Governance & Policy Specialist

Terms of Reference for Governance and Policy Specialist

Search for Common Ground (SFCG) is an international non-governmental and not for profit, conflict transformation organization. Our mission is to transform how individuals, organizations, and governments deal with conflict – away from adversarial approaches and toward cooperative solutions. Founded in 1982, SFCG has headquarters in Washington, DC in the United States and in Brussels, Belgium. SFCG has been working in Nepal since 2006 to support its conflict transformation and peacebuilding processes.

Summary of Position:

The Governance and Policy Specialist will be responsible for the policy stream of a USAID funded Leadership and Governance Project that aims to create possibilities for collaborative political culture in the Nepali public imagination, and increase understanding of how government functions at national and local levels.  This is an opportunity to influence policy in creative and innovative ways, to convene dialogues among influential leaders in various fields, and to support people in leadership roles to practice collaborative leadership.

 The Singha Durbar project includes production and broadcast of television and radio dramas, policy white papers, think tank events, and leadership outreach to government and political leaders as well as community level.  The Governance and Policy Specialist will be responsible for facilitating collaborative policy dialogue, producing policy papers, research, advising the drama teams on governance content, and building relationships with leaders in government and other sectors. This is a part-time, 12 month position (either as staff or as a consultant), based in Kathmandu and might include some field travel.

Duties and Responsibilities

•  Develop a policy programming stream within SFCG, including designing process for developing policy papers and leadership dialogue events, working closely with policy partner, providing expertise and networking to ensure that policy papers are impactful and useful for the Government stakeholders.

• Provide accurate, up to date research and advice to our radio and TV drama writers about local and national government functions, political developments, and government policy on a range of themes including good governance, climate change, health, food security, gender and social inclusion;

• Work closely with the  policy partner organization to produce and disseminate policy papers through a process of multi stakeholder dialogues, research and consultations;

• Develop institutional relationships between SFCG and government actors and emerging leaders, policy institutes, and think tanks;

• Enhance SFCG credibility as a useful resource for current and aspiring leaders;

• Consult regularly with political, government, and sector leaders at national and local level to ensure multiple perspectives are included in policy papers and media outputs;

• Provide technical advice and guidance to SFCG project managers on the areas of governance and policy; and

• Other project related research as required.

Qualifications and experience:

• Master’s degree or higher in governance, public policy, political science, or international relations.  

• At least 7 years of experience working at a senior level in research, policy, governance, or related field.

• Comprehensive and up to date knowledge and understanding of Nepal’s government and governance system – at local and national level, peace and development issues, and political environment.

• Highly developed analytical and research skills – published research and /or policy papers.

• An exceptional communicator, both verbally and in writing – experience developing and communicating policy at senior levels. Excellent Nepali and English writing skills required.

• Able to quickly grasp complex issues - ability to understand governance issues that need to be portrayed in the radio and TV dramas, ability to explain and illustrate complex issues in simple ways.

• Collaborative and non-partisan - experience building stakeholder relationships across a range of sectors and ideologies to identify and advance common issues of interest.

• Well networked – experience and credibility in dealing with politicians, political Specialists and senior government officials.

• Dialogue facilitation skills:  Experience working directly with government and or political actors, facilitating dialogue and building consensus.  

To apply:

Please send cover letter, CV and writing sample to sfcgnepal@sfcg.org before October 13, 2014. The cover letter must address how your experience and qualifications fits the requirements; state your expected salary and available start date. Please mention the position you are applying for in the subject line.

Search for Common Ground is an equal opportunity employer