HQ based CLEAR leadership to accomplish the work plan.

The successful candidate must be open to working in a nontraditional working environment with remote management and be a natural communicator who thrives in a diverse team.

Specific responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

• Working closely with the P&LAS, legal entities and consultants to develop county government-related policy and legislation focused on the devolved cooperative function;
• Assisting the facilitation of county workshops with officials and cooperative stakeholders to review and finalize cooperative bills for county assemblies;
• Supporting the identification of organizations and continue to deepen relationships with existing partners and stakeholders to facilitate a more supportive legal enabling environment for Kenyan cooperatives;
• Supporting advocacy groups within counties for the improvement of cooperative business enabling environments;
• Working closely with other program staff and county government officials to design and develop cooperative-related internship programs for youth;
• Assisting on the development of program-related communication efforts and reports;
• Meeting internal and external programmatic deadlines;
• Representing Global Communities in cooperative forums as requested.

Education and Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Law, Political Science, Public Administration, or any other social science-related field of study.
• At least four (4) years of experience working in the legal field, public policy sector, governance-related donor-funded programs, and/or with local government economic development units.

Skills and Responsibilities

• Excellent critical thinking skills;
• Have excellent team working skills which include working in multiple time zones;
• Excellent verbal, writing and reporting skills;
• Polished public speaking abilities with demonstrated abilities to lead collaborative, outcome oriented workshops related to policy and legislation;
• Working knowledge of policies related to the cooperative sector in Kenya;
• Experience interacting and working with elected and appointed officials at the county level;
• Ability to build consensus among peers, meet deadlines under pressure, and work successfully with a diverse team and stakeholders.
• Proficiency level of comprehension of Microsoft Office suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint);
• Ability to be flexible with time schedule to allow for communication via Skype or other communication software with the Washington-based Program team;

Language Skills: Fluency in written and oral English and Swahili

Working Conditions

• Based in Nairobi, 20% travel within the country as required to perform duties;
• Able to work at a computer keyboard for extended periods of time.
• Flexibility to join international team calls outside of core working hours.