Job Title:
Advocacy & Campaigns Officer and Just Peace Coalition Coordinator
Contract:
Full-time, 36.5 hours per week, 2-year fixed term
Cluster/Team:
Programmes, Partnerships & Advocacy
Location:
High Wycombe / Hybrid (minimum one day a month in the office, plus extra as required)
Willingness to undertake overseas travel as necessary, likely up to two times per annum.
Salary:
£30,000 to £34,000 per annum, depending on relevant skills and experience.
Reports To:
Advocacy & Campaigns Manager
Direct Reports:
None
About Us:
Since 1854, Embrace has been serving some of the most marginalised and excluded communities (of all faiths and none) in the Middle East. We support, enable and partner with Christians in the Middle East as they work to transform lives and restore dignity through education, healthcare and community development programmes. Without our staff, this important work simply would not be possible.
We are looking for an Advocacy & Campaigns Officer and Just Peace Coalition Coordinator to help deliver effective advocacy and campaigning, amplify the voices of Christian partners in the Middle East, and mobilise churches, supporters and decision-makers to create positive change.
Role Overview:
Working within the Programmes, Partnerships & Advocacy team and reporting to the Advocacy & Campaigns Manager, you will support research, campaign delivery, communications, church engagement and stakeholder relationships. Around three days per week will support Embrace advocacy and church engagement, with two days coordinating the Just Peace Coalition and its Time to Act campaign. You will be organised, collaborative and able to communicate complex issues clearly and sensitively.
Cluster Purpose:
The Programmes, Partnerships & Advocacy team works with partners, churches, supporters and decision-makers to promote justice, dignity and inclusion for communities in the Middle East. The team supports Embrace’s Christian mission by connecting programme insight, advocacy, church engagement and supporter action.
Role Purpose:
To support the development and delivery of Embrace the Middle East’s advocacy and campaigning activities, helping to elevate the voices of Christian partners across the Middle East and engage supporters, churches and decision-makers in creating positive change. The postholder will provide project, research, policy, communications and stakeholder engagement support to ensure advocacy initiatives are delivered effectively and contribute to Embrace’s vision of justice, dignity and inclusion.
The role is expected to include approximately three days per week supporting Embrace advocacy and church engagement, and approximately two days per week coordinating the Just Peace Coalition and Time to Act campaign. The balance may vary by agreement with the line manager in line with organisational and campaign priorities.
The Just Peace Coalition
The Just Peace Coalition seeks to mobilise churches, Christian leaders and wider partners across the UK to advocate for a just and lasting peace in Israel and Palestine. Rooted in Christian theology and informed by Palestinian Christian voices, the Coalition brings together churches, organisations and individuals committed to promoting peace, justice and reconciliation through prayer, education, public witness and advocacy.
Time to Act: For a Just Peace for All Who Call the Holy Land Home is the coalition’s flagship campaign. It was launched in June 2026 and is in the early stages of implementation.
What success looks like:
- Advocacy campaigns and supporter actions are planned, coordinated and delivered on time, with clear ownership and follow-up.
- Research, briefings, reports and supporter-facing materials are accurate, accessible and aligned with Embrace’s tone and values.
- Church engagement activity is supported through accurate records, useful relationship mapping and timely follow-up.
- Just Peace Coalition activity is coordinated effectively, with clear action logs, meeting support, partner communication and proportionate monitoring.
- Learning, participation data and outcomes across all Embrace-related and JPC activities are recorded clearly to support reporting, accountability and future planning.
Key Responsibilities:
Campaign delivery and supporter engagement:
- Assist in coordinating advocacy campaigns and activities, ensuring actions are delivered on time and within agreed budgets.
- Support campaign planning, timelines, risk registers and project administration.
- Coordinate supporter engagement actions, including petitions, letter-writing campaigns, parliamentary engagement and church-based activities.
- Help organise campaign events, webinars, meetings and public engagement opportunities.
Research and policy support:
- Conduct research on political, legal, humanitarian, development and church-related issues affecting the Middle East.
- Monitor developments in UK government, Parliament and relevant international institutions.
- Translate complex information into clear, practical briefings, summaries and background papers for internal and external audiences.
- Support the development of theological and biblical resources that underpin advocacy messages.
Communications and stakeholder engagement:
- Work closely with the Communications team to develop campaign content for digital channels, email communications and printed materials.
- Assist in drafting supporter updates, blogs, action alerts and campaign toolkits.
- Respond to supporter enquiries relating to advocacy campaigns.
- Support visits from partners and assist with event logistics when required.
- Help map and maintain relationships with churches, Christian networks, coalition members, advocacy partners and decision-makers.
Strategic Church Advocacy and Engagement support:
- Maintain accurate records of church leaders, denominational contacts, influencers and partner organisations within Beacon.
- Produce contact lists and relationship maps to support strategic church engagement.
- Conduct research on church structures, denominations, networks, theological trends and key church influencers relevant to Embrace’s work and mission.
- Support church engagement events, consultations, partner visits, presentations and reports for church audiences.
Just Peace Coalition coordination:
- Coordinate agreed JPC workplans, timelines, meetings and action logs.
- Support the Coalition Steering Group in delivering church engagement activities linked to the Time to Act campaign.
- Help coordinate the campaign’s presence at relevant church gatherings, denominational conferences, festivals and leadership events.
- Support the Listen, Learn, Live, Act programme and help produce high-quality campaign resources and toolkits.
- Assist with piloting the Just Peace Forums, including planning, coordination, volunteer support, monitoring and learning.
Monitoring, reporting and learning:
- Collect data on campaign activities and supporter engagement.
- Support reporting against campaign objectives and impact indicators.
- Maintain accurate records and contribute to organisational learning.
- Support evaluation of JPC activities to help its ongoing development.
Organisation-wide Contribution:
- Model Embrace’s values of excellence, trust, respect, integrity and compassion.
- Comply with safeguarding, GDPR and other organisational policies.
- Act in a way that supports Embrace’s Christian ethos and commitment to justice, dignity and inclusion.
- Handle sensitive information, stakeholder relationships and external communications with care, accuracy and discretion.
- Contribute positively to the wider work of the organisation and undertake training and development as required.
KPIs you will own:
- Campaign plans, timelines, risks and action logs are maintained and reviewed regularly with the line manager.
- Supporter actions, church engagement activities, webinars, meetings and events are coordinated within agreed timescales.
- Briefings, research summaries, campaign resources and supporter communications are produced accurately and to agreed deadlines.
- Beacon records, church contact data and engagement follow-up are kept accurate, timely and GDPR compliant.
- JPC meetings, workplans, decisions, action logs and campaign monitoring information are coordinated and documented clearly.
- Monitoring data, participation levels, outcomes and learning are collected and summarised to support reporting and future planning.
3/6/12-month milestones:
3 Months
• Complete induction and understand Embrace’s advocacy strategy, church engagement priorities, and internal systems and policies..
• Build working relationships with the Advocacy & Campaigns Manager, Strategic Church Advocacy & Engagement Advisor, Communications team.
• Be working well with the JPC Steering Group, carrying out initial plans
• Maintain initial campaign action logs, meeting notes and campaign records.
• Begin producing research summaries, briefings and supporter-facing materials with line manager review.
6 Months
• Coordinate agreed advocacy and supporter actions with reduced supervision.
• Support delivery of campaign events, webinars, church engagement activity and JPC meetings and events.
• Maintain Beacon records, relationship maps and follow-up actions accurately.
• Provide clear monitoring updates on participation, engagement and campaign progress.
9 Months
• Demonstrate confident coordination of agreed Embrace advocacy and JPC workplans.
• Contribute to campaign learning, evaluation summaries and recommendations for future activity.
• Produce reliable briefings, resources and reports for internal and external audiences.
• Effective building of advocacy, church and coalition relationships.
Person specification
Essential Qualifications, Experience & Knowledge:
- Educated to degree level, or able to demonstrate equivalent relevant experience in advocacy, campaigns, public policy, international relations, human rights, theology, church engagement or a related field.
- Experience supporting advocacy, campaigning, public affairs, church engagement, community engagement or movement-building activity.
- Experience undertaking research, summarising complex information and producing clear briefings, reports or supporter-facing materials.
- Understanding of the UK church landscape, including churches, denominations, Christian networks and the sensitivities of church engagement.
- Understanding of, or demonstrable ability to develop quickly, issues relating to Israel and Palestine and the wider Middle East.
- Commitment to the mission, values and Christian ethos of Embrace the Middle East
Skills & Competencies:
- Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to write clearly for different audiences.
- Good project coordination skills, including planning, tracking actions, managing competing priorities and supporting monitoring/evaluation.
- Good interpersonal and relationship-building skills, including the ability to work collaboratively with colleagues, partners and external stakeholders.
- Good attention to detail and ability to maintain accurate records, including contact records and action logs.
- Ability to handle sensitive issues and external communications with care, accuracy and discretion.
- Experience of budgeting, financial management and monitoring.
Desirable Skills & Experience:
- Experience working within a faith-based organisation or with churches/church networks.
- Experience of parliamentary engagement, political advocacy or public affairs.
- Experience of supporter mobilisation, grassroots campaigning or local organising.
- Experience of supporting coalitions, steering groups, networks or partnership governance.
- Knowledge of Middle East issues, cultures or contexts, including first-hand knowledge of development issues in at least one Embrace target country.
- Theological education or experience of developing theological/biblical resources for church audiences.
- Basic understanding of media engagement, familiarity with Arabic language or Middle Eastern cultures, or project management training.
Personal qualities:
- Values-led – aligns with Embrace’s mission and demonstrates integrity and respect.
- Passionate about justice, dignity and inclusion.
- Curious, proactive and eager to learn.
- Adaptable and comfortable working with complexity.
- Collaborative, self-motivated and organised.
- Able to work calmly and sensitively with complex, contested or politically sensitive issues.
Tools & systems:
- Beacon CRM / relationship records
- Microsoft 365, including Word, Outlook, Teams, Excel and SharePoint
Staff benefits at Embrace the Middle East:
• To support every member of staff to work as effectively as possible, Embrace offers remote and flexible working arrangements. This includes flexitime and home-working arrangements.
• Flexitime – start work between 7:30am – 10:00am and finish between 3:00pm – 6:00pm. Our core collaborative working hours are between 10:00am to 3:00pm.
• Pension – option to join from day 1. Maximum employer contribution of 10%.
• Holiday – 32 days, including 8 bank holidays and a day off work for your birthday, rising to 33 days after 5 years’ service and 34 days after 10 years’ service, plus 3 days leave between Christmas and the New Year.
• Life Assurance – 3x salary.
• Access to retail discount portal.
• Employee Assistance Programme (confidential counselling, legal and financial advice) – available 24/7, 365 days a year.
• Training and development programme for all employees.
• Commitment to staff health & wellbeing.
Closing date for applications – is Friday 18th September at 12 noon.
We reserve the right to close this vacancy and conduct interviews in advance of the closing date should suitable applications be received.
Role requirements:
Equal Opportunities
Embrace the Middle East provides equal opportunity for all job applicants and employees and is committed to providing a work environment free of discrimination. We are dedicated to an inclusive culture, and we strive to create a workplace where teams of people with diverse backgrounds, characteristics, perspectives, ideas and experiences work together. We welcome applications from all individuals irrespective of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy or maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, or socio-economic background.
Reasonable Adjustments
At Embrace the Middle East, we are committed to ensuring our recruitment process is inclusive and accessible to all. If you require any reasonable adjustments during the application or selection process, please contact our HR Team at hr.team@embraceme.org. We will be happy to discuss how we can support you and ensure you have a fair opportunity to demonstrate your suitability for the role. Any information you provide will be handled with sensitivity and in confidence. To monitor diversity in our recruitment practices you will be invited to complete an anonymous Equality, Diversity and Inclusion questionnaire as part of the application process.
Occupational Requirement
Due to the nature and context of this role, there is an occupational requirement under Schedule 9 of the Equality Act 2010 for the postholder to be a practising Christian. This is because the role involves representing and supporting Embrace’s Christian mission and ethos in advocacy and campaign work, engaging with churches and Christian networks, supporting theological and biblical resources, and helping to ensure that Palestinian Christian voices and perspectives are represented respectfully and accurately.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) Statement
We welcome the responsible use of AI tools to support your application, for example to help with research, structure or clarity. However, your application should remain an authentic reflection of your own skills, experience, achievements and motivations. We are keen to understand your unique perspective and suitability for the role, and you may be asked to discuss and expand upon the information provided during the recruitment process.
Travel
Willingness to undertake overseas travel as necessary, likely up to two times per annum.
Please note that, in order to be considered for this position, you must have the right to work in the UK through nationality, settled or pre-settled status, or a relevant visa that permits you to undertake the role. Embrace the Middle East is not currently able to offer visa sponsorship for this position.
The successful candidate will be required to complete a medical questionnaire and undertake a disclosure check as part of the Charity’s safer recruitment policy.
