Advocacy and Membership Manager Position at the EaP CSF Secretariat

The Secretariat of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum (EaP CSF) is looking for an Advocacy and Membership Manager who will have a strategic role within the Secretariat focusing on advocacy, membership and internal communications. The Advocacy and Membership Manager will be responsible for providing strategic political analysis to support the development and implementation of effective advocacy strategies with institutional, governmental or other relevant actors. Along with advancing core campaigns, the Manager will identify and coordinate research on topical issues for the Forum. The Advocacy and Membership Manager will work with the Steering Committee, Working Groups and National Platforms of the EaP CSF on achieving the advocacy goals of the Forum as specified in the Forum’s strategy. Reporting to the Director of the Secretariat, the person will be responsible for the internal communications of the Forum and will be successfully communicating the activities of the Forum to its internal and external audiences focusing on the results and impact achieved.

The key responsibilities of Advocacy and Membership Manager are to:

• Develop and feed into advocacy strategies as appropriate

• Develop concepts and draft agendas of advocacy events

• Under the guidance of the Steering Committee and the Director of the Secretariat, initiate and develop statements and position papers

• Write, proofread and edit information material provided by the EaP CSF to its members and external stakeholders (statements, press releases, speeches, position papers, publications)

• Support linkages between the structures of the EaP CSF and develop Forum’s membership to ensure a sound structure is in place

• Under the guidance of the Steering Committee and the Director of the Secretariat develop draft agendas of the general assemblies

• Work with National Platforms’ and Working Groups’ Coordinators to ensure the annual work plans are in place and the quality annual reporting for the general assembly is provided

• In cooperation with the Communication Manager optimise the internal information flows towards the EaP CSF participants and maintain the database of Forum and Working Group participants

• Identify opportunities for synergies between the projects of the EaP CSF, such as European Integration Index for Eastern Partnership countries, Working Group projects, and others

• Ensure dissemination of successful practises among Forum participants from 6 Eastern Partnership countries

• Based on the feedback of Forum participants, identify needs in professional development and capacity building

• Contribute to drafting proposals for funding

Profile of a candidate:

The candidate will have a Master’s degree in international affairs, international development, European studies, media, journalism, or another relevant discipline and previous relevant experience in membership development, policy development, advocacy or communication. The candidate will also have excellent written and verbal communication skills, the ability to develop strong productive working relationships with EaP CSF participants and external stakeholders (EU institutions, NGOs, private organisations, national governments, etc.), be able to manage a varied and heavy workload and work independently in a busy team.

Required

• High quality communication skills, both verbal and written, including a very high standard of written and spoken English demonstrated by previous work experience. Capacity to explain complex issues simply and clearly in a concise, direct and understandable way for diverse audiences.

• Excellent analytical skills and demonstrated ability to think strategically

• 4 to 6 years of work experience at a membership NGO, international organisation or donor agency

• Excellent political judgment and understanding of political dynamics in the Eastern Partnership countries and European policies vis-à-vis EaP countries

• Ability to produce advocacy and policy documents

• Excellent organisational skills and attention to detail

• Ability to work well under pressure, maintaining both a highly organised level of accuracy and output; ability to meet deadlines; and deal with multiple, sometimes conflicting, priorities

• Good knowledge of European institutions

Desirable:

• Knowledge of Russian or any other language of an Eastern Partnership country

• Good understanding of the functions of a membership organisation

• Experience in proposal writing

Location: Brussels, Belgium

Application deadline: midnight CET 23th of August 2015

Read more and apply here.