Communication Officer at Farm Africa

Kes.1,444,000-Kes.1,800,000 per annum

PURPOSE OF THE ROLE

• The Communications Officer plays a key role in devising and implementing the communications strategy of the Kenya country office. The officer contributes to the global communications team and serves as the primary point of contact for the External Relations team in-country. S/he provides key support to Farm Africa Programmes and the Nairobi team on strategic communications. He/she also works to identify key audiences, build new partnerships (including with the media and private sector), and build capacity across the Farm Africa team in Kenya to communicate effectively.

KEY TASKS & RESPONSIBILITIES

Raise the profile of Farm Africa’s work in Kenya to support the Farm Africa organizational strategy and the Kenya country strategy (40%):

• Undertake a comprehensive stakeholder mapping to identify target audiences, messages, and communication formats in Kenya.
• Develop and implement a communications/marketing action plan and media strategy that profiles the impact of Farm Africa’s work in Kenya.
• Build and maintain a Farm Africa external contacts database.
• Prepare and produce marketing materials in liaison with the project coordinators and management staff, including creating key messages for each project and country wide.
• Work with project coordinators to develop public relations and communications activities related to specific project initiatives.
• Ensure consistent application of Farm Africa branding and communications guidelines across all Farm Africa Kenya communications.
• Lead new approaches to creating and distributing multimedia content, drafting press releases, responding to media enquiries, and building dialogue with journalists to promote Farm Africa’s work.
• Assist in the documentation and publicity of key Farm Africa events such as project field days, workshops, launches, interviews and agricultural shows.
• Advise on public materials to be translated into Kiswahili and oversee effective translation and publication.
• Liaise with government, partners, and especially the private sector at county and national level to ensure appropriate audience outreach and to market Farm Africa widely.
• Design and create innovative promotional materials including reports, factsheets, graphics, PowerPoint presentations, note cards, flyers, etc.

Contribute to organization-wide communication activities (25%):

• Coordinate communication activities with other members of the global communications team based in London and Addis Ababa.
• Work with UK communications to manage the Kenya sections of Farm Africa website.
• Work with project coordinators to develop, implement and maintain online content for the website, such as blogposts and news stories, and content for social media platforms including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.
• Support effective internal communications by ensuring appropriate materials are available for the wider programmes teams.
• Assist with donor and consultant reports, including copy editing, formatting, designing covers and graphics, preparing short summary briefs, etc.
• Create and deliver content – stories, photos, video, quotes, and other information that helps the organization build and nurture relationships with donors and the general public, globally.
• Design, write and edit publications such as newsletters, annual report, brochures, policy planning reports, etc.
• Ensure that all content deliverables comply with branding guidelines, data protection, safeguarding standards, donors’ visibility requirements and other controls in the organization.

Assist with global fundraising (20%)

• Contribute to the global External Relations team by identifying, collecting and updating case studies and stories from the field.
• Generate compelling marketing collateral to support Farm Africa fundraising initiatives in country.
• Collect high resolution images that demonstrate Farm Africa’s work and successes and ensure they are accessible across the organisation by uploading them to the organisation’s photo library.
• Assist with promotional field visits by the External Relations team, supporters and others, covering advance planning with project staff and beneficiaries and as appropriate, accompanying the field visit.

Build the communications capacity of staff in Kenya more broadly to implement a sustainable communications and marketing strategy (15%)

• Help in selecting and rolling out existing or new internal communications tools (in partnership with Monitoring Evaluation & Learning and IT), and train senior leaders and staff in effective communications techniques and usage of tools. Support internal response to crisis situations which affect and the organization’s reputation.
• Develop and deliver training to staff on presentation skills, photography, promotional writing, strategic messaging etc.

PERSON SPECIFICATION

Education & Qualifications

• Degree level qualification in relevant area eg communications, journalism, public relations, graphic design or related field.
• Experience in photography and capturing images for promotional purposes
• Knowledge and a good command of English and Kiswahili languages, design and editing tools eg in Design, Photoshop, PowerPoint, etc.

Experience

• Three years’ related experience in communications, media or marketing job Prior experience with an NGO or private sector company, ideally with linkages to the agriculture sector

Skills & Abilities

• Excellent written and spoken English, with strong oral presentation, writing, editing and facilitation skills.
• Proficiency in relevant IT applications, including desktop publishing, photography, videography, video editing and advanced PowerPoint.
• Ability to communicate complex information and messages clearly through written content and visual materials across various media, including reports, presentations, workshops and videos.
• Proficiency in digital communications, social media and web applications, including Instagram, LinkedIn, X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook.
• Strong strategic thinking, analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to develop creative and innovative solutions.
• Excellent interpersonal, networking and relationship-building skills, including the ability to establish collaborative relationships with new partners.
• Strong interviewing skills for gathering case studies, success stories and other relevant information
• Strong influencing, negotiation and stakeholder engagement skills.
• Excellent time management, organisational and prioritisation skills, with the ability to manage deadlines and competing priorities across multiple projects.
• Ability to work independently, take initiative and contribute effectively within a team.
• Ability to communicate effectively with diverse stakeholders, including smallholder farmers, government officials, organisation executives and development partners.
• An understanding of key rural development and poverty issues in Kenya is desirable, although Farm Africa provides comprehensive induction

Other Attributes

• Adaptability and flexibility when managing changing priorities and working across multiple projects
• Commitment to quality, achieving results and maintaining high professional standard
• Creative, innovative, proactive and a strategic approach to responsibilities
• Strong interpersonal awareness and the ability to build and maintain positive working relationships.
• Empathy and cultural sensitivity when engaging with diverse stakeholders and communities.
• Collaborative and team-oriented approach, while maintaining the ability to work independently.