OXFAM International is hiring a Head of Oxfam EU Office

Location: Oxfam EU Office, Brussels, Belgium

Contract Type: Permanent

Oxfam Grade: B1

Department: Influencing & Engagement Hub

Team: Advocacy and Campaigns

Hours (FTE): 36

Flexible Working: We believe flexible working is key to building the Secretariat of the future, so we’re open to talking through the type of flexible arrangements which might work for you. This role, like others in the EU office, can be partially home-based.

Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion: We are committed to ensuring diversity and gender equality within our organization. Within the EU office, we are actively looking for colleagues with roots in the Global South and colleagues from Central and Eastern Europe.

Department Purpose

Achieving systemic change and impact using Oxfam’s presence at every level from local, to regional, to global, aligned with the vision of the global strategic framework: influencing and engaging audiences around the world – through action and by generating financial support – to fight inequality to end poverty and injustice.

Team Purpose

• Ensuring that Oxfam’s influencing around the world including campaigns, advocacy, policy, research is high impact and achieves systemic change with a focus on inequality and gender, rights & justice.

• Leading, convening & managing Oxfam’s influencing work across the world. Consulting, co-creating and setting vision and direction of travel for Oxfam’s worldwide influencing work. Embedding an integrated people-powered approach in all Oxfam’s influencing work.

• Enabling a strategic approach to working with allies and partners for influencing, ensuring co-creation, organisational humility, and support for partnerships and allyships.

• Team focuses on the European Union institutions, primarily the European Commission, Council and Parliament, advocating for sustainable, inclusive, and accountable programming and policies.

• Team acts as a service hub for the Oxfam Confederation, supporting country offices, regions, and partners to engage with the EU in Brussels, the OECD in Paris, and in countries (EU Delegations), as well as coordinating efforts among European affiliates regarding European policies.

Job Purpose

The Head of Oxfam’s EU office provides leadership to the Oxfam confederation’s engagement with EU institutions. They are responsible for developing and implementing Oxfam’s EU advocacy strategies, maintaining and building Oxfam’s profile and reputation as a principled and effective partner, and critical friend of the EU, and facilitating integrated collaboration on EU advocacy, programmes and funding across the Oxfam Confederation at senior level. This position entails overall responsibility for the c. 20 person Oxfam EU office, including 9 direct and matrix management lines. It also has oversight of the management, reporting, and potential renewal of several institutional grants of which the EU office is a recipient.

Key Responsibilities

• Strategic influencing: Provide strategic direction to have a measurable influence on the policies and practice of the EU institutions and member states. Deliver integrated strategies comprising research, policy, lobby, media and other advocacy tools to achieve impact. Develop and lead all Oxfam engagement focused on the EU.

• Representation: Maintain a high profile, build external relationships, and engage with EU targets in Brussels to ensure access and influence for Oxfam’s messages and objectives. Represent Oxfam at consultation meetings and conferences across the breadth of Oxfam’s areas, including on policy, influencing and funding. Engage in bilateral lobby meetings and meetings concerning Oxfam’s programs and funding.

• Target manager: Act as target manager for the EU institutions on all public and private engagement of Oxfam towards the EU, with sign off and decision making on all policy, advocacy, and media products relating to EU institutions.

• Spokesperson: Act as a media spokesperson for Oxfam in Brussels, giving media interviews and speaking publicly.

• Coordination: Facilitate a high level of collaboration between Oxfam affiliates, countries, regions, and thematic advocacy & campaign teams on EU targeted advocacy to contribute to influencing priorities multilaterally, at member state, and country level. Lead monthly meetings of the Oxfam European Heads of Advocacy and participate in Steering Committee of ‘Oxfam in Europe’.

• Management: Manage the EU advocacy team with the support of the Deputy Heads of Office and office manager, and manage the full OI EU office (working environment, human resources, budget, MEAL) in order to provide an effective, feminist and decolonial work and service hub to the Oxfam confederation.

• Member of Department Leadership Team: Contribute to the leadership of the Influencing and Engagement Hub and participate in internal advocacy and campaigns teams as appropriate, as well as in wider OI Secretariat meetings and processes, including strategy planning, budgeting and reporting.

Role Reports To

Head of Influencing and Engagement Hub

Roles Reporting To This Post

• EU Tax and Inequality Policy Advisor

• EU Senior Media Lead

• EU Civil Society Space Policy Lead

• EU-LAC Coordinator

• Office Manager, EU Office

• Matrix management of: OECD policy lead, EU International Humanitarian Law policy advisor, two EU funding managers

Budget Responsibility

Annual budget circa €3 million

Person Specification

• Be committed to our feminist principles, and to applying them in your day-to-day behaviour and your work. Be ready to keep learning, with accountability to those who experience oppression as a result of their identities, such as their gender, race/ethnicity, disability, class, or LGBTQIA identity.

• Be committed to undertaking Oxfam’s safeguarding training and adhering to relevant policies, to ensure all people who come into Oxfam are as safe as possible.

Experience, Knowledge & Competencies

Essential

• Strategic Thinking and Judgement

• Influencing

• Relationship Building

• Decisiveness

• Vision Setting

• Enabling

• A track record of delivering ambitious advocacy strategies with a thorough understanding of the multiple tactics necessary to achieve impact.

• Exceptional influencing skills – ability to negotiate effectively and excel in formal and informal leadership in a multi-stakeholder, formal, networked environment, and in alliances.

• Excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to liaise with a wide range of people, internally and externally, and at many levels, with credibility, tact, and diplomacy.

• Experience in managing and developing others, including through direct and matrix management, and ability to motivate and empower staff to deliver through the creation of an enabling context for success.

• Demonstrable organisational and problem-solving skills, and ability to manage multiple projects to deadlines. Significant experience of budget, fundraising, HR and performance management.

• High level of verbal and written English communication skills. Ability to also work in French and/or Spanish is highly desirable.

• Experience in working with multi-cultural senior staff and teams across borders and applying feminist leadership skills.

• Demonstrable commitment to anti-racism, gender equity, women’s rights, and LGBTQIA+ rights.

Desirable

• Experience of working across geographical boundaries

• Lived experience of intersecting systems of oppression, with knowledge and experience of how power and privilege play out in the countries we work with