United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland: Senior Adviser (9-month Maternity Cover)

Girls Not Brides is seeking an experienced short-term (9 months) Senior Adviser to support the work of this dynamic, results-driven global Partnership while the Executive Director is on maternity leave.

Girls Not Brides: The Global Partnership to End Child Marriage brings together civil society organisations from around the world. The Partnership now counts over 500 members across more than 70 countries, based throughout Africa, South Asia, the Middle East, Europe and the Americas. Members are united by a commitment to end child marriage and enable girls to fulfil their potential.

Girls Not Brides works to empower those seeking to end child marriage; to raise awareness of the harmful impact of the practice and the solutions to end it; and to call for urgent action by relevant stakeholders. Girls Not Brides was initiated by The Elders, a group of eminent global leaders brought together by Nelson Mandela to promote peace and human rights worldwide.

Based in the Girls Not Brides office in London, the Senior Adviser will mainly focus on working at a global and regional level to achieve the policy, programmatic and funding changes that will be crucial to bringing an end to child marriage. S/he will develop and manage relations with key actors and high-profile champions in the fast-growing global movement, and provide strategic and practical support to the efforts of grass-roots groups, national partnerships and regional and international bodies.

S/he will act as a right hand to the interim Executive Director, and contribute to the broader strategic, programmatic and communications work of the Partnership and help achieve its overall objectives.

Reporting to: Interim Executive Director

Main duties and responsibilities:

· Provide skilled, knowledgeable and effective senior-level involvement from the secretariat in important international, regional and national discussions and processes, including the *Girls Not Brides*Global Advocacy Group

· Act as a thought leader on child marriage

· Identify and build relations with additional donors, organisations, coalitions and discussions with which Girls Not Brides and its members could engage in a productive manner

· Create and facilitate appropriate linkages between international actors and Girls Not Brides national partnerships and grass-roots activists

· Be an accessible and knowledgeable resource, sounding board and guide to Girls Not Brides members, partners, donors and secretariat colleagues, and provide sound technical input into documents and policy briefs

· Act as a spokesperson for Girls Not Brides, in a variety of technical, policy or media-related contexts.

Additional responsibilities

· Inform the activities of Girls Not Brides and help mentor individual team members with his/her knowledge of the international development landscape

· Assist the interim Executive Director with, and be willing to take the lead on, some fundraising activities

· Assist with developing the strategic messaging and communications efforts associated with global advocacy

· Act as a secretariat point of contact for select high-level contacts and donors, as required

· Provide a back-up senior presence at the office when the interim Executive Director is absent.

We are looking for candidates with the following qualifications and skills:

· Experience working on child marriage or related issues, and an understanding of the global dynamics around gender and children’s rights

· Experience working on development issues in a developing country context

· Graduate qualification or proven experience in a relevant area (such as public policy, development studies, international relations, human rights or gender issues)

· An inspiring senior-level presence, with the ability to empower others to greater effort, commitment and action

· Excellent strategic thinking and practical planning ability

· Understanding of protocol and effective diplomatic relations in a global and regional context combined with the ability to interact in genuine, effective cooperation with grass-roots actors

· Ability to use discretion and maintain confidentiality

· Top-notch public speaking, writing and editing skills to effectively reach very different audiences in a variety of contexts

· Ability and willingness to work independently and with small teams

· Experience in managing staff and consultants is preferred

· Fluency in written and spoken English; proficiency in French is highly desirable

· Willingness to travel extensively and often.

Practicalities

A competitive salary and benefits package will be offered to the successful candidate. We encourage applications from candidates from countries with a high prevalence of child marriage.

your name in the subject line. We regret that due to the large number of applications anticipated, only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

To apply, please send your CV and a brief cover letter demonstrating how you meet the criteria for this position to recruitment@GirlsNotBrides.org by 23:00 GMT on 10 October 2015 clearly stating “Senior Adviser” and