Policy officer – Inclusive Education at Sightsavers Tanzania

We are looking for an experienced international development, policy or education professional to help influence the development of inclusive education and international development policy.

We believe quality, inclusive education is a human right and should be available to all children, irrespective of gender, disability, learning requirements, socio-economic background, geographical location, ethnicity and any other distinguishing characteristics.

As Policy Officer- Inclusive Education, you will Conduct Sightsavers' policy analysis and work with the Senior Policy Adviser on global influencing on education, with a particular focus on the inclusion of people with disabilities in line with Sightsavers thematic strategies. You will support engagement with key external stakeholders and influence the development of inclusive education and international development policy.

You will support Sightsavers work to ensure children with disabilities can access equitable and inclusive, quality education by:

• Conducting high quality policy analysis and generating evidence to support Sightsavers' policy objectives in education
• Contributing to the delivery of Sightsavers' education policy objectives, including through engagement with relevant national and international policies and processes
• Engaging with different networks and representing Sightsavers at relevant external forums to disseminate evidenced based analysis that influence target audiences

Whilst prior experience of education policy is not essential for this role, an understanding or background in International Development and an awareness of inclusion for marginalised groups is needed, as well as the ability to represent Sightsavers to external bodies.

This is an ideal opportunity to utilise your knowledge of education, international development, advocacy and / or policy to influence education and international development policy and champion every child's right to an inclusive and quality education.

There may be some travel required for this role but there is flexibility around this.

Requirements

To succeed in this role you will have:

Essential

• Experience of conducting policy analysis
• Working experience or educational understanding and awareness of the international development sector, including issues relating to education, inclusion and human rights
• Experience of supporting policy and influencing work at national or international levels
• Understanding of issues relating to education, inclusion, human rights, or social development
• Ability to represent the organisation to external bodies
• Strong analytical skills and ability to think strategically
• Effective English language communication skills, both written and verbal
• Ability to deal with complex ideas and concepts
• Relationship building skills with internal and external stakeholders

Desirable

• Experience of conducting education policy analysis would be highly beneficial.
• Awareness of the challenges faced by learners with disabilities

This is a varied role, please read the full job description for further details.

Benefits

Sightsavers offers some fantastic benefits. Our comprehensive benefits package includes generous annual leave allowance, pension, season ticket loan, cycle to work scheme, discounted gym memberships and wellness discounts. If you choose to work in or are visiting our collaborative, modern office space, you will find it an easy 20-minute train journey from Brighton or 45 minutes from London.

To apply for this exciting opportunity, please complete an application via our recruitment portal. We are particularly interested in learning of your motivations for applying. Please note that there will be an expectation that you can visit our modern and collaborative offices in Haywards Heath, West Sussex (RH16 3BW) at least once per month.

We anticipate that the evaluation process will include a two-stage verbal interview and a written task

As an equal opportunity employer, we actively encourage applications from all sections of the community. Sightsavers is a Disability Confident Leader and qualified people with a disability are particularly encouraged to apply.

Sightsavers is an employer that does not tolerate any form of harassment and has zero tolerance for sexual exploitation and abuse. All potential candidates will be subjected to rigorous background checks and controls.

In line with its commitment to safe programming and recruitment, Sightsavers participates in the inter-agency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme (MDS) administered by the Steering Committee for Humanitarian Response. Through collaboration with other MDS members, Sightsavers aims to ensure that there are no sexual exploitation, abuse or harassment issues relating to potential new hires and that we can respond systematically to checks from fellow MDS members. This ensures our work is accountable, delivered to a high standard and supports safeguarding across the development and humanitarian fields.

Desired Skills and Experience

International development, Charities, Non profit organisations, Neglected Tropical Diseases, Project Management, Program Coordination, Intercultural Communication, Reporting & Analysis, Project planning, Fostering inclusivity, Process Implementation