What we are looking for:
Are you passionate about shaping humanitarian policy and influencing decision-makers at the highest levels?
NRC is seeking an experienced Policy and Advocacy Senior Adviser to lead our policy engagement and advocacy efforts in Norway. In this strategic role, you will drive NRC's engagement with key Norwegian stakeholders, including Norad and the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, helping to influence policies and decisions that improve the lives of people affected by displacement.
Drawing on evidence from NRC's field operations, research, policy analysis, and thought leadership, you will ensure our insights inform public debate and shape humanitarian policy. You will also play a key role in advancing NRC's global advocacy priorities while supporting country-specific advocacy initiatives across our operations.
Beyond Norway, you will lead NRC's advocacy and policy engagement across the Nordic region, with a particular focus on Sweden, strengthening our influence and partnerships across the region.
What you will do:
Develop and implement NRC’s advocacy strategy towards Norwegian targets (and Swedish as relevant). Lead strategic planning, coordination and implementation of private and public advocacy initiatives. Coordinate and collaborate with peer organisations as relevant, including the 6H network. This includes drafting and disseminating high-quality advocacy products in both Norwegian and English: briefings, talking points, speeches, letters, reports, position papers, and other written materials for internal and external use as agreed.
- In coordination with relevant colleagues, support visits from field colleagues to Oslo and Stockholm to engage with donors and policy makers in support of NRC’s advocacy objectives.
- Monitor and analyse Norwegian humanitarian and development policy, as well as policy developments related to refugees and displacement, and inform and advise others in NRC on relevant developments and advocacy in Norway.
- Act a media spokesperson as needed and represent NRC in relevant policy and advocacy fora and meetings.
- Develop and nurture strong contacts and networks in Norway (and Sweden as relevant).
- Advise, inform, and support the development of global policies and/or country-specific advocacy strategies and recommendations in collaboration with the Policy and Advocacy Section, NRC Representation offices, Advocacy Advisers and Managers.
- Contribute to the creation and revision of advocacy tools, including templates, guidelines, policies, and procedures, and enable their use by relevant staff across the organization.
- Coordinate with relevant functions internally to ensure consistency, alignment and and coherence across NRC’s engagement.
- Provide surge capacity, gap filling and remote support for country offices on advocacy and policy matters, if and when required.
- Lead NRC’s advocacy and engagement in relation to the on-going Norwegian aid reform process Turning Point/Vendepunkt.
- Expand NRC’s advocacy and policy engagement in Sweden in coordination with relevant internal stakeholders, including the Institutional Partnership Expert Adviser for Swedish donors and NRC Sweden.
- Coordinate the development and implementation of the new Policy Advocacy plan in the framework of the new NRC Global strategy.
Please download the detailed job description to learn more about this position.
What you will bring:
- Master’s degree in a relevant topic such law, human rights, political science or other relevant area of studies.
- A minimum of five years of documented relevant experience within the humanitarian sector, including field experience.
- Proven ability to lead high-level advocacy processes, engaging government counterparts, donor agencies, and peer organisations to influence policy and funding decisions.
- Highly developed relationship management and influencing skills, including the ability to build trust and sustain dialogue with senior decision-makers.
- Demonstrated experience in developing sound and actionable policy recommendations tailored to different interlocutors. Ability to present arguments in a structured, compelling, and articulated manner.
- Previous experience in drafting speeches, talking points, and position papers.
- Proven research and analytical skills.
- Excellent written and oral communication skills in English and Norwegian.
- Documented knowledge about Norwegian politics, foreign aid and refugee policy. Knowledge about relevant areas of Nordic and European policy is an asset.
- Strong understanding of and network within the Norwegian foreign aid and policy community.
- Knowledge of Swedish humanitarian and development policy frameworks, and ability to navigate and influence engagement with Sida, Swedish MFA, and relevant stakeholders.
- Experience working across internal functions and geographies, with the ability to coordinate complex stakeholder inputs and align organisational messaging across teams (e.g. partnerships, programmes, advocacy).
- Knowledge of, or fluency in other languages relevant for the position is an asset, especially French, Spanish and/or Arabic.
What we offer:
- Duty station: Oslo, Norway.
- Contract: Permanent.
- Travel: Up to 30%
- Salary/benefits: Grade 9 on NRC’s Resident salary scale, with accompanying terms and conditions.
- NRC is an equal opportunities employer. We are committed to diversity without distinction to age, gender, religion, ethnicity, nationality, and physical ability.
- We think outside the box, encourage ideas, and give responsibility to all employees at all levels. You will have many opportunities to be heard and take the initiative.
Find out more about the benefits of working for NRC
Important information about the application process
- For Internal candidates: To apply as an internal candidate, log in with your official email or click on Opportunity Market Place.
- When creating your profile, include your full name as given on your passport. Complete all the system-required fields for experience, employment history and education.
- Submit your application and CV in English, taking care to attach your latest CV.
- Applications that do not meet the minimum standards in terms of experience or qualifications will generally not be considered. Unsolicited applications not related to this specific job advertisement will not be considered.
- We receive many applications for each vacant position and so only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.
If you have any questions about this role, please email ho.recruitment@nrc.no with the job title as the subject line.
Why NRC?
The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) is an independent humanitarian organisation helping people forced to flee. Our 15,000 staff work in crises across 40 countries, providing life-saving and long-term assistance to millions of people every year.
Watch this short video to see NRC in action.
We are looking for people who are passionate about helping refugees and people forced to flee. Are you one of those people? If you are, NRC offers you the opportunity to:
- do demanding and professional work, often in challenging contexts.
- join a work culture that empowers every employee to share ideas and take responsibility.
- be part of a welcoming and supportive community committed to human dignity.
Organization context
The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) is a global humanitarian organisation helping people forced to flee.
Join us in assisting millions of people in areas where others cannot, tackling some of the world's most dangerous and difficult crises. Bring your skills and dedication to an organisation recognised for providing high quality aid and for defending the rights of refugees and internally displaced people.
At NRC, we give responsibility to employees at all levels and foster professional growth and innovative teams. You can expect a supportive culture and an open dialogue with management. We are committed to diversity, equity and inclusion.
Together, we save lives and rebuild futures.
Safeguarding is central to NRC’s work. We expect all employees to:
• treat everyone with respect and dignity
• contribute to building a safe environment for all
• never engage in any form of exploitation, harassment and specifically sexual exploitation, abuse and sexual harassment (SEAH)
• always report. NRC has a zero-tolerance approach to inaction against exploitation, abuse and SEAH
