Director, International Policy & Programs

About this position

A Career Opportunity

UNICEF is the world’s farthest-reaching humanitarian organization for children. Across 190 countries and territories, and in the world’s toughest places, we work day in and day out to help children survive. To defend their rights. To keep them protected, healthy and educated. To give them a fair chance to fulfil their potential. Our work for every child relies entirely on voluntary support, including donations from generous Canadians.

Director, International Policy & Programs (Permanent; Full-time; based in Ottawa or Toronto)

Reporting to the Chief Program Officer (CPO), the Director, International Policy and Programs, develops departmental strategies, plans, and budgets for international policy and programs, and leads the team’s implementation of these plans. Positioning UNICEF Canada as a credible and reliable partner for both policy influence and government fundraising in the eyes of the Government of Canada (GoC) is a key part of this role.

As an organizational subject matter expert on UNICEF’s field work as well as government relations, this position collaborates closely with other departments to ensure proper representation of UNICEF policies and programs. This position represents the best interests of children to influence the policy and programme direction of government and private sector, both in strategic partnership with other agencies and alone. The position also plays a key role in donor communications and stewardship. This position is also responsible for working with the CPO to grow the organization’s international portfolio in government grants and partnerships.

The responsibilities of the position will include:

 Government relations (25%) 

• Support the President & CEO and CPO with strategic advice, briefings and meeting materials for key interactions with government leaders at all levels.
• Identify and meet regularly with key political and official stakeholders that need to be engaged to advance policy influence and government fundraising objectives.
• Build and maintain strategic relationships with senior elected officials, political staff and bureaucrats.
• Create high quality materials such as slide decks or briefing notes to support policy or government fundraising goals.
• Identify and implement opportunities to raise the profile of the work UNICEF does in Canada and its impact around the world.
• Build opportunities to bring profile to UNICEF’s expertise in humanitarian, development and gender responsive programming with government stakeholders.
• Identify opportunities and strategies to ensure UNICEF Canada is represented as a unified voice for children vis-à-vis the GoC, bringing together domestic and international aspects of our work, as needed.
• Develop strong relationships with all political parties maintaining strict non-partisan views when representing the organization.
• Build strong campaign materials that engage the public in UNICEF Canada’s advocacy issues.

Partnership Development, Management and Support (25%)  

• Develop, lead and participate in partnerships with like-minded/strategically placed organizations and individuals to advance the international policy agenda.
• Develop strategy and work in partnership with UNICEF Headquarters to advance UNICEF’s mandate with the GoC.
• Develop strategic relationships with UNICEF Country Offices and Headquarters to support fundraising and policy objectives and maintain regular communications.
• Support the International Policy & Programs (IPP) team in assessing project implementation, address constraints and achievements with UNICEF country offices.
• Monitor program priority areas and geographic areas of interest to private donors.
• Build the IPP team capacity to respond to government calls for proposals providing expertise to increase success rates.

Strategic Development (20%)  

• Build strategies to support a pipeline of government support that incorporates both proactive and reactive opportunities.
• Responsible for contributing to the strategic direction and reporting on the international policy and program areas of the organization.
• Responsible for working closely with the ONE YOUTH team on joint advocacy efforts, such as e-advocacy, as required.
•  As a member of the organization’s Senior Leadership Team (SLT), contribute to the development of the organization’s 4 year strategic plan.
•  Develop and manage the annual operating plans and budget for the department.
•  Measure success of departmental strategies and refine as necessary in co-ordination with stakeholders to ensure their ongoing effectiveness in support of organizational objectives.
•  Collaborate with the Corporate development team to develop a strategy and support its implementation for incorporating CSR into corporate relationships.
•  In collaboration with ONE YOUTH, work with other internal partners to develop a strong support journey for advocacy supporters.

Organizational Reputation and Effectiveness (15%)  

• Steward donors effectively and collaborate with development staff in relationships primarily in the $100k+ range.
• Work closely with the Fundraising team to ensure that UNICEF’s work is well represented to donors through key opportunities such as stewardship reports, presentations, webinars and printed material.
• Monitor parliamentary activities, including the introduction and passage of bills and reports, for opportunities to intervene to advance the rights of children.
• Monitor the academic and public discourse on children’s rights issues in Canada and internationally, particularly in industrialized countries.
• Monitor policy direction of the GoC on international development and foreign affairs issues related to children.
• Represent UNICEF’s work to Canadians, to the NGO and government communities through various mechanisms, including through media interviews and government consultations, in Canada and abroad with the intent to influence policy and programme direction and increase support for UNICEF.
• Act as an organizational spokesperson with the media, as needed, in both French and English.
• Develop and lead opportunities to ensure UNICEF Canada staff, Board members and key supporters have the knowledge and understanding of UNICEF’s work overseas needed to effectively complete their work.People Management and development (15%)
• Develop effective, motivated staff to achieve common goals with clearly defined objectives and accountabilities.
• Conduct individual and departmental annual goal setting, planning, and performance reviews as established by people management processes.
• Anticipate the long term implications/risk of decisions and plan for contingencies, anticipating obstacles and roadblocks.
• Ensure integrity with the mission and values in all people-related activities.
• Maintain broad, general technical competence in all sectors of UNICEF’s mandate.
• Maintain knowledge and awareness of national and international policies and activities related to economic and social development policy and programs.

The ideal candidate will have:

• A university degree (Master’s level highly desirable) in International Development, Political Science or related field.
• A minimum of ten (10) year’s relevant work experience including government relations and policy/advocacy; international development field experience would be considered an asset.
• Project management experience.
• Excellent communications skills (written & oral) for and with a variety of audiences.
• Excellent relationship management skills.
• A strong knowledge of Canadian political system and GoC processes.
• Experience in preparing and submitting grant submissions to Global Affairs Canada is highly desirable.
• PC proficiency (MS Office).
• Bilingualism in English and French.
• A strong knowledge of UNICEF’s work and children’s rights.
• Media spokesperson experience in English and French (highly desirable).

For consideration, please submit your resume and cover letter to careers@unicef.ca by January 28, 2020. Please attach your cover letter (including salary expectations) and resume as one document and reference “Director, International Policy & Programs” clearly in the subject heading.

UNICEF Canada sincerely thanks all applicants for their expressed interest in this opportunity, however, only those selected for an interview will be contacted.

Consistent with our Child Protection Policy, the successful candidate must receive clearance by a police background check, including the vulnerable sector screen.

UNICEF Canada is an inclusive workplace and is committed to championing accessibility, diversity and equal opportunity. Requests for accommodation can be made at any stage of the recruitment process providing the applicant has met the requirements for the position.

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