Advocacy and Partnerships Manager

Position Description

Here you’ll make a difference

Save the Children is the world’s largest independent child rights development organisation, making a difference to children’s lives in more than 100 countries. From emergency relief to long-term development, Save the Children secures a child’s right to health, education, and protection. At Save the Children, we attract bright and big-hearted people who are inspired to make a difference. Together, we are fearless in our pursuit of making lasting change for the children and communities who need it most. In Papua New Guinea (PNG), Save the Children implements programs in the sectors of health and nutrition, education, child protection, child rights governance, and livelihoods. The PNG Country Program is looking for an Advocacy and Partnerships Manager who will provide technical leadership in advocacy and partner management for all programming in PNG.

Save the Children in Papua New Guinea (SCiPNG) is committed to be a platform for transformative and lasting change for children their families, and their communities. SCiPNG prides itself in being a child safe organization. For more information, please visit: www.savethechildren.org.au.

Here your skills will be valued - Role Purpose

The Advocacy and Partnerships Manager will lead the designing and delivery of Save the Children’s advocacy and communication strategy and the building and maintaining of key strategic partnerships that influence legal and policy decisions, inspire public support and engagement, and drive the agenda for children in Papua New Guinea (PNG).

The Advocacy and Partnerships Manager is expected to lead on initiatives aimed to improve children’s lives at national, provincial and community levels, including policy advocacy, strategic communications, media engagement and campaigning. She/he will be expected to build and maintain strong partnerships with key stakeholders including government representatives, civil society organisations, INGOs, NGOs, and academia. Working with the Program Development and Quality Director, she/he will lead on the development and implementation of Save the Children’s Advocacy, Communications, Campaigns and Media (ACCM) Strategy in PNG.

The Advocacy and Partnerships Manager, in coordination with the Communications Coordinator, will be responsible for managing the SCiPNG’s media-related activities – including its social media and online platforms – to ensure published information is up to date, of high quality, accurate, and in line with organisational policies and procedures.

She/he will also support the capacity building of SCiPNG staff in identifying and undertaking advocacy and communications to achieve brand consistency in line with organizational policy standards and donor requirements.

Dimensions: The Advocacy and Partnerships Manager has both an internal and external orientation but works closely with the Program Development and Quality (PDQ) team, the Regional Pacific Policy and Advocacy Advisor, the Regional Pacific Communications Lead and program implementation teams to facilitate the planning, implementation, and monitoring of advocacy, media and communication initiatives. Externally, the role will be expected to strategically position SCiPNG as a leading provider of life changing interventions for children and their families.

Working contacts

Internal: PDQ team members, program managers and various implementation team members, thematic leads, consultants, visitors, communication and advocacy teams from the regional office and Save the Children member countries.

External: Media, child rights groups, other civil society organisations, service providers, governments, local authorities, and development partners (local and international).

Key Areas of Accountability

Advocacy

• In collaboration with the PDQ Director, lead the development and implementation of SCiPNG’s advocacy strategy that advances child rights at national and regional levels, ensuring alignment with organisational priorities and global frameworks.
• Conduct high‑quality policy and legal framework analysis and engage with government, donors, and key national actors to influence policy and legislative reforms.
• Engage with MEAL teams to generate, synthesise, and translate evidence into compelling advocacy messages, positioning paper, and briefs.
• Support thematic advisors and program teams to integrate advocacy activities through developing a calendar of events and identifying key moments to deliver on the SCiPNG advocacy objectives.
• Build and maintain effective, collaborative relationships with ACCM team members in Save the Children’s Australia and other Pacific Country Offices to ensure common messages and effective advocacy efforts.
• Support SCiPNG’s engagement in regional and global advocacy efforts to highlight achievements.

Campaigning

• Support the development of advocacy campaigns at national, regional, and global levels with children and youth activists.
• Ensure meaningful, safe, and inclusive child participation in campaigns that is aligned with safeguarding and ethical standards.
• Work closely with thematic advisors involved in public mobilisation and engagement to create moments and opportunities for campaigning.
• Build and maintain effective, collaborative relationships with Save the Children’s Australia, Pacific Country Offices, Pacific regional and global advocacy teams, ensuring consistent approaches, common messages and effective campaign events.

Communications and Media

• External: manage the development and implementation of a Strategic Communications Plan and guidelines for the Country Office.
• Internal: manage the development and implementation of an Internal Communications Plan.
• Oversee the development and quality of communication material, ensuring messages are adequate for the target audience, safe, ethical and culturally grounded.
• Ensure branding consistency and donor communication compliance, including of digital media and social media.
• Effectively manage external media relations.

Partnerships

• Build and maintain effective relationships with government stakeholders, civil society representatives, UN, INGOs, child-led and youth groups, and Academia to advance Save the Children’s advocacy and communication efforts.
• Represent the organisation in high‑level meetings, consultations, Coalitions, and forums, ensuring children’s rights and protection priorities are clearly articulated and grounded in community realities.
• Develop and implement skills training of PDQ, programmatic and field staff in Save the Children Pacific Partnerships Guidelines.

Designing, Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning

• Contribute to proposal development processes where advocacy and communication activities are present and explore opportunities for children’s voices to be heard in project designs.
• With support from Save the Children Australia, develop and put in place systems to monitor and measure the impact of the PNG ACCM.
• Manage the development of impact stories and share with Save the Children Australia and its Pacific Team, Pacific regional and global working groups, and/or communities of practice.

General

• Fulfill other management duties (e.g., Extended Senior Management Team member) as required.
• Be a role model for safety and security and comply with all workplace safety policies, procedures, work instructions and training, including all reporting requirements and processes.
• Participate in, and contribute to, health and safety awareness and improvements.
• Be aware of, document and manage the risks associated with the program activities, operations and workplaces, ensuring appropriate elimination or mitigation measures are applied.
• Any other relevant duties as assigned by the supervisor.

Health, Safety, Security and Risk Management

• Be a role model for safety and security and comply with all workplace safety policy, procedure, work instructions and training. Act safely at all times, including complying with all safety instructions and training given at the workplace.
• Report all incidents, injuries and potential hazards in a timely manner.
• Participate in, and contribute to, health and safety awareness and improvements.
• Lead and promote a culture of strong governance promoting employee health, safety and security and operational risk management.
• Ensure safety and security of staff and equipment during implementation of advocacy and communication activities.
• Be aware of, and consider, the risks associated with one’s daily work and apply appropriate mitigation measures in line with Save the Children’s policies and procedures.

CHILD PROTECTION AND SAFEGURDING REQUIREMENTS

• Maintain a child safe environment at the workplace and safeguard children’s rights, acting in the best interests of children at all times.
• Comply with the Child Safeguarding Code of Conduct and child safeguarding and protection policies and standards (click here to view further details).
• Demonstrate the highest standards of behaviour towards children in both your private and professional life.
• Never abuse the position of trust that comes with working at Save the Children.
• Always maintain a safe and positive relationship when working with children and young people.
• Respond to any concerns for the safety or wellbeing of a child in a program in accordance with internal reporting processes.

All roles at Save the Children contribute to our impact for children.

At Save the Children, every role, whether in our programs or support services, plays a vital part in our impact for children. We are committed to creating a positive impact on the lives of children and their communities. We value the contributions of every team member in achieving this vision.

Person Specification

Mandatory Qualifications and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in relevant field such as policy, international development, international relations, public relations, strategic communications, media, journalism or a related field. Master’s or Post-Graduate Degree is an advantage.
• At least eight (8) years of progressive work experience in advocacy, communications, media or international development, with at least three (3) years in a managerial role.
• Experience in developing and implementing advocacy and communication strategy and plan.
• Experience in influencing opinions and legal and policy change.
• Ability to write, review and edit policy and legal analysis, reports, briefs and positioning papers (in English and Tok Pisin) for dissemination and publications.
• Experience in building and maintaining effective partnerships with key stakeholders (government, development partners, media).
• Experience managing multiple social media and online platforms.
• Proven ability to supervise, train, and coach staff. Previous experience in managing consultants is desirable.

Desirable Knowledge and Experience

• Knowledge of the PNG and Pacific regional media and communication landscape.
• Experience managing large scale communications for emergency response to inform, influence and educate.

Skills/Abilities

• Ability to think strategically, plan, prioritise, and meet deadlines in a complex and challenging environment; must be culturally sensitive.
• Exhibit a strong work ethic with a high degree of flexibility with respect to working hours; ability to effectively plan and manage own time under pressure.
• High level of attention to detail and quality.
• Willingness to travel to regional areas of PNG.

CHILD SAFEGUARDING

This position may require the post holder to have regular contact with children or access to children and young people either frequently or intensively. S/he may have access to children directly through their data or direct visits. The holder will undergo police checking and vetting for their suitability to work with children.

Dimensions: The Advocacy and Partnerships Manager has both an internal and external orientation but works closely with the Program Development and Quality (PDQ) team, the Regional Pacific Policy and Advocacy Advisor, the Regional Pacific Communications Lead and program implementation teams to facilitate the planning, implementation, and monitoring of advocacy, media and communication initiatives. Externally, the role will be

Partnerships