Director of External Relations and Advocacy

Islamic Relief Worldwide (IRW) is a faith-based humanitarian relief and development organisation working to save and transform the lives of some of the world’s most vulnerable people.  Established in 1984, with an active presence in over 45 countries, we strive to make the world a better and fairer place for those affected by poverty, conflict and natural disasters. 

IRW’s is recruiting for the position of ‘Director of External Relations and Advocacy’ to join its dynamic team based out of its offices in Birmingham, UK. The organisation is operating to a hybrid working policy.

The purpose of the role is to lead the development and delivery of Islamic Relief’s global advocacy work and supporting the advocacy and media work of its member and country offices, work with global media and lead on global reputation management. As a member of the Board of Directors, the position will contribute to the leadership of the organisation.

The successful candidate must have:

• Master’s degree in an area of social development, communications or equivalent.
• Experience of leading advocacy, media and external relations in international non-profit organisations, with a track record in developing and delivering impactful advocacy and media strategies
• Experience in developing relationships and impactful partnerships with international actors such as multilateral institutions and UN bodies, government donors, international Islamic bodies and global private sector actors.
• Strong knowledge of international media organisations and effective approaches to media engagement, coupled with a proven history in leading teams to secure high-profile media coverage.
• Experience of reputation management and crisis communications, including a proven history in dealing with adverse media coverage.
• Strong experience in delivering training to senior staff.
• Excellent written communications skills for a wide range of audiences, including the ability to develop concise and coherent public messaging to communicate complex and technical information in an engaging way.
• A skilled media interviewee, with valuable experience of representing organisations in broadcast media interviews.
• Strong management, performance management and staff development skills
• Experienced in formulating and managing significant budgets.
• An understanding of Islamic teachings and how they relate to key areas of relevance to this role such as charitable obligation, alleviation of poverty and suffering, climate justice, empowerment/education of women and girls.
• Fluency in or strong working knowledge of a relevant second language, especially Arabic or French

For more information, please click on the Documents tab above to view the full Job Description.

If you are talented, reliable, service-minded, resilient and a highly motivated professional looking for a meaningful career, with a strong commitment to IRW’s mission and values of sincerity, excellence, compassion, social justice and custodianship, please apply by completing our online application form.

For more information on the excellent company benefits we offer our employees, please visit: 

https://www.islamic-relief.org/work-with-us/what-we-offer/

PLEASE NOTE: Interviews are expected to take place on an ongoing basis until a suitable appointment is made. We therefore may close the advert sooner than the advertised date.

Pre-employment Checks:

Any employment with Islamic Relief will be subject to the following checks:

• screening clearance
• proof of eligibility to live and work within the UK
• receipt of satisfactory references
• This post is classed as Social Media Profile Level One (Senior Ambassador) under IRW’s Personal Social Media Policy. The postholder must disclose their social media accounts and must represent IRW in an acceptable way online, in accordance with the policy.

Please note, for UK-based roles, we are only able to accept applications from candidates who are eligible to work in the UK. We are unable to progress applications which would require sponsorship.

Our values and commitment to safeguarding

IRW is committed to preventing any type of unwanted behaviour at work including sexual harassment, exploitation and abuse, lack of integrity and financial misconduct; and committed to promoting the welfare of children, young people, adults and beneficiaries with whom IRW engages. IRW expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment through our code of conduct. We place a high priority on ensuring that only those who share and demonstrate our values are recruited to work for us.

The post holder will undertake the appropriate level of training and is responsible for ensuring that they understand and work within the safeguarding policies of the organisation.

All offers of employment will be subject to satisfactory references and appropriate screening checks, which can include criminal records checks. IRW also participates in the Inter Agency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme.

In line with this Scheme, we will request information from job applicants’ previous employers about any findings of sexual exploitation, sexual abuse and/or sexual harassment during employment, or incidents under investigation when the applicant left employment.

By submitting an application, the job applicant confirms his/her understanding of these recruitment procedures.

Islamic Relief is an equal opportunities employer