Advocacy Lead
Job Summary
Salary: £50,000 per annum, full time equivalent. This is a 6 month fixed-term contract.
If you’re passionate about securing justice and protection for the world’s most vulnerable children, thrive in political environment, and have the skills to build powerful advocacy movements, this is your opportunity to lead bold and impactful advocacy at War Child UK.
As our Advocacy Lead, you’ll play a key role in driving for children affected by conflict. This is an opportunity to be at the forefront of influencing the UK Government, ensuring that decision-makers take meaningful action to protect and support children globally affected by war and conflict.
We’re hoping for someone who can join us as soon as possible, though we can offer some flexibility for the right candidate.
In line with our commitment to flexible working, this role is offered on a full-time basis (37.5 hours, 5 days per week), but we’re also open to applications from candidates who would like to work part-time (4 days / 80%). We encourage you to apply and share your preferred working pattern in your application.
Your Role
You’ll lead War Child UK’s political engagement, forging influential relationships with MPs, civil servants, think tanks and parliamentary groups, ensuring that children’s voices are heard where it matters most. It’s essential that you’re skilled at building and managing long-term relationships with senior parliamentarians, influencing policymakers, and engaging government officials to drive meaningful policy change. With a strategic approach, you’ll mobilise cross-party support, help shape public campaigns to mobilise public action and support and push for tangible action and increased resources for children in conflict zones.
Working alongside a committed and high-performing team, you’ll ensure that War Child UK’s policy and advocacy priorities resonate across government, parliament, the media, social channels and the wider public.
This role offers an incredible platform to make a tangible difference at a time of unprecedented need. Join us in standing up for children affected by war and help create a future where no child’s life is torn apart by conflict.
Your Responsibilities
- To lead on the development and implementation of our advocacy strategy across policy and programmatic themes related to children and conflict, and regional or country situations and crises, in close coordination with Head of Communications and Campaigns and global advocacy and programme teams – ensuring children’s voices and experiences are at the heart of plans. .
- Lead on the strategic direction of advocacy messaging across War Child UK’s communications channels, ensuring alignment with policy and programmatic priorities to drive impactful advocacy engagement across the website, social media, and press.
- Develop and strengthen relationships with MPs, Peers, and parliamentary committees, securing debates, parliamentary questions, and cross-party support.
- Coordinate and facilitate meetings, secure high-level participation, and drive forward advocacy priorities through APPG activities.
- Represent War Child UK in coalitions, networks, and working groups, ensuring our voice is heard in key policy discussions.
- Proactively monitor and analyse political and policy developments, identifying strategic opportunities to influence decision-makers and advance War Child UK’s advocacy goals. Provide expert insight and recommendations to senior leadership and external partners.
- Lead on providing expert analysis and clear written and verbal updates to War Child UK colleagues on key advocacy developments ensuring teams are well-informed and equipped to support advocacy priorities.
- Uphold our commitments to the safeguarding of children, and adults and compliant to War Child’s Safeguarding and PSEAH (Protection from Sexual Exploitation, Abuse & Harassment) policies.
These duties provide a framework for the role and should not be regarded as a definitive list. Other reasonable duties may be required consistent with the grade of the role.
You Are
Essential Experience
- A track record of delivering tangible outcomes in advocacy, public affairs, particularly within the UK Government and Parliament, ideally within an international development and/or humanitarian context.
- Demonstrable examples of building and managing long term relationships with senior parliamentarians and engaging and influencing policymakers, government officials, and other MPs to achieve policy change.
- A record of creating ambitious advocacy strategies that tangibly advance organisational objectives.
- Experience of successfully engaging with Parliamentarians from across the political spectrum to secure speeches in parliament, interventions, oral and written questions, EDMs, secure debates and other parliamentary procedures.
- Strong understanding of UK political systems, parliamentary processes, and key government departments (e.g., FCDO, Home Office, MOD).
- Demonstrated ability to build strategic relationships with civil society organisations, coalitions, and political stakeholders.
- Experience working on public campaigns to further advocacy objectives.
Essential Skills
- Communication and influencing: Strong written and verbal skills to develop impactful advocacy materials, briefing papers, and campaign messaging that translate across multiple channels.
- Strategic thinking: Ability to identify advocacy opportunities and develop effective influencing strategies to further organisational aims; adept in horizon scanning and plugged into the news and political agenda.
- Project management: Ability to manage multiple projects, ensuring timely and high-quality delivery.
- Stakeholder engagement: Ability to engage with government officials, MPs, donors, NGOs, and the public to drive advocacy outcomes.
- Collaboration and teamwork: Ability to work across teams, aligning advocacy with media, fundraising, and programmatic goals.
Desirable Experience & Skills
- Experience of coordinating an APPG or similar parliamentary group.
- Experience working on issues related to children’s rights, humanitarian aid, or international development.
- Understanding of safeguarding and ethical storytelling in advocacy.
About Us
At War Child we are driven by a single goal – ensuring a safe future for every child affected by war.
Using our 30 years of experience and proven methodologies, we aim to reach children as quickly as possible when conflict breaks out and stay long after the cameras have gone to support them through their recovery. We work with local communities and governments to help protect and educate children, and support them to heal and learn, for a safer, brighter future.
We understand children’s needs, respect and stand up for their rights, and put them at the centre of everything we do – because one child caught up in conflict is one child too many.
Every day, our local teams are in communities and in refugee camps creating safe spaces for children to play, learn and access psychological support, and we specialise in responding rapidly to emergency crisis situations to deliver immediate and critical care impartially to help to those who need us most, when they need us most.
Because no child should be part of war. Ever.
Our Values
- Bold:We use our passion and creativity to deliver high quality evidence-based work designed to maximise our beneficial impact for children in conflict.
- Accountable to children:Children can rely on us to respond to their voices and to treat them with respect and dignity.
- Anti-racism:Anti-racism is not merely a belief. It includes actions that we mainstream throughout our work to change and challenge policies and behaviours that perpetuate racism.
- Transparent:We expect to be held to account by our supporters and participants and we respond with openness and honesty.
- Supportive of each other:We support each other to achieve ambitious goals and be the best we can be. We are honest and open, sharing our successes & confronting our challenges.
Our Benefits
- Flexible working- we recognise the considerable benefits that flexible working can bring and are happy to discuss any possible flexible working options with our employees from hiring. For most roles, the following types of flexibility are usually possible: flexible hours, occasional working from home and compressed hours.
- Annual leave– 28 days per year (full-time) rising to 33 days with service, plus bank holidays
- Pension- all eligible employees automatically enrolled into a Group Personal Pension Plan with a 5% employer contribution, with minimum employee contribution on a salary sacrifice basis. This increases to 6% after one year's service.
- Family leave– we offer enhanced Maternity, Partner/Co-Parent/Paternity Leave, Adoption & Shared Parental Leave
- Health & wellbeing- employees may take advantage of a healthcare cash plan and a range of wellbeing initiatives and training. In addition, all employees have access to free, confidential one-to-one wellbeing consultations with trained counsellors.
- Learning & development- dedicated to the investment in learning and continuing professional development for all our employees
- Workplace Nursery Benefit– employees make tax and NI savings on nursery costs for children up to the age of 5
- Flexible public holidays- up to two standard UK public holidays can be exchanged for those that have cultural or religious significance.
- Voluntary contributions can be made through payroll allowing employees to claim back on a range of cancer treatments.Cancer Cover:
- GP 24/7 Helpline:A GP helpline is be available to all UK employees providing access to a qualified GP, 24/7 via a telephone or webcam consultation, and offers diagnosis, advice and reassurance on a range of medical matters, as well as authorisation of private electronic prescriptions.
- Welcome Bag for new starters:A War Child Tote bag, War Child T-shirt and some other practical things to welcome new colleagues to War Child.
- Discounts on War Child Merchandise: 25% discount on full price War Child merchandise, available to all employees, sold through Shop for Good.
- Range of flexible benefits such a Cycle to Work scheme and season ticket loans.
Flexible Working
We positively support flexible working arrangements. These currently include: office working, homeworking, part-time hours, compressed hours, flexi-time, flexi-place (hybrid working) and job shares. We would be happy to discuss individual flexible working requests during the interview process.
How to Apply
- To apply, simply submit an application through our Current Vacancies page and attach a copy of your CV.
- On occasion, we might close a vacancy early due to a high number of applications being received. Interested candidates are encouraged to submit their application as early as possible.
- If you have any questions about reasonable adjustments before or during your application, we welcome the opportunity to talk about what we can do to fairly adapt our process for you. Please share what you’re comfortable with to help us put the right support in place, by emailing careers@warchild.org.uk. Anything you tell us will be kept completely confidential by our HR team.
- We are unable to provide sponsorship for this post. In order to apply, you must be able to demonstrate your eligibility to work in the country where this role is based.
Safeguarding
Our work with children and at-risk adults to ensure their safety is our top priority. We are committed to safeguarding children and vulnerable adults in all aspects of our work. We maintain a zero-tolerance policy for any behavior or practices that put children and/or vulnerable adults at risk of abuse or harm.
Successful applicants will be required to comply with and sign our Safeguarding Policy, Code of Conduct, and PSEAH Policy. You can find the Safeguarding and Integrity policies here:https://warchild.sharepoint.com/sites/Integrity
Diversity and Inclusion
We value diversity and inclusion and are committed to ensuring that all our people and job applicants are treated fairly, irrespective of where, what or whom they were born, or of other characteristics. We want to offer a safe and inclusive workplace where all our people, especially those who are currently marginalised or underrepresented, can be themselves at work. You can read our Diversity and Inclusion policy on our website, and if you have any questions about our commitment to diversity and inclusion do get in touch: https://www.warchild.org.uk/our-work/policies-and-reports/diversity-and-inclusion
Pre-employment Checks
Employment with War Child will be subject to the following checks prior to your start date:
- a satisfactory police record check to include a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check and/or an International/National Criminal Record Check
- a clear vetting and Due Diligence check
- receipt of two professional satisfactory references