Principal Adviser, Parliamentary Strengthening, Brussels

Context

The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA) is an intergovernmental organisation dedicated to promoting sustainable democracy worldwide. Its mission is to strengthen democratic institutions and processes. The Institute serves as a catalyst for democracy building by offering global comparative knowledge, resources, tools and policy proposals, and by supporting democratic reforms in response to specific national requests. Its areas of work encompass democracy assessment and strategic foresight, electoral processes, constitutional governance and rule of law, political participation and representation, including parliamentary strengthening and money in politics, as well as democratic resilience and the intersection of democracy with gender and inclusion, climate change, technology, including AI, and security.

The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA) is an intergovernmental organisation dedicated to promoting sustainable democracy worldwide. Its mission is to strengthen democratic institutions and processes. The Institute serves as a catalyst for democracy building by offering global comparative knowledge, resources, tools and policy proposals, and by supporting democratic reforms in response to specific national requests. Its areas of work encompass democracy assessment and strategic foresight, electoral processes, constitutional governance and rule of law, political participation and representation, including parliamentary strengthening and money in politics, as well as democratic resilience and the intersection of democracy with gender and inclusion, climate change, technology, including AI, and security. Global Programmes implements International IDEA’s institutional areas of work and develops global comparative knowledge, approaches and tools to support democratic institutions and processes. It works closely with Regional and Country Programmes to support the application of global knowledge and expertise in different contexts. Parliamentary strengthening is a core component of International IDEA’s work on political participation and representation. Through partnerships with parliaments, parliamentary networks, practitioners and other stakeholders, the Institute seeks to strengthen parliamentary capacity and independence while promoting more effective, representative and accountable parliamentary institutions. Its flagship parliamentary strengthening portfolio, Inter Pares, funded by the European Union, supports these efforts by working with parliaments around the world to strengthen their capacity and independence. The Principal Adviser, Parliamentary Strengthening serves as International IDEA’s most senior expert in this field, providing intellectual leadership, setting the strategic direction and safeguarding the quality of the organisation’s parliamentary strengthening work. The role serves as the principal point of contact for Regional Programmes, partners and donors, and identifies strategic opportunities for engagement, including at the intersection of parliamentary strengthening and International IDEA’s broader thematic areas.

Duties And Responsibilities

• Intellectual leadership for Inter Pares. Provides expert substantive guidance for the Inter Pares portfolio as its senior adviser, keeping the work substantively strong and coherent;
• New opportunities and partnerships. Identifies and develops new opportunities for International IDEA to engage meaningfully on parliamentary strengthening, including where it connects with the organization's other areas of work, such as elections, political finance, gender equality, constitution building, climate change and democratic resilience; cultivates strategic partnerships and positions International IDEA to secure new funding and programme opportunities;
• Resource mobilization and donor engagement. Leads and supports resource mobilization efforts by identifying funding opportunities, engaging with existing and prospective donors, and contributing to fundraising strategies that advance parliamentary strengthening priorities;
• Portfolio development. Sets and safeguards the quality standard for parliamentary strengthening work across GP. Provides substantive guidance in the design and development of new project proposals;
• Support to regions. Supports International IDEA's regional and country teams with expertise on parliamentary strengthening, so their work is well-grounded and consistent;
• Partner network. Maintains and strengthens International IDEA's network of parliamentary partners, practitioners, and expert institutions;
• Contribution to collective leadership. Contributes to shared decisions and direction across International IDEA’s Global Programmes as a member of the Global Programmes Leadership Team;

General Profile

• A recognised expert in parliamentary stre