Senior Government Relations Officer- (Re-Advertisement)

[Baghdad,Iraq ]

NCCI Background:

The NGO Coordination Committee for Iraq (NCCI) is a NGO coordination platform of over 190 international and national NGOs. Established in 2003, NCCI’s mission, structure and objectives continuously evolved to adapt to the changing circumstances and support needs for civil society in Iraq. Primary functions include coordination and information sharing, advocacy support services and capacity building for NGOs.

 

Objective:

The Senior Government Relations Officer, member of the Government Engagement Unit, leads parts of the government relations work under the supervision of the line manager and facilitates information exchange with authorities in Baghdad, in particular DNGO, in support of NGO operations and contributes to provision of advisory services to NGO partners. The Senior Government Relations Officer serves as a direct contact – under supervision of the line manager – to relevant government bodies with regards to legal, regulatory and operational requirements for NGO operations. He/She is also responsible for ensuring that NCCI is in good standing with these governmental bodies from a legal and administrative point of view, including overseeing reporting to GoI etc. He/She also leads the training and capacity building activities related to these administrations. This is closely coordinated with the Executive Director, Deputy Director and the Finance department.    

      

Government relationship management (50%) 

• Develop and maintain constructive and strategic working relationships with relevant state institutions and officials in GoI;
• Lead the engagement with the government and other key stakeholders regarding the development of laws and regulations that affect the work of NGOs in Iraq (through, for example, tracking how issues are affecting NGOs, developing appropriate briefing papers, and attending relevant meetings);
• Contribute to maintaining the NCCI knowledge base for legal and regulatory guidance, lessons learned, updates and notes for NGOs by keeping up to date with, and documenting, all laws, regulations and procedures; liaising with government counterparts to get clarification;
• Produce communications material to articulate issues and provide advice and guidance to member and observer organizations with respect to legal and regulatory requirements for NGO operations in federal Iraq;
• Provide technical support to authorities regarding development of policies and procedures relevant to NGO operations, as required;
• Act as designated focal point with GoI for issues related to visas, taxes, registration, residency and all other NCCI related issues as required;
• Contribute to internal updates and financial and operational reports; contact list.

 

Advisory (30%)

• Contribute to establishment and maintenance of up-to-date contacts and regulatory databases for utilization by NGO members of NCCI in Arabic and English;
• Support provision of advice and guidance to member and observer organizations with respect to legal and regulatory requirements for NGO operations under Government of Iraq;
• Contribute to ensuring that lessons learned and proposed corrective actions, adaptations and innovations regarding NGO operational environment are documented for the purposes of knowledge preservation;
• Communicate and exchange information directly with the related organizations;
• Organize regular meetings with the organizations together with the Senior Government Relations Coordinator for KRI;

 

Support to NCCI teams & flexibility for additional responsibilities (20%)

• Contribute to all internal updates and necessary operational reports;
• Perform any other tasks that as assigned by line manager;
• The post could require travel to other parts of the country and NCCI offices;

Required skills relevant to the job

• Good knowledge and understanding of government settings/functions and specifically the Government of Iraq;
• Academic degree in law, political science, philosophy or similar is preferred;
• Minimum two years’ experience in a similar role or working with the government highly preferred;
• Good written and spoken English and excellent spoken and written Arabic required;
• Proven skills in networking required;
• Good communication and negotiation skills required; diplomatic approach preferred;
• Working knowledge of word and excel software required;
• Previous experience with NGOs and/or government highly preferred.

 

Required Competencies

Core:

• Integrity
• Professionalism
• Respect for Diversity

Person specific:

• Communications – Good communication and negotiation skills required; diplomatic approach preferred;
• Teamwork – Ability to work collaboratively with colleagues to achieve organizational goals;
• Planning and organization – Adept at identifying priority activities and adjusting priorities as required; allocating appropriate amount of time and resources for completing work;
• Client orientation and Networking – Proven skills in networking and ability to establish and maintain productive partnerships with stakeholders by gaining their trust and respect;
• Technological awareness – Keen to keep up to date on all available technologies and apply appropriate technology to tasks;
• Contextual familiarity
• Sympathy with the aims and objectives of NCCI;
• Commitment to humanitarian principles and actions.

• Qualified Candidates should submit their CVs (PDF or Word) in English attached electronically to [email protected] with Senior Government Relations Officer in the subject line of the email.
• BLANK or OTHER subject lines leads automatically to disqualification for shortlisting.
• Application will be open until 6 December 2021 – 6:00 PM
• No application will be considered after the above deadline
• Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.