DIRECTOR OF PROGRAMMES, PARTNERSHIPS & ADVOCACY

Salary: £60,000- £65,000 per annum.

Hours: Permanent. Full-time (36.5 hours per week). Compressed working hours considered.

Work location: Hybrid working with the requirement to work at Embrace’s office, in High Wycombe, at least 2-3 times a month to build and maintain team cohesion and collaboration. 

Are you inspired to bring hope to some of the most excluded and marginalised people living in the Middle East?

Do you have the skills, passion and experience to lead a team to deliver high-impact education, healthcare, and community development projects, delivered by Christian partners in the region, and advocating in the UK? 

Are you looking for a fresh new challenge in a role where your faith, passion and leadership skills would contribute to making a real difference to the lives of people and communities living in the Middle East?

If so, then we would like to hear from you.

ABOUT EMBRACE THE MIDDLE EAST

2024 marks the 170th anniversary of Embrace the Middle East. We are celebrating 170 years of close partnership and relationship with local Christians who, through their churches and local civil society organisations, are serving some of the most marginalised and excluded communities in the Middle East.

Ours is a vision of faith, hope and love in action: where there is a need for refuge, a home however temporary, for education, for safeguarding, for economic empowerment, for justice and human rights – we, with our partners, want to respond. We do this by building strong and lasting partnerships, nurtured by mutual respect and a shared commitment to excellence.

Advocacy is a growing part of our work, inspired and guided by the voices of our partners – primarily speaking and acting in relation to:

-        the presence and role of Christians in the Middle East

-        issues of peace, justice and equal rights in Israel and Palestine

-        refugees and internally displaced people across the Middle East

Informed by Christian voices from the Middle East, we engage with Bishops and church leaders, politicians, and seek to educate and mobilise the UK public.

ABOUT THE ROLE

We are seeking a new Director of Programmes, Partnerships and Advocacy, who will:

• Lead a team of experienced programme and partnerships managers. Annually, our programme team guide our relationships with a portfolio of 45 local partners, supporting them in their social witness through a £2.4m programme of grants, and capacity support.

• Lead the development of our advocacy work, collaborating closely with the CEO and Director of Fundraising to develop our policies, messaging and strategy to increase our reach through effective lobbying and campaigning consistent with our theory of change and strategic vision and mission. This cross-cutting work will include working with our programme team, our communications team, and church engagement team as part of a shared approach to advocacy, campaigning, and public engagement.   Resources will be available for the Director to recruit a dedicated advocacy team member to complement their skills and support them and the team to achieve Embrace’s advocacy aspirations.

• Oversee the implementation of our partner due diligence and regulatory compliance, and the effective monitoring and evaluation of funded projects.  This will include working with Programme Managers to maintain a consistent and effective approach across our partnerships.

• Monitor and be accountable to the CEO and the Board for all programmatic delivery, including the regular assessment of impact, and collation of data to inform strategic direction and operational activities. 

• As a member of the Leadership Group contribute to the shared leadership and strategic management and planning of the charity, with a particular emphasis on building a strong, inclusive, enabling working environment.  In which all staff feel safe, appreciated, and where they are able to develop, contribute to the best of their ability and see that contribution appropriately recognised and rewarded.

We are seeking applicants who actively practise Embrace’s Christian values and want to join us in strengthening relationships with our broad base of local Christian partner organisations in the Middle East.

ABOUT YOU

Ideal candidates will have:

• Successfully led a grant-making, charity partnerships team, providing inspiring leadership and operational direction to meet regulatory requirements and aligned with the organisation’s strategy.

• Developed and implemented effective advocacy campaigns to raise awareness, cultivating relationships and influencing senior external stakeholders including Christian and church leaders, Bishops and politicians, engaging them to advocate and bring change on issues such as, justice and human rights.

• Worked with complex policy issues in a highly politicised setting.

• Worked collaboratively with colleagues, stakeholders to develop and successfully implement long-term, strategic plans.

• Acted as a spokesperson in public forums and/or in the media.

• Worked with communities and with people who have lived experience of injustice and marginalisation.

Ideal candidates will be:

• Comfortable with complexity and able to quickly digest and simplify complicated or nuanced policy or legal issues in a way that others can understand.

• A strategic thinker, capable of scanning the horizon for threats and opportunities, identifying effective pathways to potential positive impact.

• A relationship-builder, able to support their Team and the organisation by building and maintaining relationships with external partners, including with church leaders, parliamentarians and other influential political or policy decision makers and civil society partners.

• Inspired by the Gospel to support and sustain local Christian organisations to deliver high-impact programmes to benefit communities in need of assistance.

• Highly collaborative, team player prepared to contribute to the overall success of the organisation.

• Have a sympathy with Embrace’s Christian inspired values, vision and ready with compassion and commitment to serve and work to support Embrace’s Christian mission.

• Because of the essential Christian context of the role, it is subject to an occupational requirement under the Equality Act that the post-holder be a practising Christian.

• Willing to carry out overseas travel to the region 5 weeks in a year.

STAFF BENEFITS AT EMBRACE THE MIDDLE EAST     

• To support every member of staff to work as effectively as possible, Embrace offers remote and flexible working arrangements. This includes flexi-time and home-working arrangements.

• Flexi-time - start work between 7:30am – 10:00am and finish between 3:00pm – 6:00pm. Our core collaborative working hours are between 10:00am to 3:00pm.

• Working from home allowance of £312 per annum. 

• Pension - option to join from day 1. Maximum employer contribution of 10%.

• Holiday - 30 days, including 8 bank holidays – rising to 31 days after 5 years' service and 32 days after 10 years' service, plus 3 days leave between Christmas and the New Year.

• Life Assurance - 3x salary.

• Access to retail discount portal.

• Employee Assistant Programme (confidential counselling, legal and financial advice) - available 24/7, 365 days a year

• Training and development programme for all employees.

• Commitment to staff health & wellbeing.

HOW TO APPLY

To apply for this role, kindly send through a completed online application form, via the link below, attaching a copy of your CV.

The closing date for applications is Thursday 30 May 2024.

For more details and information about the role, please download our candidate application pack below. Should you wish to discuss this role, please contact Embrace’s Head of HR and Culture at vacancies@embraceme.org.

To apply click here:

For further information about the role click here:

Candidates shortlisted to the first interview will be contacted within 5 working days of submitting their online application form.  First interviews will be conducted by Embrace’s current Director of Programmes, Partnerships & Advocacy and Head of HR & Culture using Teams during weeks commencing; 13th, 20th and 27th of May. Second interviews will be held at Embrace the Middle East’s head office in High Wycombe during week commencing 10 June.

Embrace the Middle East is an equal opportunities employer. Recruitment and selection procedures reflect our commitment to child protection. Please note that in order to be considered for this position you need to have the right to work in the UK, either through nationality or relevant work visa. The successful candidate will be required to complete a medical questionnaire and undertake a disclosure check as part of the Charity’s safer recruitment policy.

Thank you for your interest in Embrace the Middle East.