Position: Communications Specialist
Background Information: The Agile and Harmonized Assistance for Devolved Institutions
(AHADI) is a five year USAID program implemented by the State University of New
York’s (SUNY) Center for International Development (CID).
AHADI is designed to support
Kenya’s vision and agenda for achieving the promise of devolution.
AHADI has three main
objectives;
1. Targeted
counties provide higher quality services through improved governance
2. Improved
representation of citizen interests and oversight of targeted county government
performance
3. Functionality
and effectiveness of the devolved system increased through intra-government
engagement and cooperation.
Though AHADI is primarily a
Democracy Rights and Governance (DRG) project focused on improving the
governance of Kenya’s new decentralized, system, it is also designed to have
substantial impact on other sectors, as well.
AHADI therefore takes a
sectorial approach in achieving its overall governance objectives. These
sectors include but are not limited to good governance, resilience and economic
growth, education, health and WASH.
The program is currently
seeking a skilled, diplomatic, effective, and highly motivated Communication
Specialist.
Position Summary: The Communications Specialist will be responsible for overseeing
and coordinating all aspects of communications and outreach including designing
and implementing effective outreach and communications strategies for AHADI and
developing interventions to strengthen targeted county media entities in full
compliance with USAID policies and regulations, on-time, within budget, and
with maximum impact.
S/he will identify activities
for documenting into snapshots and success stories, flickr stories and
newsletter articles. S/he will be responsible for knowledge management in the
Program.
The main function of the
knowledge sharing responsibility will be to help champion organization-wide
knowledge sharing, so that the organization know-how, information and
experience is shared inside and (as appropriate) outside the organization with
clients, partners, and stakeholders.
In addition, s/he will assist
the Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist in collecting and synthesizing data
and reports to support the AHADI reporting function.
Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s
degree in International Affairs, Data Management, Journalism, Public
Management or related field relevant to the position requirements.
- At least 10
years’ experience designing and implementing communications and outreach
programs for USAID funded development programs;
- Demonstrated
ability to serve as a principal liaison among development partners, the
media, and key government counterparts, both at the national and county
level, as well as civil society and private sector leaders;
- Highly
developed communication skills (spoken, written and presentational);
- Experience
originating, soliciting, writing or editing complex or sensitive materials
for distribution in newsletters, websites and reports;
- Solid
understanding of cross-cutting issues such as HIV/Aids, gender, youth, and
the needs of marginalized communities.
- Demonstrated
ability to write clearly and concisely, to work in a fast-changing
political environment, to work well under pressure and to handle
concurrent projects including organizing media coverage, technical
workshops, briefings and interviews.
- Demonstrated
ability to serve as a principal liaison among a donor-funded program, the
donor, the media, and key Government of Kenya and county counterparts as
well as civil society and private sector leaders.
Duties:
Communications:
- Oversee the
continuous review and implementation of USAID AHADI Communications
Strategy;
- Serving as the
point of contact with USAID/Kenya on media and public relations matters,
and as the in-house expert on branding, marking, and positioning of AHADI
communications materials and deliverables;
- Providing
advice to the COP, other staff members, grantees and AHADI partners on
media engagement, deliverables, outreach, communications, and public
relations issues; and
- Performing
other duties as assigned to achieve AHADI objectives and results.
- Establishing
and cultivating contacts with Government of Kenya officials at all levels
(Governors, Senators, and Members and staff of County Assemblies, among
others), journalists, and other USAID implementing partners in order to
keep apprised of governance and devolution developments and trends, as
well as opportunities to promote AHADI;
- Creating
snapshots, success stories, articles, and other outreach materials for
external distribution;
- Designing and
implementing interventions to strengthen targeted media county entities;
- Collaborating
with other AHADI staff and partners to organize, carry out, and report on
media interventions;
Knowledge management
- Promote
knowledge sharing through the organization's operational processes and
systems by, among others, strengthening links between knowledge sharing
and the information systems, and improving integration among departments
in the Program, to facilitate seamless exchange of information across the
program;
- Promote
collaborative tools such as activity rooms to facilitate sharing of ideas
and work among internal teams and external partners;
- Provide support
for the establishment and nurturing of forums where information on
programming is shared;
- Share
experiences across various departments, beneficiaries on innovative
approaches in knowledge sharing, including preparation of case studies;
- Help monitor
and evaluate the knowledge sharing program, including external
benchmarking and evaluation programs/opportunities;
- Help
disseminate information about the organization's knowledge sharing program
to internal and external audiences, including organizing knowledge sharing
events (such as knowledge fairs, devolution study groups maintaining
communications on knowledge sharing across the organization, and
preparation of brochures/presentations.
Monitoring, Evaluation and
Reporting:
- Serving as a
key member of the AHADI research and learning team;
- Collaborating
with AHADI staff and partners to support the AHADI learning agenda;
- Support the
development of the necessary communications and reporting templates for
use by AHADI staff and implementing partners;
- Assisting with
editing of AHADI monthly, quarterly and annual reports;
- Providing
internal editorial support to ensure that AHADI documents and/or reports
are of high quality and comply with the USAID branding requirements;
- Advising the
AHADI M&E Specialist, COP, staff and partners on effective methods for
presenting or communicating AHADI data and results.
Location: The Communications Specialist will be based in the AHADI Nairobi
office.
Travel: Travel in country is expected. Transportation, accommodations
and per diem will be provided by the project in accordance with AHADI and USAID
regulations. It is anticipated that in the travel will be between 30%-40%.
If you possess the skills and qualifications as contained in the respective position descriptions, please send
(1) a Cover letter
(2) CV and
(3) References from three
Professional Referees, one referee should be previous or current
supervisor
to hr@ahadi-devolution.org
Closing date: 3rd November
2016.
Please note only short listed
candidates will be contacted.
Kindly put the subject line
for the position you are applying for.
Applications without the
subject line will not be evaluated.
Only short listed candidates
will be contacted.
SUNY-AHADI is an equal opportunities employer.