JOB DESCRIPTION
JOB TITLE: Advocacy Strategy & Government Engagements Manager
REPORTING TO: Head of Policy and Government Engagements
DEPARTMENT: Advocacy
CLASSIFICATION LEVEL: Manager
LOCATION: Lusaka, Zambia
ABOUT HEALTHY LEARNERS
Healthy Learners is an award-winning non-profit organisation working to improve the health and learning of children across Zambia—and soon, beyond. In partnership with the Government of Zambia, we bring healthcare directly into schools so that children stay healthy, stay in class, and reach their full potential. Our model is government-owned and government-led, fully embedded in national priorities, systems, and structures.
Today, we have 1,062 health rooms, trained 8,370 School Health Teachers, and operate in 𝟰𝟱 districts across all ten provinces, reaching more than 1.4 million learners through Zambia’s first integrated School Health Program. Our approach combines school-based service delivery with technical assistance to government at every level—strengthening planning, supervision, data use, and local capacity to deliver.
As we complete our national scale-up, we’re focused on deepening programme quality, strengthening delivery systems, and laying the foundation for long-term government leadership. We’re looking for a dynamic operational leader to help drive this next chapter—someone ready to manage complexity at scale and help a proven model achieve lasting impact.
Healthy Learners is the proud recipient of the Skoll Award for Social Innovation, the Duke F.M. Kirby Prize, and the Lipman Family Prize from the University of Pennsylvania. These awards reflect not just our success to date, but the strength of the opportunity ahead. If this mission resonates with you, we’d love to hear from you.
ABOUT YOU
You exemplify the qualities of being Humble, Hungry, and Smart in your leadership:
- Humble (Continuous Learning & Inclusion): You actively seek, encourage, and facilitate feedback sharing, fostering an environment of continuous learning. You adapt and grow continuously, cultivating a culture of inclusion and belonging.
- Hungry (Efficiency, Excellence, and Innovation): Your relentless drive for efficiency and excellence is evident in your approach to both everyday tasks and complex challenges. When obstacles arise, you don't merely seek answers; you develop solutions and establish structures to address future obstacles proactively. Your hunger for innovation permeates the organisation, where you eagerly explore new and best practices, ensuring our people's operations remain modern and highly effective.
- Smart (Emotional Intelligence & Psychological Safety): Your exceptional emotional intelligence is your superpower, allowing you to create psychological safety within the organization. Through your ability to build trust, encourage risk-taking, and nurture courageous conversations, you promote an environment where individuals can thrive and collaborate effectively.
POSITION OVERVIEW
Healthy Learners (HL) is built on a solid foundation of advocacy engagements and sustainability built on alignment with our government partners. We are proud of our highly capable team and robust culture. As we navigate an exciting period of growth, we are looking for an experienced and passionate Advocacy Strategy and Government Engagement Manager to support in the implementation of our advocacy strategy.
The successful candidate will work closely with other Advocacy Managers as well as the other HL teams to achieve HL advocacy outcomes with the support of the Head of Policy & Government Engagements.
The Advocacy Strategy and Government Engagement Manager will assist the Head of Policy and Government Engagement in aligning internal and external Program innovations, providing internal advisory on approaches to external facing activities/interventions that impact government and, managing or preventing relationship and partnership crisis. The job-holder will work closely with all internal HL departments and the Advocacy team, as well as other teams in charge of innovations, to identify, plan, and implement the relevant innovation oriented and advocacy centric actions needed to support our school health model roll-out with continuous innovations and government alignment at all levels.
S/he will help support our engagement plans, cross-departmental liaison, relationship management, and support policy and advocacy strategy development. The candidate should be excited to join a fast-paced, rapidly growing, and mission-driven organisation. This role has minimal to no interaction with children as per our child safeguarding policy.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
Government Relationship management and Stakeholder management
- Support the Head of Policy and Government Engagements in planning and execution of Government meetings and strategic site visits.
- Support relevant policy development processes, reviews and implementation in liaison with the various government partners, sector technical institutions and other relevant thought leadership organisations.
- Support the Head policy and government engagement in managing relationships with government line ministries.
- Assist with stakeholder engagement activities to strengthen alignment between organizational priorities and government agendas.
- Support the preparation of stakeholder briefs, meeting materials, and follow-up actions for high-level government engagements as directed by the Head of Policy and government engagement.
Enhance technical capacity of both internal and external stakeholders in advocacy;
- Conduct organizational audits to proactively identify, strengthen and resolve alignment gaps between organizational goals and national development priorities .
- Manage cross-departmental collaboration on government engagement needs and maintain updated cross-departmental plans affecting advocacy work with other managers.
- Follow up on advocacy action plans to ensure timely and efficient implementation.
- Support the preparation of policy briefs, position papers, memos, presentations, and other advocacy materials for senior leadership and government stakeholders.
- Monitor political, legislative, and regulatory developments and provide timely updates, risk insights, and background analysis to the Head of Policy and Government engagement.
Build partnerships, networks and collaborations for effective joint advocacy engagements:
- Map-out education sector-aligned partnerships, technical institutions, and collaborations at Ministerial and quasi-government level.
- Assist the Programs, innovations and content development teams to manage government relations on program innovations, impact monitoring and alignment.
- Support the Head policy and government engagement in convening and coordinating high-level meetings, workshops, roundtables, and multi-stakeholder forums.
- Support in maintaining relationships with government actors, civil society organizations, development partners, and private sector stakeholders.
- Contribute technical inputs, policy analysis, and coordination support for government-led reform initiatives and collaborative programs.
- Support the Head policy and government engagement to facilitate communication, follow-up actions, and stakeholder coordination across advocacy and government engagement activities.
Others Responsibilities:
- Support with monitoring and review of policy advocacy to document promising practices, draw lessons, and impact assessment.
- Support innovations, content development, M&E and program teams in updating and integrating program improvements into government plans.
- Architect proactive risk-mitigation frameworks and lead crisis intervention strategy to preserve institutional partnerships .
- Facilitate regular internal reviews and reflections on advocacy with peer leaders, as well as mid-term reviews and impact assessments.
- Support the preparation of activity budget for all planned and opportunistic advocacy activities, assisting in providing subsequent variance reconciliation
SKILLS & QUALIFICATIONS
- Experience and or, training in policy, and advocacy engagements.
- Good knowledge of the health field, including working with media, government partners, academic/research contacts, other NGOs, school and community leaders.
- Good presentation and persuasion skills.
- Strong persuasive writing skills with the ability to write a variety of documents and communications for different audiences.
- A strong understanding of the education and health sector, community and school health services.
- Experience in and commitment to establishing or maintaining collaborative approaches and in consulting effectively with people from diverse backgrounds and organisations.
- Excellent verbal and interpersonal skills with ability to advocate and negotiate with people in various positions and organisational settings.
- Capacity to work both independently and constructively as part of a team to meet shared objectives.
- Excellent time management and organisational skills with the ability to multitask, work under pressure and meet strict deadlines.
- A qualification in social sciences, mass communication, humanities, community development or related field, or relevant experience in the health or education sector.
- At least 5 years’ demonstrated experience developing and implementing public sector/government and NGO advocacy, including detailed understanding of Ministerial-level and national/ provincial/ district/ community-level decision-making and operational structures.
- Proven experience in a technical role in advocacy in education and health fields, implementation and analysis techniques for education and health programs are essential.
- Ability to effectively work in teams and embrace participatory approaches; Capacity to work in a fast-paced work environment on multiple tasks; Takes pride in the quality and integrity of s/he work;
- Demonstrable results oriented, flexible and problem-solving skills.
- Knowledge and ability to use appropriate software packages is a MUST for this position.
- Excellent project management skills, with a capacity to be detail-oriented when circumstances require.
- The candidate, will also be expected to embrace and role model the core values of Healthy Learners: Humble, Hungry and Emotional Intelligence
WHAT WE OFFER
- Opportunity for Impact: Play a pivotal role in implementing a program that improves health outcomes for millions of schoolchildren, shaping the future of communities across Africa.
- Competitive Compensation: Receive a competitive salary and benefits package that reflects your expertise and commitment.
- Professional Growth: Access ongoing training, leadership opportunities, and engage in innovative projects that challenge and inspire you.
- Supportive Culture: Join a passionate, dedicated team that values collaboration and mutual support, fostering an environment where all contributions are recognized.
- Networking Opportunities: Collaborate with international organizations and enhance your network and influence in the public health sector.
