External Consultant — Humanitarian Advocacy Strategic Support

**SOS CHILDREN'S VILLAGES INTERNATIONAL**

Humanitarian Action Team (HAT) | Global Advocacy, Policy and Representation (GAPR)

**JOB ADVERTISEMENT**

## External Consultant — Humanitarian Advocacy Strategic Support

**Commissioning Unit**

Humanitarian ActionTeam (HAT), in coordination withGlobal Advocacy, Policy and Representation (GAPR)

**Contract Type**

Consultancy Contract (short-term)/ individual/ small team/ company

**Duty Station**

Home-based, with1-2 times possible short travel as required (e.g.Brussels/ Vienna)

**Duration**

1 September – 10 December 2026 (approx. 4 months)

**Level of Effort**

Upto 50 workingdays, part-time / intermittent

**Reporting To**

Director, Humanitarian Action Team, in coordination withGlobal Advocacy, Policy and Representation (GAPR)

**Application Deadline**

15 August 2026

### About the Assignment

SOS Children's Villages International (SOS CVI) is scaling up its humanitarian action across multiple large-scale, high-priority and protracted crises, including Ebola-affected Uganda/DRC, Palestine (Gaza scale-up and West Bank expansion), Somalia, Syria (Aleppo/Idlib) and the LAAM region. The Humanitarian Action Team (HAT), together with Global Advocacy, Policy and Representation (INT/CA), connects frontline evidence with regional and global decision-making, ensuring the federation speaks with a coherent, principled voice on behalf of crisis-affected children.

Building on the outcomes of the 2026 Brussels humanitarian advocacy workshop and the newly established bi-monthly PSA humanitarian advocacy coordination group, HAT is seeking an external humanitarian advocacy expert to accelerate delivery of a small number of time-critical priorities between September and December 2026.

### Purpose

The consultant will draft a fully-fledged Humanitarian Advocacy Strategic Operational Plan for SOS CVI, while providing targeted, time-bound support to Member Associations (MAs) and PSA partners, clarifying SOS messaging and positioning on humanitarian issues, and strengthening engagement with key external partners and coalitions.

### Scope of Work

- Lead the drafting of a federation-wide Humanitarian Advocacy Strategic Operational Plan, building on the Brussels workshop outcomes.
- Provide targeted advocacy support to priority MAs (e.g. Palestine, Somalia, LAAM-region) and facilitate the bi-monthly PSA humanitarian advocacy coordination group.
- Clarify and consolidate SOS CVI's humanitarian messaging and public positioning, including core narratives and agreed 'red lines'.
- Map priority external partners, coalitions and coordination structures (UN agencies, IASC/clusters, ICVA, EU/multilateral bodies) and propose an engagement approach.

### Key Deliverables

- Inception note with methodology and workplan (by 12 September 2026).
- Consultation round and stakeholder mapping (by 3 October 2026).
- Draft SOS Messaging & Positioning Framework (by 17 October 2026).
- Draft Humanitarian Advocacy Strategic Operational Plan (by 14 November 2026).
- External Partner & Coalition Engagement Plan (by 21 November 2026).
- Final strategy package incorporating feedback (by 5 December 2026).
- Presentation to HAT, COO/CEO/GAPR and the PSA coordination group, with handover note (by 10 December 2026).

### Required Qualifications and Experience

- Advanced degree in International Relations, Humanitarian Studies, Human Rights, International Development, Law or a related field.
- Significant experience in humanitarian and fragile/conflict-affected settings, with a strong track record in humanitarian advocacy strategy design and message development.
- Deep understanding of the international humanitarian system (UN, IASC, OCHA, cluster system) and experience engaging UN, EU or other multilateral bodies.
- Demonstrated experience developing organisation-wide advocacy strategies, ideally within a federated or membership-based organisation.
- Excellent written and oral communication skills in English (C1–C2); French, Spanish or Arabic an asset.
- Strong facilitation and stakeholder-coordination skills; ability to work autonomously to tight deadlines.
- Familiarity with child protection in humanitarian action (CPiHA) and Children and Armed Conflict agendas is highly desirable.

### Contract, Fees and Payment

The total fee will be agreed at contracting based on the consultant's proposed daily rate and confirmed level of effort and assignment proposal and approach. Payment is made in three tranches against accepted deliverables: 20% on contract signature and submission of the inception note; 40% on submission and acceptance of the draft Strategic Operational Plan and Messaging Framework; and 40% on submission and acceptance of the final strategy package and presentation.

### How to Apply

Interested candidates should submit the following by 15 August 2026:

- A technical proposal (max. 4 pages) outlining understanding of the assignment and proposed methodology.
- A CV highlighting relevant experience.
- Two professional references.
- A financial proposal (daily rate and estimated total cost based on the indicative level of effort).

Applications and enquiries should be directed to:

Mihai Grigorean Mihai.Grigorean@sos-kd.org and Lidia Giglio Lidia.Giglio@sos-kd.org

*SOS Children's Villages International is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. All appointments are subject to safe recruitment checks and adherence to the SOS CVI Code of Conduct and Safeguarding Policy.*

**DETAILED TERMS OF REFERENCE**

### 1. Background

SOS Children's Villages International (SOS CVI) is scaling up its humanitarian action across multiple large-scale, high-priority and protracted crises, including Ebola-affected Uganda/DRC, Palestine (with a strategic focus on Gaza scale-up and West Bank expansion), Somalia, Syria (Aleppo/Idlib) and the LAAM region. The Humanitarian Action Team (HAT), together with Global Advocacy, Policy and Representation (INT/CA), is responsible for connecting frontline evidence with regional and global decision-making, and for ensuring the federation speaks with a coherent, principled voice on behalf of crisis-affected children.

A Humanitarian Advocacy Advisor job description has recently been developed to establish a standing internal function covering surge advocacy support, policy development, capacity building, strategy design, coherence/quality assurance, research, materials development and external representation.

Pending recruitment and onboarding of that permanent function and building on the outcomes of the 2026 Brussels humanitarian advocacy workshop and the newly established bi-monthly PSA humanitarian advocacy coordination group, HAT requires dedicated external expert support to accelerate delivery of a small number of time-critical priorities between September and December 2026.

### 2. Purpose of the Consultancy

The purpose of this consultancy is to engage an external humanitarian advocacy expert/ team to draft a fully-fledged Humanitarian Advocacy Strategic Operational Plan for SOS CVI, while providing targeted, time-bound support to Member Associations (MAs) and PSA partners, clarifying SOS messaging and positioning on humanitarian issues, and strengthening engagement with key external partners and coalitions. The assignment covers a bounded subset of the responsibilities set out in the Humanitarian Advocacy Advisor job description that can realistically be delivered within a four-month window.

**3. Objectives**

- Produce a comprehensive, actionable Humanitarian Advocacy Strategic Operational Plan for the federation building on existing SOS CVI humanitarian advocacy and policy framework (main deliverable).
- Deliver concrete, time-bound advocacy support to selected priority MAs and to the PSA humanitarian advocacy coordination group.
- Clarify and consolidate SOS Children's Villages International's humanitarian messaging and public positioning in general and particularly for large scale cris