Senior Communications Manager at Village Enterprise

Reports to: Director of Development and Marketing

Start Date: Sept. 1 2020

Travel: This role will have up to 40% travel in Uganda and Kenya (Covid-19 allowing, only when deemed safe and under strict safety protocols)

Position overview:

The Sr. Communications Manager is an in-country based position (Kenya or Uganda). This position serves as the Village Enterprise resident communicator. This person will be tasked to identify, collect, and share -- externally and internally -- a variety of compelling stories that represent Village Enterprise.

The Sr. Communications Manager will work in tandem with the Director of Development and Marketing and Chief Development Officer to manage a wide-ranging communications program with a specific focus on storytelling, pitching, media relations, internal communications, and social media with the key goal of maximizing awareness of Village Enterprise’s work.

Reporting to the Director of Development and Marketing, you will be an integral part of implementing Village Enterprise’s marketing/communications plan that aims to help reach the organization’s annual goals. You must be a communications ace with a passion for collaboration and have the ability to thrive in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment.

Job Description:

Storytelling and Communications

• Work to develop a story identification and tracking system
• Liaise with field staff to plan field visits to collect stories
• Compile stories (written, photo, and video content) for dissemination, internally and externally
• Write 1-2 blog posts a month
• Manage story bank and editorial calendar for social media, blog posts, and eblasts
• Create and manage talking points, press releases, fact sheets, and other background materials
• Source and manage opportunities for the Village Enterprise leadership team to serve as thought-leaders at events and conferences/webinars
• Assist leadership team in writing articles and/or white papers to build organizational thought-leadership
• Pitch stories to local and national media in Kenya and Uganda
• Assist the Director of Development and Marketing in managing PR agency

Social Media

• Manage social media messaging calendar
• Work to develop social media processes for post creation, scheduling, monitoring, and tracking
• Create compelling content to grow, engage, cultivate,and nurture Village Enterprise’s online communities
• Compile story content into platform specific content (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Linkedin)
• Develop relevant platform-specific KPIs and monitor performance accordingly
• Stay up-to-date on emerging platforms, technologies and industry best practices
• Design and implement social media campaigns as needed according to messaging calendar
• Develop, document, and manage content database for photos, video, and stories

Other

• Copy editing/report review
• Produce the monthly internal communications newsletter
• Help with message refinement and website development/update

Safeguarding

• Safeguarding is everyone's responsibility at VE, and it begins with me
• Communicate where necessary, uphold and adhere to VE photo safeguarding standards that protect the identities of our staff and program participants
• Report any incident of safeguarding in program operations for appropriate action/follow up.
• Support in investigations and input as required during safeguarding disciplinary processes

Who we are looking for:

• You are a self proclaimed storyteller. You are fascinated by the human experience, and helping others tell their stories brings you joy
• You are passionate by Village Enterprise’s mission
• You can work well independently but are energized by being part of a team
• You are patient, creative, and relentless about sharing a great story
• You’re an extremely strong, concise writer
• You have experience and success with pitching media/journalists in Kenya and Uganda

Qualifications/Requirements:

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience required
• Minimum of 5-8 years experience in public relations, communications, journalism, brand management, or a related field
• Experience in photography and videography -- including editing
• Demonstrated knowledge of mobile, emerging and social media, and advertising campaigns
• Understanding of the social media universe including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn
• Ability to adapt to create and adapt content to relevant audiences on Facebook, Twitter and other social media.
• Skills to own the planning, development, and implementation of projects
• Ability to work well under deadline pressure
• Technology savvy with understanding of digital design and editing
• Excellent communication skills, both written and oral, including the ability to collaborate with a culturally and geographically diverse team
• Highly organized and detail-oriented
• Self-starter with demonstrated ability to initiate, plan, and execute projects
• Excellent project management skills, including a strong track record of delivering projects on time and within budget
• Flexibility, patience, and a sense of humor

Desired Qualifications:

• Proficient in
  • Social Bakers and/or HootSuite or another social media monitoring platform
  • Wrike and/or other project management systems
  • Microsoft and Google Suites
  • Social media platforms
  • Google Analytics
  • Mailchimp
  • HTML, Wordpress, CSS, and Javascript
  • Adobe Creative Suite

Travel:

• This role will be required to travel between Village Enterprise areas of operations

Village Enterprise is an Equal Opportunity Employer.