External Engagement and Strategy Director



External Engagement and Strategy Director based in National Office, Lalitpur [1]

World Vision is a child focused relief, development and advocacy organization that contributed to transformation in the lives of millions of children around the world in vulnerable situations. We are driven by Christian values to serve children and families regardless of their religion, age, gender, ethnicity, class and caste.

Here’s where you come in:

The External Engagement and Strategy Director will oversee World Vision International Nepal’s Strategy and multi-pronged external engagement department, ensuring quality review, effective implementation, monitoring and reporting of WVI Nepal’s Country Strategy, in addition to the Communications, Advocacy and Campaign, Partnership and External Engagement Strategies and approaches to shape child-friendly policies formulation and implementation. Reporting to the National Director this role will contribute to the improvement of the well-being of the most vulnerable girls and boys and their families and communities in Nepal, through;

Strengthening partnership and collaboration with key external stakeholders (Government of Nepal at all levels, donors/development partners, peer local and International NGOs, media, private sectors, community leaders, social enterprises etc) in order to promote the reputation and programs of WVI, leading to WVI Nepal being identified as a Partner of Choice.

Ensure support to, and compliance of WVI Nepal partners, including oversight of MoU’s, organization assessments and capacity building plans and development of partner improvement plans where required.

Effective management of WVI Nepal’s Country Strategy, working with internal departments, regional and global offices, and local partners to ensure effective implementation, reflection of achievement and reporting of impact.

Scale up impacts of child-focused development, advocacy and humanitarian programs.

Strengthening WVI Nepal’s visibility both internally and externally.

Major Responsibilities

Lead and facilitate WVI Nepal’s External Engagement with Government, media, community leaders, and local NGOs/partners in collaboration with National Director and other SLT, including but not limited to;

• Provide leadership and thoughtful strategic advice on multi-pronged approaches of WVI Nepal’s External Engagement, Advocacy, Communications and Partnership’s strategy, ensure appropriate action plans for each area are designed and implemented
• Develop strategic approaches or partnerships with key implementing partners on advocacy and campaign related initiatives.
• Ensure quality external and internal communications in alignment with WV standards and guidelines and local laws.
• Cultivate and strengthen partnership relationships with all implementing and strategic partners of WVI Nepal, providing oversight and guidance on partner assessment, capacity building and compliance, in addition to positioning WVI Nepal as a Partner of Choice
• Cascade multi-pronged approaches into unit and individual members’ action plans, including expected results on quarterly basis
• Facilitate and maintain regular communications with relevant key Government officials, media (in coordination with Communication and Advocacy Managers), and NGO Federations sharing progress of WVI Nepal’s child-focused programs
• With support from Unit Managers (communications, advocacy and campaign, and partnership specialists), ensure regular visibility of WVI Nepal’s programs and key events across printed and online media at regional, federal, provincial and local level.
• Support advocacy influencing national policy revision/development, in order to achieve improved child-welling
• Facilitate with other SLT selected high level meetings and visits of Government officials or other partners to visit WVI Nepal Programs

Work closely with National Director and SLT lead the successful implementation, review and reporting of WVI Nepal’s Country Strategy and Annual Business plan, in line with WVI’s global partnership direction and global strategy. Key responsibilities in Strategy realization and management include but are not limited to:

• Ensure compliance with all GC Strategic Imperative mandates and processes to enable the organization to track its progress, capture learning and improve its performance towards achieving child well-being outlined in the national strategy Facilitate an annual strategy reflection with key WVI Nepal stakeholders, focusing on progress in implementing WVL’s national strategy.
• Facilitate annual business planning as the format of WV’s strategy implementation process and ensure quality reporting on progress and learning. Coordinate monitoring process with Senior MEAL Manager to ensure that progress towards annual business plan and CSIP objectives is kept on track. Work with senior leadership to prepare required reports on Strategy and ABP progress for submission to the Regional Office.
• Liaise with Regional office counterparts on all communication regarding the Nepal Country Strategy, ensuring compliance with GC Strategy related standards and initiatives.
• Co-lead with PDQ and FCS Directors in finalizing annual CSIP in Nepal, ensuring adequate funding of the strategy is planned
• Co-lead with Field Operations Director in nurturing close communications and partnership with WVI Nepal’s Strategic Support Team/SST, or SOs representative for successful CSFM Implementation in WVI Nepal

Leading Team and Facilitating Cross-Function collaboration with other departments and broader WV Partnership, including but not limited to:

• Provide directions, guidance, coaching and technical supports to Strategy and External Engagement team members, ensuring department accountability to deliver and measure the results
• Build cohesive team, lead by example the implementation of GROWTH organisational cultures and values
• Collaborate with other SLT members in ensuring integration of communications messaging, government and external engagement, advocacy and campaign (with technical programs in nutrition and livelihoods, education, protection)
• Facilitate, support, guide cross-function collaboration on strategy and external engagement
• Promote, engage and collaborate with WV Partnership’s Strategy, Communications and Advocacy/Campaign communities

Overseeing compliance and quality assurance meeting WV Partnership and Government’ relevant policies/guidance including

• Ensure compliance with local communication laws and partnership guidance/policy
• Ensure alignment of WVI Nepal’s Strategy, Communications, Partnership Guidelines and Advocacy/Campaign with broader WV Partnership
• Support high quality and well-prepared planning for key government engagement such as DPAC, CPAC, PA and GA
• Ensure compliance of Local partners with WVI Partnership Guidelines, support Partnership Specialist to follow up on reported issues and develop feasible improvement plans for partner NGOs

Requirements Include:

KNOWLEDGE/QUALIFICATIONS FOR THE ROLE

Required Professional Experience

• Strong interpersonal and communication skills and having more than 5 years in similar roles including leading and managing public affairs, communications, policy engagement, partnership management, advocacy and other high-level external engagement
• Demonstrated experience in organizational strategy development/review and reporting
• Strong negotiation and connector skills – ability to network, negotiate and connect with a range of political and non-political organizations
• Demonstrated experience in advocacy and/or campaign management and partnership management, including development and facilitation of peer organization capacity building plans
• Strong team player – must be able to form and lead a number of cross-functional working groups. Strategic thinker, having strong analytical skills and ability to strengthen compliance and quality of programs
• Passionate on promoting collaboration and partnership on children, women and issues of the disadvantaged members of communities Excellent planning and facilitation skills
• Fluent in Nepali with Fluent written and spoken English Knowledge of Microsoft Office, particularly Word and Excel

Required Education, training, license, registration and certification

• Master’s degree in Communications, Law, Development studies/management, Political science, Social Work studies or other relevant subjects

Preferred Knowledge and Qualifications

• External engagement processes and strategies
• Familiarity with thinking and working politically approaches Team or leadership experiences in Government, Local/International NGOs, Public Sectors

Travel and/or Work Environment

• 20 % (High level Government, media and donor’s visits)

Physical Requirements

• Travelling to field office and project sites remote locations

Is This Job for You?

World Vision is dedicated to our team members’ development and their success. We aspire for all employees to be fulfilled through their work and their contributions to an organization working to provide long-term sustainable solutions to the world’s most vulnerable people.

Candidates fulfilling the criteria mentioned above may apply by Wednesday September 13, 2023 by logging on to External-Engagement-and-Strategy-Director_R23920 for more details on the position and application.

For more information on World Vision International Nepal please visit our website: https://www.wvi.org/nepal

World Vision International Nepal is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourage candidates of diverse background, women and differently abled, to apply. Only short-listed candidates will be called for the subsequent selection procedure.

WVIN reserves all rights to qualify/disqualify applications in any case.

People & Culture Department

World Vision International Nepal