External Affairs Manager at World Animal Protection

Main Purpose of the role

The External Affairs Manager provides expertise across the range of World Animal Protection’s global campaigns. They will work flexibly through Africa campaign teams to deliver World Animal Protection’s strategic global campaigns, leading and supporting the tactical delivery of stakeholder engagement. They will develop inspiring and innovative approaches which realise campaign strategies and manage associated project activity, acting as an interface between the programme teams and new and existing stakeholders within their sphere of influence.

The External Affairs Manager plays a key role in the local and global virtual campaign teams to which they are assigned. They must be able to demonstrate the ability to achieve individual and organisational objectives and targets through the use of effective negotiating and influencing techniques. Intent to persuade, convince and influence others in internal or external environments in order to get support for World Animal Protection’s desired agenda.

Accountabilities

The External Affairs Manager is ultimately accountable for:

• Monitoring the Africa region for strategic issues that could impact upon World Animal Protection’s work and advising senior leadership on how to position the organization accordingly.
• Playing a leadership role in ensuring that World Animal Protection’s work is adequately aligned with relevant Africa strategies and priorities at national, sub-regional, and continental levels
• Identifying and creating strategies to mainstream animal welfare and position World Animal Protection as the global gateway to animal welfare.
• Developing networks and strategic links to Governments and key influencers/stakeholders to forward World Animal Protection’s strategic objectives.
• Providing expertise and resources to support the design and impact assessment of the priority campaigns work in the region.
• Identifying opportunities to leverage World Animal Protection’s Africa office to secure new funding streams from a variety of donors.
• The role holder will comply with the organisation’s policies and procedures.**

Skills and Experience

Essential

• Experienced and highly motivated stakeholder engagement specialist, with a proven track record in developing and delivering stakeholder engagement approaches to achieve specific outcomes.**
• Knowledge and experience working with international institutions and the way in which they influence national policy agendas. **
• Experience in the design and development of impactful (preferably Africa) stakeholder engagement approaches that have achieved change.
• Experience in influencing, negotiation and policy development.
• Experience in the operational and tactical delivery of (preferably Africa) stakeholder engagement approaches to a high standard.
• Team player with excellent project management and co-ordination skills and ability to develop and maintain good working relationships across internal departments and teams and peer NGOs.
• Strong communicator, and able to constructively engage external and internal stakeholders, to develop and deliver project solutions.
• First class analytical and decision-making skills – able to assimilate and analyse information quickly and accurately to effectively inform campaign tactics and strategies.
• Excellent verbal, written and presentation skills, including written and spoken English.
• Experience of creating and managing budgets.
• Works well under pressure of deadlines.
• Flexible to undertake international travel.
• Understanding of global and regional political and socio-economic trends.
• A passion for animal welfare and a strong commitment to the aims and values of World Animal protection.

Qualifications

• Educated to Masters degree level is preferable, and/or with significant relevant career experience

Desirable

• Experience of working on issues in relation to international policy, with stakeholders such as UN Organisations or other regional bodies or institutions.
• Experience of working effectively with colleagues and external stakeholders in different countries and different cultural contexts.
• Experience working within a matrix environment, across multiple projects in a medium/large sized organisation.
• Experience of working in an international NGO environment.
• Fluency/proficiency in a second language