Embassy of Ireland
Our mission is to promote and protect abroad the values, interests and economic well-being of Ireland and its people. We do this under the political direction of our Ministers, through our staff at home and through our Embassy network abroad.
The Embassy of Ireland, Lilongwe is seeking a highly motivated, enthusiastic and hardworking person with excellent communication and interpersonal skills to fill a full-time Governance Advisor position on an initial two-year contract.
Roles and Responsibilities
The primary responsibility of this post will be to contribute to improved governance in Malawi in order to enhance development outcomes, particularly for the more vulnerable communities.
The Governance Advisor will provide technical advice and leadership for a range of the Embassy’s governance initiatives and will provide the Embassy team with robust political and institutional analysis to support Ireland’s country strategy, programmes and practices in Malawi.
The precise range of duties will vary over time according to the needs of the Embassy, but will include the following:
- Ensure that Ireland’s country strategy and programmes are guided by appropriate advice and informed by relevant analysis with respect to the evolving governance and political economy context for development assistance in Malawi;
- Lead on ensuring the Embassy’s understanding of political and institutional trends and developments in Malawi are appropriately integrated into our overall programming and diplomatic interventions. The advisor will be responsible for updating, through cross-mission consultations and engaging with relevant external stakeholders, a robust and clear narrative of political and governance related trends and events in Malawi and the region;
- Guided by Ireland’s current country strategy for Malawi, support the design, appraisal and development of programmes to address specific governance challenges;
- Provide leadership and management oversight for a portfolio of programme partnerships (including multi-donor funding agreements) for the effective delivery of planned development outcomes;
- Promote effective networks and partnership dialogue engagement with the Government of Malawi, Development Partners, Civil Society, Policy and Research institutions to achieve better collaboration for greater results;
- Participate as needed in all relevant internal and external meetings and events including coordination sessions, technical discussions and partnership meetings; and
- Other duties as required from time to time and directed by the Development Specialist as necessary.
Essential Requirements – candidates must be able to demonstrate
- Candidates must have a degree in a relevant discipline.
- Candidates must have a minimum of 4 years professional experience with at least 2 years’ experience working as a Governance Advisor in an International Development Organisation;
- Candidates must demonstrate experience in the design, development and planning of governance programmes and expert knowledge on the workings of Government structures and Civil Society Organisations in Malawi;
- Candidates must clearly demonstrate experience and proficiency in policy analysis and in the management and synthesis of varied quantitative and qualitative data.
- Candidates must demonstrate experience in influencing policies at senior levels including working with bilateral and multilateral donors;
- Candidates must clearly demonstrate an understanding and familiarity with a range of approaches and tools for development programmes, such as, Political Economy Analysis, Theory of Change, Managing for Development Results;
- The candidate must provide evidence of flexibility, efficiency and effectiveness showing strong organisational skills, attention to detail, able to work under pressure and to manage multiple tasks;
- The candidate should provide examples of being solutions-oriented, and committed to delivering results, including by adapting approach if necessary;
- The candidate must demonstrate using work based examples of providing excellentinterpersonal skills,being persuasive, working in a team but also dealing effectively with people in external organisations;
- The candidate must have a working knowledge of Microsoft Office Suite (Outlook, Word, Excel);
- The candidate must be fully bilingual in English and Chichewa; (a language test may be included as part of the shortlisting process);
- The successful candidate must have a legal entitlement to live and work in Malawi prior to recruitment.
Desirable Skills and Experience
- A good understanding of the role of the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Embassy;
- The successful applicant will work alongside other local employees of the Embassy, and will report directly to the diplomatic staff in the Mission. Previous experience in a diplomatic mission is desirable, but not essential;
- Effectively building up and maintaining a network of contacts, counterparts and colleagues.
Terms and conditions of employment - The successful candidates will be hired on a fixed-term contractual basis and will be based at Embassy Lilongwe;
- Monday to Friday, 35 hours per week, with standard office hours from 07:30 am to 4:30 pm
- Annual Leave entitlement 24 days per annum;
- The salary for the position is set according to a scale, paid locally, on a monthly basis. Salaries are paid direct to a bank account, therefore, the successful candidate must have a bank account.
Method of Application
The Job Description and Application Form for this position are available on our website www.dfa.ie/Malawi
Completed application forms should be sent via e-mail only to LilongweEMjobs@dfa.ie with the subject line Governance Advisor
Applications must be received by 12:30pm (CAT) on Friday 9 September 2022
No applications will be accepted after this deadline
Selection Process:
- Depending on the number of applications received, a short-listing of candidates to be called for a competency-based interview may be undertaken based on the requirements above.
- It is planned that interviews will be held in September or October 2022.
- A skills test may be included in the recruitment process;
- A second interview may be included in the recruitment process; and
- A panel may be set up depending on the calibre of candidates.
General Data Protection Regulation:
All personal information received will be kept in line with GDPR guidelines. Security Clearance for Local Staff Police security clearance will be sought in respect of individuals who come under consideration for appointment.
Enquiries may also be made with the police force of any country in which the applicant under consideration for appointment resided. If unsuccessful, this information will be destroyed. If the applicant subsequently comes under consideration for another position, they will be required to supply this information again.
Please note that canvassing will disqualify applicants.
The Embassy of Ireland is committed to a policy of Equal Opportunity.