Policy and Advocacy Officer

Reporting to the Director of Policy & Advocacy, the Policy & Advocacy Officer plays a leading role conducting policy analysis, driving coalition work, and engaging with decision-makers towards increasing investment in, and political support for, sexual and reproductive health and rights in Canada’s foreign policy and development assistance. The Policy & Advocacy Officer works closely with members of the Policy & Advocacy team to identify opportunities to leverage advocacy and campaign strategies, public events, knowledge translation, and partnerships to advance the organization’s strategic goals.

Who We Are

Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights is a progressive, pro-choice charitable organization committed to advancing and upholding sexual and reproductive rights in Canada and globally. To achieve our mission, Action Canada engages in health promotion, legal and policy advocacy, campaigns, and movement-building.

We believe in a world where every person has control over their sexuality, reproduction, and gender expression. In our fight for sexual and reproductive rights for all, Action Canada challenges the systems that prevent all people from realizing the full range of their human rights. 
For more information, visit www.actioncanadashr.org .

Who You Are

You are an experienced policy and advocacy specialist with a passion for sexual and reproductive health and rights. You bring a feminist intersectional approach to your work, including your analysis, collaborations, and communications. You are a strategic thinker with experience operating in fluid and sometimes reactive advocacy environments. You enjoy collaborating with colleagues across teams and have experience coordinating coalition work, and engaging parliamentarians as well as other government officials. You have strong writing, knowledge translation and analytical skills.

Job Duties and Responsibilities
The Policy and Advocacy Officer’s responsibilities will include, but are not limited to:

• Leads the development of resources (including briefs, factsheets, submissions, reports, position papers, etc.) on sexual and reproductive health and rights-related issues within the context of Canada’s development assistance and foreign policy for a variety of audiences;
• Monitors the work of Global Affairs Canada, and other relevant departments, identifying and seeking opportunities to build Canada’s support for sexual and reproductive health and rights in global fora;
• Supports the development and execution of advocacy strategies to encourage further action by government actors on sexual and reproductive health and rights, human rights, global health, foreign policy and development assistance;
• Monitors Canada’s role in global processes (including UN functional commissions, development framework reviews, G7/G20, among others) with a view to integrating a focus on sexual and reproductive health and rights;
• Organizes events and meetings to meet advocacy and coalition-building goals;
• Oversees activity budgets (for example: events, publications, etc.);
• Identifies opportunities and supports relevant coalition work including through the coordination of coalitions for which Action Canada serves in a secretariat role;
• In collaboration with team members, engages elected and unelected officials towards increasing support for sexual and reproductive health and rights issues;
• Represents Action Canada at relevant events, conferences and external meetings with government officials and other stakeholders as required;
• Participates in cross-team meetings to contribute to the development of advocacy and campaign strategies;
• Collaborates with other Action Canada teams as a subject-matter expert;
• Supports the evaluation needs of grants and projects;
• Supports the Policy & Advocacy team in fulfilling team reporting duties;
• Regularly reports verbally and in writing to the Director of Policy & Advocacy;
• Provides information and inputs to the Communications and Fundraising teams to support their work;
• Other duties as may be assigned by the Employer.

Qualifications

• Minimum of 3 years’ experience, preferably in a non-profit, charitable, or civil society organization, working in policy and/or advocacy roles on issues related to international development, sexual and reproductive health, gender, global health, public affairs, or human rights;
• Knowledge of Canada’s international development assistance and foreign policies, current trends and feminist analysis within international development and foreign policy sectors as it relates to sexual and reproductive health rights, United Nations processes and agreements related to sexual and reproductive health and rights;
• Demonstrated experience engaging in multi-sectoral collaborations and coalition work;
• Demonstrated experience coordinating events and/or managing projects;
• Knowledge, understanding, and commitment to reproductive rights and a person’s right to determine their own reproductive choices, anti-racism and anti-oppression, feminist policy and practice, and the mission and values of Action Canada;
• Excellent research, writing, and analytical skills;
• Self-directed and motivated;
• Proficient computer skills including with online conferencing tools (Zoom, MS Teams, etc.), project management (Asana), cloud-based document management (Dropbox, etc.) and Microsoft Office;
• Demonstrated capacity to work both in a self-directed manner and collaboratively with other staff and stakeholders;
• Flexible and adaptive, able to respond quickly and effectively to changing circumstances;
• Willingness to travel and work outside of normal business hours, when necessary;
• Eligible to work in Canada.

Hours, Compensation and Benefits
This is a full-time (37.5 hours per week), salaried position. This is a unionized position in CUPE Local 2722-05. Salary for this position is $63,945 per annum. Action Canada also provides a generous benefits program, including extended health and dental benefits, leave allowances, and RRSP contributions.
This position may require occasional evening and weekend work.

Location
The successful candidate must be based in the Ottawa area. They may work from a remote work location (e.g. home office), from Action Canada’s Ottawa office, or a combination of both.
This position will require occasional travel within Canada and internationally.

Hiring Process and Timeline
Applications will be accepted until April 21, 2024. Interviews will be held from April 25-May 3, with an anticipated start date in May 2024. All interviews will be held on Zoom, at a time arranged with the candidate. Candidates will be asked to provide three references, and those moving to the next round will have references checked.

Action Canada is committed to working within an anti-racism and anti-oppression framework and dismantling the white supremacy inherent to the SRHR movement. We are explicitly inviting women and gender diverse members of Black, Indigenous, and racialized communities to apply and self-identify in your cover letter. We welcome applications from people living with disabilities; please let us know if you require accommodations at any stage of the recruitment process.
We thank all applicants in advance; however, only those invited for an interview will be contacted.

Send your cover letter, clearly outlining how your experience matches the job requirements, and CV, to: jobs@actioncanadashr.org  with the subject line: Policy and Advocacy Officer – [Your Last Name] by 11:59pm ET on Sunday, April 21, 2024.

Organisation:

Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights