Country Representative - Kenya at Ubongo

REPORTS TO: Chief Business Officer

WORKS CLOSELY WITH: Marketing and Communication, Pre-Production, Post Production, and the fundraising team

LOCATION: Kenya (preferably Nairobi) (remote)

Full time (Consultant)

UBONGO is Africa's leading producer of kids' edutainment. As a non-profit social enterprise, we create fun, localised and multi-platform educational content that helps kids learn, and leverage their learning to change their lives. Ubongo reaches millions of families across Africa through accessible technologies like TV, radio and mobile phones. Our show’s Ubongo Kids and Akili and Me currently air in 18 African countries on free-TV and 6 African countries on radio in Swahili, English, French, Kinyarwanda, Luo, Kikuyu, Hausa, Juba Arabic, and Yoruba. And we’re currently working with partners to adapt our shows into isiZulu, Sesotho, and Chichewa.

We’ve been broadcasting on TV in Kenya since 2014, and currently our shows air on Akili Kids, Kirk TV, K24, Switch TV, CTN, Lolwe TV, MBC1 TV, NTV Kenya, Pillar TV, Riri, and TV 24 and reach over 2 million viewers monthly. Kenya is one of our priority markets, and we plan to deepen our impact and reach in the country in 2021 by focusing on:

• Adaptation and broadcast of content into Kikuyu and Luo
• Reaching underserved (kids we can’t reach via broadcast) kids through a diversity of partnerships (community radios, on-ground NGOs, local businesses like kiosks)
• Increasing inclusion of kids with disabilities
• Growing our audiences’ engagement with our content through non-broadcast products like YouTube, digital apps, eBooks, and merchandise

As the Kenya Country Representative, you will be the go-to person for Ubongo in Kenya. We are in the process of hiring a distribution coordinator who will also be based in Kenya, however, in the meantime, you’ll be the only on-ground Ubongoer based in Kenya, while working closely with other Ubongoers (our loving name for people who work at Ubongo), based in Tanzania, South Africa, Uganda, Rwanda, Nigeria, Malawi, and Cote D’Ivoire. This is a great time to join an organisation that’s rapidly growing across the continent, and work with a creative and impact-driven team committed to reaching as many families in Africa with life-changing edutainment.

We are looking for a self-motivated and dynamic Kenya Country Representative. To be a great fit, you’ll need to be:

• Self-motivated, with the ability to organize your time and deliver on goals with little direct supervision.
• A great communicator, with excellent written and oral communication skills in both English and Swahili. 
• Trustworthy, accountable, and authentic. One of our key organizational values is ‘Utu’ (which means shared humanity in Kiswahili), and having Utu characteristics is essential to working well with other Ubongoers, partners, and representing the organization effectively. 
• An empathetic pusher; we work with many different partners who may not always prioritize what we prioritize, so you need to be able to push to get things done, while still being understanding and empathetic
• Great storytelling skills that come through in public speaking and writing. We tell powerful stories and you need to be able to represent our brand well publicly and to partners.  
• Flexible and adaptable. You’ll need to have the ability to learn quickly and independently 
• A good listener
• Well-connected in the media and PR industries, and experienced in strategic communications
• Experienced in working within a non-profit company and promoting the organization globally (preferred but not essential)
• Skilled in using social media platforms like LinkedIn and Twitter for relationship-building and brand evangelism.
• Persistent and a go-getter! We have a big goal and have to get things done with limited resources.

And above all else, you have to love kids! They’re why we do what we do. Our kids’ music and videos will become part of your life (and constantly stuck in your head).

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Be Ubongo’s ambassador in Kenya and serve as a Ubongo spokesperson in Kenya communicating Ubongo’s vision, mission, and goals with our partners and supporters.
  • Be the partnership lead and point of contact for the current existing co-production partners and grant opportunities out of Kenya, coordinating relationships between the partners and other Ubongo teams
  • Represent partners (their needs and terms) in internal meetings, keeping track of timelines and deliverables.
  • Take lead on reporting to our partners in Kenya while ensuring accuracy and timely delivery.
  • Organize events to create brand awareness and spark interest around our work and impact.
  • Follow up on partnership (co-production, funding, publicity) opportunities; setting up meetings, taking and sharing notes, reporting to the Ubongo team, and ensuring deliverables are met
• Build partnerships to reach underserved kids, who we are currently not reaching via broadcast
  • Lead in creating and testing strategy for content distribution to underserved/last-mile kids (kids with no access to TV and radio). This will include working closely with the distribution coordinator to test and learn from distribution efforts, and building a team internally and a network of partners to support these efforts.
  • Build relationships with partners to expand the distribution of Ubongo content in Kenya. Reach out to potential broadcasters (both TV and Radio), VOD partners, schools and other distributors who would like to use our content for various platforms.
• Collaborate with digital products and marketing teams to exponentially grow audience engagement with non-broadcast products
  • Ensure that promotions and ads for YouTube, apps, ebooks etc are included in episodes delivered to broadcasters
  • Support marketing team to localise digital products and merchandise campaigns for Kenya, including, following up with Kenyan influencers and campaign partners
• Support and coordinate adaptation and broadcast of content for Kenya:
  • Work closely with local translators, dubbing studios, and the Ubongo adaptation manager to ensure timely delivery of Ubongo Kids and Akili and Me episodes and seasons in Kikuyu and Luo. Since you are on-the-ground, you will be directly responsible for following up with dubbing studios and other vendors to progress and delivery of adapted content on the agreed-upon timelines. 
  • Report on progress of adaptation deliverables to the Business, Adaptation, and Post-Production teams on a weekly basis
  • Solicit new partnerships with radio stations across Kenya to air English, Kiswahili, Luo and Kikuyu content
  • Support broadcast manager on communication and management of existing and new broadcasters, including, following up on contracts, delivering new content and show seasons, co-ordinating campaigns and market research efforts
• Support in Kenya related on-ground research efforts
  • Work with education team and research partners to organize focus groups, interviews, and workshops with kids (including kids with disabilities, kids from rural communities), caregivers and educators
  • Support implementation of market research surveys and monitoring and evaluation conducted in the country.