Job: Oxfam IBIS is looking for a Senior Innovation Advisor

Oxfam IBIS fights extreme inequality because it traps people in poverty, destroys the cohesion in society and creates violent conflicts. Therefore, we fight for economic justice, a world where also women, young people and marginalized people will be given the necessary space and opportunity to participate in the democratic development and get access to quality education.

The rapidly changing global context and demands for new and innovative ways of creating sustainable change, makes it crucial to create space and opportunity for civil society, informal groups, and social movements to generate and test new ideas. Bringing together these new initiatives and ideas by building alliances of trust among stakeholders will create a foundation for rolling out new thinking and practices.

Oxfam IBIS’ strategic approach to innovation involves various stages in a ‘spiral’ model taking ideas from inception to widespread adoption and scaling. Innovation includes a variety of outputs such as developing new partnership approaches, testing methodologies, entering new relationships, and developing new and different ways to deliver knowledge outcomes. In doing this, it is important to accept that not all initiated innovation yields the expected results – it should be allowed to make mistakes, as long as there is commitment to learning and to make use of it. Therefore, the approach implies the fostering of a mind-set of openness and curiosity and the cultivation of an organisational culture where innovative behaviour and dynamic and motivating roles are supported.

As part of the Oxfam confederation, Oxfam IBIS has access to a solid innovation experience and a set of developed innovation tools and approaches. Oxfam’s well documented approach to action research and bringing together practitioners and academics, paired with Oxfam IBIS solid programmatic development approach to systemic changes through local actors and action, creates a strong foundation for a successful innovation approach.
 
As Oxfam IBIS’ Senior Advisor on Innovation, you will be responsible for developing and implementing Oxfam IBIS’ strategic approach to innovation and what it entails in relation to the operationalisation in the organisation in general, and to the cooperation partners in programme countries.
The successful candidate will lead on developing and facilitate implementation of Oxfam IBIS’ strategy to innovation and align it to our broader strategic priorities: Education for active citizenship, Economic and social justice, Peace, rights and inclusion, and Education in Emergencies (humanitarian interventions).

Key Responsibilities and tasks

• Lead the development of new approaches, methodologies, technologies and knowledge products to seek improved outcomes, based on calculated risk taking investments.
• Establish the structures and systems that ensure effective utilization of resources allocated to develop and pilot new methodologies, approaches, partnerships and technologies that may have the potential to be rolled out and scaled up across the various programmes and adapted to different contexts where Oxfam is operating.
• Develop the strategic guidance and set of criteria for screening and selection of projects and interventions Oxfam IBIS wants to resource. 
• Take part in developing further the framework for learning and the dissemination of lessons learnt across the organisation and market the learning in a broader perspective to ensure best possible utilization of new knowledge.
•  Stimulate the creation of an organisational culture where innovation is an integral part of Oxfam IBIS’ programmatic approach and its operations. 
• Manage budget allocated for innovation, analyse and report on progress regarding Oxfam IBIS’ efforts on innovation and generate recommendations on how to improve strategic approach and concrete implementation for Oxfam IBIS and the wider confederation.  
   

Qualifications

• Graduate degree in development studies, business and innovation or similar areas and a minimum of 5 years working experience.
• Profound understanding of developing countries’ challenges in relation to inequality and sustainable development.
• Understanding of methodology development, innovation approaches and processes.
• Ability to generate creative, new ideas and innovative methods and to demonstrate ability to translate these into practical work and stimulate motivation for implementation.
• Analytical capacity and strategic thinking abilities. Understanding of systematic learning from innovative results and experience.
• Experience in working with a variety of stakeholders and partner organisations, and sensitivity to cultural differences.
• Strong cooperation skills and ability in relation to various stakeholders.
• Knowledge of the SDG agenda and experience with influencing policy change at Danish and international level.
• Experience with programme cycle and budget management, including working with indicators and results frameworks and reporting.
• Fluency in Danish and English, oral and in writing. Fluency or proficiency in French and/or Spanish will be considered an advantage. 

Organisation
The position will refer to the International Programme Director and be part of and coordinate closely with Oxfam IBIS’ team on Methodology, Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning. The successful candidate will coordinate closely with relevant Oxfam network and Programme Managers for Africa & LAC, colleagues in Public Engagement, and Oxfam’s country offices.
 
Conditions for the employment
The work place will be in Copenhagen at Oxfam IBIS’ headquarters. Travel of up to 60 days per year can be expected.
Salary and working conditions is based on present collective agreement. Pay grading will be based on the level of experience.
Starting date: October  1st 2018.

For further information about the position, please contact International Programme Director, Niels Hjortdal, [email protected]
 
Application
Please submit your application via the ‘send application’ button and include your motivation letter and CV.
Application deadline: August 15th 2018 at 12.00 AM. Expected interview date: August 24th, 2018.

Please note that only applications received using the link provided will be taken into consideration.
 
Applicants must be nationals of a European Union member State or have a valid work permit for the European Union.
 
Oxfam IBIS is committed to equal employment opportunities and we therefore encourage everybody – irrespective of age, gender and of religious, sexual, national or ethnic affiliation – to apply for this position.