General
Reporting to: Director of Policy, Communications and Comparative Learning
Responsible for: Contractors and occasional interns and volunteers
Organization Information
Conciliation Resources
The main aim of Conciliation Resources (CR) is to support community-based and national organizations that seek to prevent or transform violent conflict into opportunities for just and sustainable human development.
Established in 1994 and incorporated in 1996, CR is an international non-governmental organization registered in the UK as a charity. We have programmes in the Caucasus, Uganda/Sudan Borders, and West Africa where we work in partnership with local and international civil society organizations and governments. CR also publishes Accord: an international review of peace initiatives and we are involved in projects in Colombia, Fiji, and the Philippines. Our funding is through grants from governments, independent trusts, and foundations.
CR is a small and dynamic organization. In addition to the Executive Director, there are currently sixteen full and part-time staff working out of the London office, and another eleven in CR’s field office in Sierra Leone. CR enjoys good relations with a range of governmental and international organizations.
General criteria
CR’s staff work in a spirit of programme partnership, which demands team-work, and a commitment to working with and for the organization as well as your programme, cross-programme learning and an open attitude of enquiry, mutual respect, integrity, personal initiative, creativity, political and interpersonal sensitivity and professional discretion.
Policy, Communications and Comparative Learning Team (PCCL)
The Accord Series Editor is part of the Policy, Communications and Comparative Learning Team (PCCL). The team delivers CR’s Accord publication series, comparative learning project, policy work and organizational communications activities. The team works to agreed goals and strategies that are informed by organizational priorities.
Broadly, the work pursues CR’s goals of:
- Influencing governments and other decision makers to employ conflict transformation policies that promote alternatives to violence, and
- Improving peacemaking practice and policies by promoting learning from peace processes around the world.
These goals inform the team’s strategic objectives, which include:
- Informing and strengthening peace processes through the development and dissemination of documentation, analysis and lessons learned;
- Increasing capacities for practical peacemaking in Colombia and the Philippines through direct interactive learning about peace processes;
- Shifting international policy responses to conflict towards more substantial and effective support for peace processes;
- Increasing support for conflict transformation through communications that improve understanding and awareness of CR’s work.
The Accord series provides a practical resource for people involved in peacemaking, including conflict parties, intermediaries and policymakers. Each publication combines narrative and analysis of peace processes, as well as profiles of key actors, a chronology, key texts and agreements and further reading. Written by people with first-hand or expert knowledge of the issues and reviewed by their peers, many publications are produced in collaboration with local organizations and translated into relevant languages.
CR will publish its 20th Accord issue in summer 2008. Our ambition is continue to develop the series to achieve an increasingly global influence that is both relevant and progressive. It is to build on our expertise and reputation for high-quality resources on comparative peace processes. It is also to have a coordinated team committed to innovation and effectiveness.
Job Overview
Job purpose: The Accord Series Editor has primary responsibility for the strategic development, editorial content and quality of the print and on-line publication series Accord: an international review of peace initiatives, ensuring that it serves the learning needs of the publication’s core readership.
Scope and accountability: The Accord Series Editor has primary responsibility for leading the entire editorial and production process for each Accord publication. The Series Editor does preliminary research and makes recommendations on the choice of new issues. S/he then determines the schedule and oversees the process of producing each publication, taking responsibility for the editorial process and final content of each issue. S/he is also responsible for commissioning and project managing translations of Accord issues. The post-holder will actively contribute to setting agreed budgets for each publication and authorizing expenditure against those budgets. The post-holder will identify and negotiate terms with the Accord Issue Editors and contractors and oversee their activities. S/he may also line-manage research interns as appropriate. The post-holder reports to the Director of Policy, Communications and Comparative Learning, who provides substantive input into and oversight of all aspects of the process.
Specific Responsibilities And Tasks
Strategy development
- Leading the strategic development of the Accord series to maintain and strengthen its niche in the academic, policy and practical sphere;
- Leading the decision-making process for new publications in the series;
- Contributing to Accord’s development as a vehicle for new thinking on peace processes;
- Leading evaluation processes, including regular reader consultations, to obtain feedback on past issues, determine how the series is being used and inform its development.
Research and publication development
- Researching specific peace processes or thematic issues occurring in numerous peace processes for the purpose of developing potential Accord publications;
- Coordinating the acquisition and sharing of detailed knowledge of conflicts and peace processes studied in past or future Accord publications. This may involve oversight of a research intern.
Commissioning, editorial and production work
- Identifying and contracting Issue Editors to lead each individual publication;
- Commissioning the publication, in close collaboration with the Issue Editor;
- Providing support to the Issue Editor in the development of profiles of key actors, a chronology of the conflict and peace process, the production/assembly of statistical data and development of suggestions for further reading;
- Editorial coordination, input and sign-off, with attention to the quality of both substance and language;
- Acquiring and obtaining permission for the use of appropriate photos and maps;
- Producing the non-commissioned standard pages of the publication;
- Commissioning and coordination of translations of Accord publications;
- Oversight of production, design and printing for all Accord issues (in English and other languages) and contracting of and liaison with an external designer;
- Lead responsibility for the content of the Accord series on CR’s website, and input into decisions about website layout and design which impact this in close collaboration with the Communications Officer.
Communications and representation
- Engaging with project partners and authors in person and by email and telephone as required by specific publications;
- Contributing to the development of communication and advocacy strategies and materials for the publication;
- Representing the organization and effectively communicating the findings of Accord publications to donors and other target groups through participation in events and activities designed to promote learning from peace processes;
- Responding to requests from researchers, publishers and other institutions about the contents of the Accord series;
- Undertaking networking activities as defined by the overall strategy of the team.
Other management and organizational meetings as required