Africa Communications Officer at Natural Resource Governance Institute

Job Purpose: Targeted, tactical and influential communications are key to NRGI’s success. Impactful communications drive the impact of our programs, enabling policy and practice changes that help to fundamentally change the shape of Natural Resource Governance for the benefit of all. Our compelling brand positions NRGI as a trusted partner, giving it the license to operate as a thought leader in the spaces where change happens.

The Africa Regional Communications Officer plans and executes communication strategies in his/her region and serves as a vital connect point with the global Communications Team. He/She ensures excellent brand representation and stakeholder engagement across relevant regional events in the sector and media channels; helps localize approaches and content; assists country and regional teams in the development of their communications skills, tools and in their communications activities ; and provides regional input and feedback to global communications efforts.

Major Responsibilities:

• RESEARCH and thought leadership
   

Ensure a comprehensive understanding of the ecosystem within which NRGI’s Regional teams are operating and the strategic change goals that they are seeking to achieve.

Keep up to date on global & national trends, developments and key international issues in natural resource governance and extractives sectors; ensure in-depth understanding of the political-economy and media environment surrounding NRGI.

Participate in stakeholder analysis, political analysis, and audience research in the region; develop a comprehensive understanding of how stakeholders must be influenced in order for NRGI’s goals to be achieved.

Keep up to date on innovations in communication tools and practices; assess usefulness / applicability to audiences in Anglophone and Francophone Africa.

Provide Regional teams with insights and expertise in the use of communication techniques to support the achievement of their important goals.

• Strategy & Programming

• Develop creative, feasible and measurable strategies to influence key regional decision-makers and support the efforts of NRGI’s programs to drive systemic change.

Work collaboratively with colleagues in the region to develop a communication strategy that will activate and enable the regional and organization-wide strategy:

• Support the team to segment audiences and develop key messages that will appeal to them
• Determine the mix of traditional and new media channels, forms, and platforms to be used in the Region
• Determine which global campaigns and communication projects will be adopted in the region and participate in strategy and planning

Help evaluate the effectiveness of previous communication strategies and techniques; provide guidance at the region and country program level, and feedback to the global Communications team, to quickly share and scale up successful approaches.

Help draft and submit the communication components of the Annual Plan for the Region, including:

• Workplan and budget for communication activities and projects
• MEL framework and data collection plan

Consider how NRGI’s Global Standards for Communication and Relationship management apply in the Africa Regional context; ensure that the Regional team understands and is supported to implement.

• ENSURING IMPACTFUL IMPLEMENTATION
   

Oversee the implementation of the communication strategy for the [Name] Region, ensuring that results are achieved and key learning is captured and acted upon.

Develop the core tools, content, and assets needed to execute communication strategies and plans in region:

• Identify digital assets and content that are needed
• Coordinate the writing, production, and localization of those assets
• Manage agencies, consultants, and vendors to quality standards and value for money
• Apply brand guidelines

Help develop a comprehensive ‘relationship management’ database to improve targeting, reaching, and monitoring specific audiences.

Oversee the timely production of required reports (e.g. monthly Comms Report), adeptly applying visualization, infographics, and new media techniques for cross-cultural usage, both internally and externally.

Effectively utilize and help improve the communication systems used to share digital assets, content, and communiques.

Apply Project Management discipline to effectively manage and coordinate projects and campaigns; collaborate with Program and Global teams for input and coordination

Liaise with the RDL team to ensure that communications activities are monitored and evaluated; ensure that lessons learned are used to continuously improve the achievement of results and the design of future strategies

• RELATIONSHIP mANAGEMENT
   

Strengthen NRGI presence through traditional and new media forms, perfecting the targeting and tailoring of messaging and engagement across channels and platforms

Run the region’s public relations and marketing efforts and support country and program teams in their PR and advocacy efforts:

• Have primary responsibility for regional-level media relations and channels (e.g. blogs, Facebook, Twitter, websites, news agencies, publications, and publishers, etc.)
• Effectively write press releases, announcements, and core communications content that can be adapted in the region
• Identify reputational risks and participate in crisis/risk management – planning, strategy, and triage
• Expertly adapt and tailor messaging and content delivery to specific channels, audiences, and platforms
• Raise the profile of individual colleagues as experts on resource governance
• Develop the communications and PR capacity with colleagues and country-level teams
• Contribute to and help maintain Communications Dashboard and other communication systems with real-time feeds and inputs

Develop a network of external relationships and information sources, including donors and key regional and sector press; represent NRGI at events

Speak at events and prepare speaker notes/talking points/dissemination briefs to prepare and tool NRGI leaders for major speaking and PR events; observe and gather feedback from events to improve NRGI participation and stakeholder engagement

The responsibilities of this role are subject to modifications as required by the needs of the organization.

Job Requirements:

Experience & Technical Skills Required

• At least 5 years of directly relevant experience in Public Relations and international development
• Network of relevant contacts in media and PR
• Experience managing across traditional and new media channels (social media, video and audio)
• Experience managing campaigns from inception to post roll-out learning & feedback
• Able to use social media strategically; come up with ideas for expanding the organization’s reach and impact
• Familiarity with brand management
• Familiarity with communication and change management theories and models
• Experience working in a complex or pioneering environment, including managing and creating opportunities for systemic change.
• Having the gravitas, credibility and ability to initiate and develop strategic relationships and influence key stakeholders at a project, country, and region level.
   

Education & Qualifications

• Master’s degree in relevant field (communication, public affairs, journalism, development, political science, economics, international affairs, etc.).
• Excellent written and verbal skills in English and French.
   

Working Environment: The job holder will be working remotely initially

Applications: Applications should be submitted by way of a cover letter and a current cv. Applications will be assessed on a rolling basis up to the closing date of Friday 13 November 2020

NRGI’s Values: NRGI seeks candidates who align with our values:

Integrity

Maintaining our independence and credibility. Willing to speak truth to power. Engaging with respect. Practicing what we preach. Upholding the highest standards of excellence in all we do.

Impact

Strategic and selective in approach. Mindful of context, adapting to changing realities and seizing new opportunities. Looking critically and openly at what works and what doesn’t, and why. Integrating that learning into our forward-looking work. Accountable to our mission, the actors with whom we work and each other.

Collaboration

Partnering internally and externally to affect change. Capitalizing on NRGI’s comparative advantage. Valuing teamwork, diversity and inclusion. Working with different stakeholders and across different stakeholder groups. Commitment to building the field and inspiring others to act.

Passion

Commitment to social justice. Prudently optimistic that we can and will shift entrenched power dynamics. Dedication, creativity and resiliency in the fact of obstacles. Investing in change makers and strengthening NRGI.

Rigor

Technical competence, intellectual leadership and commitment to quality. Generating and leveraging the evidence base. Interrogating our work. Innovation and initiative to push the boundaries of our field.

NRGI is an Equal Opportunity Employer. NRGI considers all applicants based on merit without regard to race, gender, sex, color, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

Your privacy is important to us and we are committed to collecting, processing, storing and destroying all information in accordance with the GDPR, UK data protection laws and the NRGI Privacy policy. Please note that only successful candidates will be contacted.