Senior Advocacy Officer

Job Requirements (Minimum Qualifications)

• Bachelor’s degree in public policy, political science, law, development studies, international relations, communications, or a related field (advanced degree is an added advantage).
  
• Minimum 3 years of relevant experience in advocacy, policy engagement, governance programming, or strategic communications.
  
• Demonstrated experience engaging government systems, preferably at devolved/county level.
  
• Strong facilitation, relationship management, diplomacy, and stakeholder coordination skills.
  
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills for a wide range of audiences and ability to produce high-quality briefs and reports.Understanding of refugee inclusion and barriers to economic participation (e.g., documentation, decent work, business environment, service access) is an advantage.
  
• Fluency in English and Kiswahili required.
  

Demonstrated Skills and Competencies

• Strong influencing and negotiation skills, with ability to build trust across diverse stakeholders.
  
• Evidence-based advocacy skills: ability to translate data and learning into clear policy asks and practical actions.
  
• Excellent planning and follow-through; ability to manage multiple workstreams and deadlines.
  
• Cultural sensitivity and ability to work respectfully with refugee and host community stakeholders.
  
• High integrity, discretion, and commitment to accountability and ethical conduct.
  

County Government Engagement and Policy Implementation Support

• Maintain structured engagement with county executives, departments, county assemblies and coordination structures in Nairobi, Garissa, and Turkana Counties.
  
• Develop and support implementation of county engagement plans, including stakeholder mapping, influencing pathways, and follow-up routines.
  
• Support and engage counties to operationalize refugee-inclusive commitments, plans, budgets and policy/administrative reforms through practical actions such as workplans, action trackers, technical meetings, and implementation reviews to improve refugees’ and vulnerable host communities’ access to services and economic opportunities.
  
• Provide day-to-day coordination support to ensure decisions translate into implementation steps and clear accountability.
  

Evidence-based Advocacy

• Package program evidence into advocacy materials (policy briefs, position papers, call to action, advocacy statements, talking points, presentations and case stories, as required for different advocacy interventions.
  
• Support convenings and technical dialogues that promote uptake of evidence and agreement on practical adoption steps.
  
• Coordinate inputs from program teams to ensure advocacy messaging is accurate, consistent, and aligned to program goals.3.) Partnership Coordination
  
• Collaborate with partnership department for day-to-day coordination with local partners on RLO strengthening and locally led advocacy initiatives.
  
• Support joint planning, coordination meetings, and follow-up on agreed deliverables.
  
• Facilitate and strengthen safe, inclusive participation of RLOs in county and national dialogues, public participation forums, and accountability platforms.
  
• Support capacity strengthening actions that enable RLOs to engage effectively and responsibly in policy processes.
  
• Collaborate with private sector, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), particularly with refugee-focused advocacy groups/activists, women, youth, refugee led organizations, and partners to advocate on identified issues at national and county levels.
  

Policy Monitoring, Context Scanning, and Advocacy Moment Response

• Track relevant county policy processes, political economy dynamics, and regulatory developments affecting vulnerable host communities and refugee inclusion.
  
• Identify and document advocacy moments, opportunities, challenges, and working with the program team, recommend timely engagement actions to advance adoption and implementation.
  
• Support preparation of briefs and positioning notes when needed for key meetings or emerging issues.
  

Representation, Convening, and Coordination

• Represent the program in relevant national, county and stakeholder forums as delegated by the supervisor.
  
• Support cross-county learning and documentation of lessons between Nairobi, Garissa and Turkana Counties to enable replication and adaptation.
  
• Coordinate with internal teams (Programs, Partnerships, MEAL, Finance, Safety & Security, Communications) to align advocacy actions and program delivery.
  

Documentation, Reporting, and Internal Accountability

• Maintain engagement trackers, meeting minutes, action logs, and follow-up plans for each county.
  
• Contribute to donor and internal reporting on Influence & Adoption progress, including outcomes, risks, and mitigation actions.
  
• Support activity planning and spending tracking for assigned advocacy actions in line with IRC policies and budgets.