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Community Engagement Adviser (Stabilisation)

Reference: DFIDJOB-0132

Closing date: 14 November 2011

Interview date: Not Specified

Number of vacancies: 1

Salary: £47,555 - £56,293 per annum

Location: London (with regular overseas travel)

Appointment Terms: Two years fixed term

Working Arrangements: Full time

Specific requirements: The post requires the holder to undertake regular overseas travel, including to hostile and insecure environments.

Brief description: The Stabilisation Unit is looking for a community engagement expert with a strong understanding of the social dimensions of conflict and instability (particularly relating to gender, cultural understanding and basic service delivery) and practical experience of community-based approaches in countries emerging from violent conflict.

Background

The Community Engagement Adviser will be located in the Stabilisation Unit’s Lessons Team. The Team is responsible for the collection, analysis and dissemination of lessons on conflict and stabilisation, and acts as a hub for cross-departmental / civil military lesson sharing.

The Lessons Team includes a number of subject matter experts in conflict, security / policing / rule of law, governance, and community engagement. It also includes a small knowledge management team. The Lessons Team provides technical support and expertise to the Planning and Country Operations Team and to posts in country - and contributes to crisis response as needed. The Team also works closely with the Capability Team to define and maintain the quality of personnel in the Civilian Stabilisation Group and collaborates with the Communications Team on the effective dissemination of lessons. The Adviser will also work closely with subject matter experts in the Security and Justice Group.

The post-holder will work across a number of the SU's priority countries, with a particular focus on Sudan and the Middle East. The Community Engagement Adviser will need to be able to be deployed at very short notice and should be prepared to spend time overseas in stretches of up to six weeks. Deployments will often be to hostile or insecure environments, including southern Afghanistan.

Roles and responsibilities

The Community and Engagement Adviser will:

  • Work with SU country teams; to support HMG posts in Sudan, Afghanistan and other countries as required, with reviews, planning, programme design and lesson learning;
  • Develop key lessons products, strengthening understanding of how community engagement, gender, cultural understanding, health and education can contribute to improving stability;
  • Establish strong relationships across Whitehall, particularly with: DFID advisory cadres, Foreign Office Research Analysts, MoD anthropologists and cultural specialists and the cross-government health and conflict group;
  • Contribute to lessons collection, analysis and dissemination, and management of a section of the web-based Lessons Repositories;
  • Lead SU’s work on gender, reporting on SU’s commitments to the National Action Plan on UN Resolution 1325 and support parent departments with parliamentary reporting, focus groups and relations with APPG and NGO network, GAPS;
  • Contribute to SU and other HMG/ military training courses. Lead SU training on community engagement and Women, Peace and Security;
  • Develop relationships with a prioritised group of international partners to share lessons, e.g. DPKO, UNDP, UNWOMEN, EU and NGOs;
  • Lead SU’s engagement with the NGO-Military Contact Group.

Key Skills / Experience for this vacancy

Essential

  • Experience of working in and on conflict – preferably in more than one country. Willingness to deploy to a range of conflict contexts;
  • Strong social analytical skills with demonstrated experience of analysing the social dimensions of conflict, particularly relating to gender, ethnicity and religion. Familiarity with a range of quantitative and qualitative research methodologies;
  • Experience of implementing community based approaches in conflict and applying these to the design, implementation and monitoring of programmes;
  • Knowledge of best practice in public service delivery in conflict and ability to lead SU’s thematic work on health and education;
  • Knowledge of the international framework for the protection of civilians and practice-orientated approaches to protecting civilians from violent conflict;
  • Excellent knowledge of the UK and international conflict architecture; experience of cross-departmental and/or civil military cooperation;
  • Knowledge of how gender relates to conflict frameworks and ability to contribute examples of best practice to training and lessons products;
  • Experience of working in and on conflict – preferably in more than one country.

Highly Desirable

  • A qualification in anthropology, social analysis or relevant discipline;
  • Network of international contacts engaged in conflict management;
  • A second language would be desirable.

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