Regional Communications Officer
Job Description.
This position is open to international and national
applicants and will be based in Nairobi, Kenya. The Regional Communications
Officer will report to the Corporate Communications Manager based at IFDC
Headquarters in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, USA.
Key Responsibilities
In partnership with field offices across the
region and in coordination with the Global Communications team, the Officer
will be responsible for the following.
Strategic Communications
- Leads and executes a
regional integrated communications strategy to strengthen IFDC’s regional
and global reputation.
- Encourages innovation among staff
to continually optimize ways of working to steward resources well and
improve the quality of communications outputs.
- Advises regional and programmatic
leadership on strategic reputation, brand, and communications
opportunities across the region.
Content Development
- Oversees and produces
high-quality content relevant to priority audiences, positioning IFDC as a
leader in its strategic priority fields.
- Ensures content is relevant for
regional and global audiences and meets the needs of IFDC stakeholders at
all levels.
- Pushes the boundaries of creative
content delivery with a willingness to try innovative methods and
celebrate success or learn from missteps.
Media/Social Media Leadership
- Contributes to a regional social
media presence with partners and donors, protecting the IFDC brand and
ensuring compliance of project accounts.
- Stays on the cutting edge of
social media – adopting trends as necessary, adapting to changing
platforms, and keeping IFDC’s image relevant on social media.
- Engages traditional media at a
regional level to maximize the positioning of IFDC in key regional
outlets.
Team Management
- Coordinates with a region-wide
team of communicators to deliver high-quality and engaging products
covering research and development work in the region.
- Cooperates with the Head of
Knowledge Management to ensure retention and sharing of organizational and
project knowledge and documents.
- Works with the Director of
Strategic Communications to assist in the development of priority
stakeholder documents, such as capability statements and position papers.
- Reports successes and lessons
learned monthly to the Global Corporate Communications Manager and shares
with the Global Communications Team.
Internal Engagement
- Emphasizes and supports the
mantra that “We are all communicators,” connecting, informing, and
inspiring all staff to tell the organization’s story.
- Assists in knowledge-sharing
efforts in the IFDC communications community of practice as well as among
project and research staff and leaders.
Required Skills
- Track record of self- and
team-management successes.
- Excellent leadership and
organizational skills.
- Excellent presentation, written,
and verbal communication skills.
- Strong track record in media
relations.
- Demonstrated experience leading
effective digital communications, including social media, and an
understanding of relevant tools and trends.
- Proven ability to effectively
manage a team and projects to deliver outcomes on time.
- Demonstrated understanding of
international development systems and communication/donor networks.
- Fluency in English is essential
for this position. French fluency is also preferred.
Required Experience
- University degree in
Communications, Journalism, Marketing, Public Relations, or another
related field.
- At least five years of
progressively responsible and relevant professional work experience in
communications, marketing/PR, and journalism and at least three years of
managerial-level experience demonstrated.
- Solid/advanced work experience at
a similar level, leading communications and public engagement strategies
in the NGO or private sector.
- Experience working with a team in
the international development sector. Background/familiarity in communications for development.
- Skill in leading and supervising,
formulating strategies and concepts, relating and networking, persuading
and influencing, and entrepreneurial thinking.
- Adoption of thinking that is
informed by context and practice, and shows consistency of treatment and a
clear strategic focus. Able to select and evaluate critical information to
plan and manage communications and public engagement for local/regional
entity.
- Advocate of an efficient,
effective, and transparent flow of information across entities and with
key internal and external stakeholders (requiring a high level of written
communication and reporting, as well as a clear and persuasive verbal
presentation style).
- Ability to manage multiple
requests and priorities according to strategic needs, applying an agile
approach to decision-making and execution.
How to Apply