Knowledge Engagement and Research Communications Advisor

About Us

Christian Aid exists to create a world where everyone can live a full life, free from poverty. We are a global movement of people, churches and local organisations who passionately champion dignity, equality and justice worldwide. We are the changemakers, the peacemakers, the mighty of heart.

In 2016 we set up a Centre for Excellence in Research, Evidence and Learning (REL). Following a recent organisational restructure, the REL hub now sits in the Programme Policy, Research and Learning team (PPRL), one of three teams that make up Christian Aid’s Policy, Public Affairs and Campaign Department. PPRL exists to generate and provide thought leadership to the organisation; offer research and sector-based expertise to support practice across our global programmes, and to enhance the links between national programme delivery and learning; and global policy analysis and understanding.

REL exists to enable and strengthen the generation and use of research, evidence and learning in Christian Aid that is informed and led by those living in poverty. It also works to centralise their voices in our programmes, policies and practices, and in the development sector to bring about social, systemic and individual transformation for people living in poverty. It seeks to achieve this by:

• Opening up spaces for research, evidencing and learning collaborations in the global South
• Producing, promoting and supporting high-quality ethical research and evidencing gathering on poverty that is aligned with Christian Aid’s strategy ‘Standing Together’)
• Guiding processes of evidence use and learning in Christian Aid
• Strengthening technical knowledge of research, evidence, impact and engagement
• Evidence-based influencing and learning from wider debates in the northern and southern academic and development sector around how we understand and conceptualise poverty and development.

About the role

The aim of the role is to increase the uptake and impact of our research, evidencing and learning. It will advise staff across the organisation as they plan and scope their research, ensuring that they consider research communication and uptake. This could include staff in country offices, or our thematic advisors and public policy staff working across a range of themes: climate justice, economic justice, health, markets and livelihoods, and gender.

To achieve this, the post-holder provides strategic and hands-on support to Christian Aid staff to strengthen their capacities in planning and implementing meaningful communication and engagement for their research, programmatic evidence, and learning. The role encompasses four key areas of work:

1. Providing thought leadership, strategic advice and strengthening capacity around approaches to research communications, participatory communications (in the context of sharing research) and developing evidence of impact, including supporting the integration of research and participatory communications within research and project design and planning processes.
2. Building the profile of Christian Aid, both internally and externally, as an organisation that values evidence, and which carries out practitioner-led research, in order to improve the use of research-based evidence and good practice within the wider international development sector and to influence the agenda around the importance of working with southern partners to shape the research agenda.
3. Working to put Christian Aid’s approach to participatory communications, research communications and evidence uptake at the forefront of innovative and emerging good practice in the sector.
4. Planning and producing strong research communications materials which profile the research of the Research, evidence and learning hub, and also of the wider PPRL team. This includes managing the Christian Aid research social media presence, including Twitter and our pages on the Christian Aid website, and extending the network of external stakeholders interested in our work.

About you

You will enjoy working in a practice setting and the balance between longer term strategy development, and direct operations. You’ll have excellent written and analytical skills, with the ability to cut through complex information and spot what really matters. You’ll be an expert at summarising information, and bringing together multiple information sources in clear and meaningful ways. You’ll have strong copywriting skills and understanding of how to shape content for different audiences. You will have good experience in repackaging research content in different and engaging ways; and you will enjoy working in an international and diverse environment.

You will be confident in digital communications and understand the difference between communications for internal and external audiences. You will be able to produce your own research communications, but also support others in developing their own outputs, building the confidence of your colleagues to better communicate their evidence. You will have excellent project management skills with an ability to work in a systematic and organised manner. You will be good at managing your own workload and competing priorities.

Equally important will be your interpersonal skills, your ability to build strong relationships and work across different departments, appreciating a diversity of cultures, workstyles and perspectives. You will also have a deep commitment to strengthening the quality of evidence and impact in an INGO and you will understand the role of culture and context in research, evidence and learning and be aligned with REL’s commitment to epistemic justice.

How to apply

Please apply via: Christian Aid – Careers – Knowledge Engagement and Research Communications Advisor (3846)