UK Advocacy Officer

UK Advocacy Officer

Contract: Permanent, Full time

Salary: £37,130 - £38,986 with excellent benefits

Location: London, UK

Hybrid Working: A minimum of 40% of working time is spent face to face, either in the London office, or as a result of external engagement or travel for WaterAid. WaterAid is located at Canary Wharf, London and this will be your location and contract base. In order to apply for this post, you must be able to demonstrate your eligibility to work in the UK.

Closing date: Applications will close at 23:59 on 25th August 2023. Availability for interview is required for the week commencing 4th September 2023.

How to Apply: To see the full job pack, please click 'Apply'. Please apply by submitting your CV and a cover letter in one document in either Word Document or PDF format.

About WaterAid:
Want to use your skills in advocacy to play a vital role in making clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene normal for everyone everywhere?

We need passionate, creative and dedicated people. In return, you will be encouraged and empowered to be yourself at your very best. Together, we will make a bigger difference.

Join WaterAid as UK Advocacy Officer to change normal for millions of people so they can unlock their potential, break free from poverty and change their lives for good. On top of that you'll be joining a 2020 Great Place to Work® award-winning organisation.

About the Team:
The WaterAid Global International Affairs team's purpose is to influence political decisionmakers to prioritise water, sanitation and hygiene in their policy and funding agendas, and to create the conditions that enable everyone, everywhere to access WASH by 2030.

As our politically informed and creative UK Advocacy Officer you will build and maintain relationships with UK parliamentarians and deliver high quality briefings, events, and research to help advance progress on life-changing universal WASH access.

About the Role:
As our politically informed and creative Advocacy Officer you will build and maintain relationships with UK parliamentarians and deliver high quality briefings, events, and research to help advance progress on life-changing universal WASH access.

In this role, you will drive WaterAid's work to influence UK advocacy targets in Westminster and Whitehall as well as the global targets including the EU, G7/G20 Summits, and multilateral institutions. This is a full-time role, which may require some international and domestic travel in support of UK strategic priority projects

You'll also:

• Build and maintain relationships with UK Parliamentarians and keep contact records to ensure strong impact monitoring and evaluation.


• Identify opportunities to engage parliamentarians and develop new WaterAid Parliamentary Champions.


• Lead engagement on behalf of WaterAid in a range of networks and coalitions.


• Support the delivery of high-quality events for policy and political audiences.


• Lead daily monitoring of UK parliamentary, political and development sector activities keeping the team informed of relevant developments and engagement opportunities.


• Support the drafting of political briefings on key policy areas on WASH, WASH in health care facilities and climate change

About You:

• Bachelor's degree in development, economics, international relations or a related field, or relevant work experience.


• Experience working in a parliamentary, advocacy or campaigning role.


• Strong verbal and written communication skills, with high attention to detail.


• Experience of managing events, organising travel and providing logistical support.


• Experience of contact management working with databases.


• Excellent project management skills.


• Knowledge of UK parliamentary procedures and strong interest in politics and international development.


• High level of proficiency in Microsoft Office, including Word, Outlook, Excel, and PowerPoint.


• Excellent organisational skills and the ability to multitask, manage workload independently and work to tight deadlines.


• Excellent research, writing, and analytical skills with the ability to synthesise complex policy documents and translate these for a wider audience.


• Ability to work well within a team and a willingness to take on a range of tasks as necessary


• Ability to exhibit diplomacy, tact, and discretion.


• Working style that reflects WaterAid's values of Respect, Accountability, Courage, Collaboration, Integrity, and Innovation.


• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment, with shifting priorities and occasional heavy workloads.


• Ability to attend regular events in Westminster and London.


• Fluency in English.

Our Benefits:

• 36 days' holiday (including 8 Bank Holidays)


• Option to buy an extra 5 days annual leave


• We offer a generous pension plan with employer contribution of up to 10%


• Wide range of flexible and agile-working arrangement


• Season Ticket Loan


• Free annual eye tests


• Pay as You Give charitable giving scheme


• Enhanced Maternity and Adoption/Surrogacy pay, Shared Parental Leave and Paternity Leave


• Sabbaticals


• Volunteer Day

Our Commitment

An inclusive workplace:

We are committed to being an organisation where everyone is included, respected, and empowered to be their best. We represent and celebrate our staff, partners and everyone we work with, and create a culture where everyone can reach their full potential.

Equal opportunities:

We are an equal opportunity, disability-confident employer and are dedicated to achieving the highest standards of diversity, equity and inclusion. We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds, beliefs, customs, traditions and ways of life. This includes, but is not limited to, race, gender, disability, age, sexual orientation, religion, national or social origin, health status, and economic or social situation.

Safeguarding:

We are also committed to protecting everyone we come into contact with. We have a zero-tolerance approach to abuse of power, privilege or trust across our global work, and any form of inappropriate behaviour, discrimination, abuse, bullying, harassment, or exploitation. Safeguarding the people and communities we work with, our staff, volunteers and anyone working on our behalf is our top priority, and we take our responsibilities extremely seriously.