Sr. Manager, Advocacy & Communications - Humanitarian Programs

Sesame Workshop is looking for a Senior Manager, Advocacy and Communications to support our Humanitarian Programs team.

The Sr. Manager, Advocacy and Communications, works to promote increased early childhood development (ECD) support, particularly for children affected by conflict and crisis. Specifically, the Senior Manager leverages the research results and programmatic outcomes of Sesame Workshop’s initiatives, including those supporting children affected by the Rohingya and Syrian refugee crises, to advocate for increased prioritization of and investment in ECD globally.

This role will include a combination of communications work to raise the profile of the issue of ECD in crisis contexts (and our work) as well as taking ownership of direct advocacy for one or more of our existing target groups. As such, we are looking for a teammate with experience and interest in engaging any of the following: UN agencies, US government officials, major humanitarian donors, and humanitarian field staff.

The Senior Manager leads general communications, program reporting, documentation, storytelling, and other visibility efforts for the advocacy team. This includes coordination of advocacy events and other thought leadership activities reaching humanitarian actors, donors, and host governments. The Senior Manager also supports Sesame Workshop’s participation in several high-level thought-leadership fora and ECD networks while helping to identify and facilitate new opportunities for collaborative, collective advocacy.

We’re looking for the next member of our advocacy team – an agile and kind teammate, excellent relationship builder, detailed planner, and eager learner.

Please note: This position is a fixed-term, benefits-eligible full-time role that is grant-funded with an anticipated project end date of December 31, 2024.

Sesame Workshop currently follows a hybrid work model with designated in-office days determined based on the functional nature of the role. This position is based in New York, NY.

The stated salary range in this posting is average and may not be reflective of individual circumstances. We will review specific salary information during the interview process.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Collaborate with communications, marketing, and events colleagues to connect Sesame Workshop’s advocacy agenda to participation in events, social media platforms, and communications opportunities.
• Support the Senior Director of Advocacy and Senior Directors of Strategic Communications and Marketing in drafting and coordinating the approval of talking points, messaging, newsletters, fact sheets, and other public-facing materials for a variety of internal and external audiences, including the partners, funders, boards, humanitarian actors, and other key stakeholders.
• Create opportunities for thought leadership and visibility of Sesame’s work in key ECD and humanitarian fora and draft high-quality content for submission on behalf of the organization.
• Coordinate roles and logistics with event organizers and venues; provide briefing memos for senior executives; and manage relevant contracts.
• Seek out opportunities for participation in high-level events, conferences, and engagement with advocacy target audiences in the humanitarian community; pursue opportunities for appearances in journals, blogs, and other public-facing publications that advance the strategic goals of the project and demonstrate thought leadership.
• Coordinate Sesame’s participation in task teams, working groups, and other advocacy-related engagements on humanitarian advocacy objectives.
• Draft and submit event reports, pitches, proposals, and awards applications, in close coordination with relevant Sesame Workshop departments and our partners.
• Lead advocacy and communications efforts to elevate the visibility of early childhood development at key moments, including global events like the UN General Assembly, donor convenings, and humanitarian conferences.
• Provide general program support related to advocacy and communications for Sesame Workshop’s humanitarian programs, including reporting and knowledge management.
• Coordinate closely with key implementation and research partners and relevant funders to define advocacy targets and opportunities, develop joint presentations, and align messaging.

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS:

• 5 or more years of advocacy or communications experience, with demonstrated understanding of the humanitarian or international development systems. Field experience in supporting a humanitarian response is highly valued.
• Relationship builder with strong people skills, interested in building and sustaining partnerships with Sesame and across our partnerships.
• Experience with preparing and managing high-level speaking engagements and events
• Expert in PowerPoint; strong overall computer skills.
• Bachelor’s degree required, Master’s degree preferred.
• Experience working internationally or on international issues strongly preferred; experience on early childhood development topics is also highly valued.
• Working level proficiency in additional languages is highly valued and should be noted in applications.
• Demonstrated commitment to promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion and respectful partnership with colleagues from a wide range of backgrounds.
• Excellent writer who loves to tell a great story (e.g., presentations, fact sheets, blog posts, talking points, concept notes, etc.).
• A proven interest in social change and commitment to work that reaches the most vulnerable.
• Strong project-manager and multi-tasker with excellent organizational skills and close attention to detail.

ABOUT SESAME & ADVOCACY:

For more than 50 years, Sesame Workshop has been using the power of educational media to bring early learning opportunities to the children who need them most. Now reaching children in more than 150 countries, Sesame content is designed to help children become smarter, stronger, and kinder.

Over the past six years, we have expanded our work to address the needs of children and families affected by conflict and crisis across the globe. Building upon work that started in the Syrian and Rohingya refugee crises, Sesame has developed an innovative portfolio of programming that combines the use of educational media —which introduces children to characters and stories that reflect their own lives and experiences— with direct service models that bring our content directly to children, families, and a broad range of service providers.

The reach of Sesame programming is further amplified by our advocacy efforts. Sesame Workshop and its partners are working to influence the way that governments, donors, nonprofits, and multilateral institutions like the United Nations identify and respond to the needs of young children in crises. With leadership and resources in the right areas, the humanitarian sector will be better able to meet the needs of young children and families in crisis contexts, ultimately supporting Sesame Workshop’s goals of helping every child grow smarter, stronger, and kinder.

Equal Opportunity Employer/Minorities/Females/Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities/Sexual Orientation/Gender Identity