Bilingual Communications Officer (Re-Advertisement) at African Institute for Development Policy (AFIDEP)

The Position

The successful candidate will join the Institute’s multi-disciplinary team as a Bilingual Communications Officer for the Platform for Dialogue and Action on Health Technologies in Africa (Health Tech Platform). The Platform promotes and facilitates informed, objective, transparent, open and balanced discussions on development and use of emerging tools and technologies to address key health challenges in Sub-Saharan Africa. Some examples of emerging health technologies include: genetically modified mosquitoes for disease control, mRNA/DNA vaccines, RNAi therapeutics, use of artificial intelligence and drones in health interventions, among others. This is a full-time position that will report to the Project Manager, with a dotted line to AFIDEP’s Communications and Policy Engagement Manager.

Main Responsibilities

The main responsibility of the Bilingual Communications Officer is to lead the design and implementation of the project communications and advocacy strategy in Francophone Africa. Specific responsibilities include:

• Lead the design and implementation of the project’s communications and advocacy strategy for the project in Francophone regions and countries.
• Identify and facilitate the project’s involvement in important policy and advocacy dialogues in specific countries and at the Francophone regional levels.
• Expand project links with critical national and regional policy and other stakeholders (government technical working groups, advocacy networks, regional bodies and networks).
• Prepare and publish regular newsletters, stories, blogs and other IEC materials to share the project’s experiences, and/or generate interest around the project’s activities.
• Translate the project’s advocacy products developed in English into French.
• Produce and publish multi-media products based on the project’s work (including videos, podcasts, photo stories, infographics, animations, etc.).
• Develop media materials based on evidence generated by the project including media releases, media kits, Op-Eds, etc.
• Establish and sustain links and contact with relevant journalists in specific Francophone countries and regions to facilitate publishing of project’s stories in diverse media channels.
• Manage the project website, ensuring that web content related to the project are well presented and up to date on the website.
• Contribute to managing the project’s social media accounts (i.e. Facebook, Twitter and You Tube), ensuring regular and quality content.
• Engage social media influencers to run social media campaigns on specific project-related issues.
• Implement a monitoring, learning and evaluation (MLE) plan for the project’s advocacy activities in Francophone Africa.

Qualifications and Requirements

• The candidate will have a Master’s degree in Communications, Development Communications, Media, and International Relations, with more than five years of relevant experience in a development context and excellent command of both English and French languages.

Skills and Knowledge

• Science communications specialist with the ability to synthesise and package information in concise, easy to understand formats from complex, technical research
• Advocacy: Develop and deploy an effective advocacy strategy that includes but not limited to: Ability to conduct policy analysis, monitoring and public accountability; organise policy dialogues and related events; coordinate and conduct capacity building exercises for stakeholder groups; Identify opportunities and organise advocacy campaigns/events
• Media Engagement: Experience in developing and executing successful media engagement strategies to build and sustain good media relations, ensure successful media campaigns for the project, and build journalist’s skills in objective, accurate reporting of Health-Tech issues
• Communications: excellent writing, editing, and verbal communication skills with the ability to convey technical arguments in clear and vivid prose
• Negotiation and networking: ability to negotiate, form and sustain credible strategic alliances.
• Knowledgeable: sound knowledge of regional and pan-African development issues; public policies and laws; proven skills in translating research and evidence into effective advocacy.
• Technical skills in publications production and design; web design and management; multimedia production skills in video, photography, social media use and other digital communications tools and platforms. One must have good knowledge and technical skills with the Adobe suite of applications, and website content management platforms.
• English-French translation