Job Openings at Amref Kenya

Job Description

POSITION SUMMARY

• The Communications Officer supports effective, accurate, and timely communication of programme impact, progress, and learning within the country programme. The role ensures that programme narratives are locally relevant, evidence-based, and aligned to broader organisational positioning while strengthening visibility, stakeholder confidence, and community trust.
• This role will work closely with country programme teams, MEL, and leadership teams at country level. The Communications Officer translates technical programme content into accessible, credible communication products across appropriate platforms and channels. The role contributes to reputational stewardship, risk awareness, and institutional consistency within the country programme context.
• This role requires strong storytelling ability, professional judgement, adaptability, and the capacity to operate effectively within dynamic country programme and policy environments.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Country Communications Planning and Execution

• Support development and implementation of country-level communications plans aligned to programme priorities and organisational guidance.
• Translate programme activities, milestones, and learning into clear, compelling communication outputs for diverse stakeholders.
• Ensure country messaging aligns with approved programme narratives and avoids misrepresentation or overstatement.
• Ensure communications outputs are accurate, ethical, culturally appropriate, and aligned with Amref and programme values.

Content Development and Channel Management

• Develop high-quality communication materials including briefs, impact stories, social media content, reports, visibility materials, and event documentation aligned to donor and organizational guidelines.
• Support management of country digital platforms and media channels, ensuring consistency and quality standards.
• Coordinate editorial processes, approvals, and brand alignment for country-level outputs.

Stakeholder Engagement and Support

• Support fulfilment of donor visibility and communications requirements at country level.
• Collaborate with programme and MEL teams to translate evidence and results into accessible narrative products.
• Contribute communications inputs to donor reports, proposals, and stakeholder updates.
• Support local stakeholder engagement events and media interactions in coordination with country leadership.

Cross-functional Coordination

• Work closely with leadership, country programme, and MEL teams to ensure communications reflect delivery realities and learning.
• Support alignment between programme reporting cycles and communications outputs.
• Participate in planning discussions to anticipate communications needs related to programme adaptation or policy engagement.

Continuous Improvement & Capability Strengthening

• Contribute to strengthening country-level programme communications systems, templates, and workflows.
• Share lessons learned and feedback to improve clarity, reach, and resonance of communications outputs.
• Support structured documentation of messaging to maintain institutional memory at country level.
• Stay informed of emerging communications trends and digital tools relevant to country operations.

Crisis Communication Support:

• Identify potential communications sensitivities or reputational risks within the country programme and escalate appropriately.
• Support the implementation of prescribed crisis communication to manage country programme risk, enable timely responses to issues that may affect country programme delivery, integrity, donor confidence, or community trust.
• Comply with defined escalation pathways, roles, and decision rights (RACI Matrix) for media and external engagement.

Branding and Visibility

• Strengthen country programme visibility and coherence through consistent application of a unified programme brand identity, narrative, and purpose across all communications outputs.
• Adhere to brand and communications guidelines, ensuring effective implementation for country programme teams.
• Support the implementation and maintenance of a communications knowledge repository at country level to support institutional memory, learning, and consistent use of approved messaging and assets across the programme lifecycle.

KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS (SUCCESS MEASURES) – Building the right platform and creating lasting impact

• Clear and credible country narrative: Country programme messaging is consistent, accurate, and aligned with organisational guidance. Communications outputs reflect programme realities and evidence without misrepresentation. Stakeholders demonstrate improved understanding of country programme objectives and impact.
• Stakeholder and Donor confidence: Donor visibility requirements are met on time and to agreed quality standards. Communications contributions strengthen donor reporting and stakeholder engagement. Media and public-facing content reinforces programme credibility and professionalism.
• Timely & High-Quality Content Delivery: Communication products are delivered within agreed timelines and meet editorial standards. Digital and offline platforms reflect updated, relevant, and engaging content. Documentation and archiving processes ensure continuity of messaging.
• Communications risk management: Communications risks are identified early and managed appropriately. No significant reputational issues arise due to inaccurate, misaligned, or poorly coordinated messaging
• Cross-functional collaboration:  Strong working relationships established with programme, MEL, and leadership teams. Communications is integrated into planning and reporting cycles rather than treated as an afterthought.
• Continuous improvement: Communications approaches demonstrate increasing clarity, audience relevance, and measurable engagement. Feedback and lessons learned are incorporated into subsequent communications planning.

Qualifications

EDUCATION AND PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor’s degree in Communications, Journalism, Media Studies, Development Communication, or a related field.
• Membership in an accredited local, regional or international professional body such as International Association of Business Communicators (IABC), Public Relations Society of Kenya (PRSK), Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM), Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR), Media Council of Kenya (MCK), etc

EXPERIENCE

• Four (4) to six (6) years of experience in strategic communications, public relations, journalism or international relations with at least one (1) year of supervisory experience within development, social enterprise, or mission-driven organisations;
• Proven track record in media relations, stakeholder engagement, change and crisis communication;  
• Experience developing and executing communications strategies and plans aligned to programme goals;
• Exceptional storytelling, content development, editorial and interpersonal communication skills;
• Experience translating technical and MEL data into accessible narratives;
• Experience in strategic advisory, crisis communication, digital communications, media relations, and communication risk management in regulated or donor-driven environments; and
• Proficiency in Adobe Photoshop, InDesign, Canva, Illustrator, and other data visualization or graphic design software is an added advantage.
• Fluent in written and oral English.

CORE COMPETENCIES

• Strategic Planning: Establishes an action plan for self and others to complete work efficiently and on time by setting priorities, establishing timelines, leveraging and optimizing resources. Commits to a course of action to accomplish a goal after developing alternatives based on logical assumptions, facts, available resources, constraints and Amref values..
• Entrepreneurial mindset: Adapts messaging in response to emerging country developments, risks, or opportunities; tests and refines communications approaches to improve reach and engagement within local context. Applies creativity to strengthen country-level storytelling, digital engagement, and audience reach within established guidelines.
• Ownership and accountability: Demonstrates initiative in identifying inefficiencies, compliance risks, and process gaps within day-to-day grant administration. Proposes practical improvements and adapts quickly within evolving donor and programme environments. Balances flexibility with accountability by applying sound professional judgement in routine grant decisions.
• Enabling change: Encourages self and others to implement better approaches to address problem and opportunities; leads the implementation and acceptance of change for self and team. Supports programme teams through messaging related to programme adaptations or policy developments, ensuring clarity and credibility during transitions.
• Driving results: Takes personal accountability for accuracy, timeliness, and completeness of sub-grant documentation and reporting. Monitors assigned deadlines and follows through proactively to ensure milestones are met. Maintains high standards for quality, timeliness, and accuracy of communications outputs; follows through persistently on content development and approvals.
• Influencing: Uses clear, persuasive communication approaches to support stakeholder understanding, collaboration, and alignment within the country context.
• Creating an inclusive environment: Makes decisions and initiates action to ensure that programme policies leverage the capabilities and insights of individuals with diverse backgrounds, cultures, styles, abilities and motivation. Ensures communications respect diverse community perspectives, cultural norms, and safeguarding standards.
• Proactive Learner: Identifying own strengths and shortcomings that impact organizational and programme results; actively pursuing development experiences that will enhance own impact on long-term organizational outcomes.

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Job Description

POSITION SUMMARY

• The MEL Advisor provides strategic leadership on monitoring, evaluation, and learning for the programme across Kenya, focused on creating dignified employment for young people and particularly young women through the professionalization of community-based health work.
• The role exists to ensure that evidence informs decisions, learning drives adaptation, and results are credible to donors, governments, and partners. The MEL Advisor translates programme strategy into clear results frameworks, robust data systems, and meaningful learning processes that support delivery, scale, and systems change for the programme.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Strategic MEL Leadership

• Lead the design, monitoring and roll-out of county-wide MEL frameworks aligned to agreed outcomes for youth employment, gender equity, and health systems strengthening;
• Safeguard consistency, comparability, and credibility of results across projects and time.

Evidence, Learning and Decision Support

• Ensure evidence is available and accessible to inform programme-level decisions, including scale, adaptation, and resource allocation
• Facilitate structured learning processes that enable teams to reflect on performance and improve delivery; and
• Maintain a balance between accountability, learning and impact, ensuring cohesion.

Accountability, Reporting and External Credibility

• Oversee programme-level results reporting to donors and partners, ensuring accuracy, integrity, and insight;
• Ensure MEL systems and data are audit- and evaluation-ready throughout the programme lifecycle;
• Protect the credibility of programme results through sound methodology and ethical data practices.

MEL Systems and Capability Building

• Strengthen programme country-level MEL capacity to ensure consistent application of standards
• Build judgment and confidence in programme MEL staff, reducing reliance on individual leaders for direction;
• Ensure learning flows across the country programme, not only vertically through management lines.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Work collaboratively with Programme, Finance, Grants, and Communications functions to ensure alignment between delivery, evidence, and narrative and provide MEL insight as a programme resource, not as a managerial control mechanism.

Stakeholder Engagement and Influence

• Engage donors, government counterparts, and partners to align learning priorities and manage expectations and strengthen the use of evidence for decision making;
• Facilitate cross-country and cross-partner learning communities to promote knowledge exchange and shared problem-solving; and
• Promote co-creation of learning with implementing partners and communities, ensuring that learning processes are inclusive and contextually grounded.

KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS (SUCCESS MEASURES) – Building the right platform and creating lasting impact

• Results and Indicator design: Designs and applies results frameworks, theories of change, aligned to programme objectives; ensures indicators are gender-responsive and sensitive to youth employment and health systems outcomes; and aligns programme indicators with donor requirements and organisational standards;
• Data collection systems and tools: Establishes and manages data collection systems; selects and applies appropriate quantitative and qualitative data collection tools; ensures consistency of tools and methodologies across programme while accommodating local context; and oversees digital and manual data systems where relevant.
• Data Quality Assurance & Management: Implements data quality assurance (DQA) processes, including verification, validation, and routine checks; manages data storage, documentation, and version control in line with organisational standards; ensures data integrity, completeness, timeliness, and reliability; and addresses data quality issues proactively and systematically.
• Learning and Adaptive Management: Designs and facilitates structured learning processes, including reflection sessions and after-action reviews; designs and facilitates structured learning processes, including reflection sessions and after-action reviews; supports leadership and teams to make evidence-informed decisions; and maintains a balance between accountability and learning.
• Reporting accountability: Manages evaluation timelines, budgets, and stakeholder engagement; ensures consistency between MEL data, global and country-level programme narratives, and financial reporting; Supports audit and review processes from a results and evidence perspective; supports audit and review processes from a results and evidence perspective; maintains reporting schedules and quality standards.
• Knowledge Management & Evidence Use: Organises programme knowledge, lessons learned, and evidence for accessibility and reuse; supports documentation of good practices, challenges, and learning; and enables programme knowledge sharing.
• MEL Capacity Building: Strengthens MEL capability at project level through guidance, training, and coaching; supports MEL staff to exercise sound judgment, not just follow templates; and reduces dependency on central oversight through capability transfer.
• Ethical & Responsible Data Practice: Applies ethical standards in data collection, analysis, and reporting in accordance with country data privacy acts; ensures informed consent, confidentiality, and data protection; uses data responsibly, avoiding misuse or misrepresentation, and upholds organisational and donor ethical requirements.

Qualifications

EDUCATION AND PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor’s degree in Statistics, Biostatistics, International Development or Development Studies, Public Health, Social Sciences or a related field. A Master’s degree is an added advantage.
• Professional Diplomas in the MEL field including but not limited to MEL DPro (Monitoring, Evaluation and Accountability for Development Professionals).

EXPERIENCE

• Minimum of seven (7) years of relevant experience, with at least three (3) years of senior leadership experience with proven experience in MEL leadership within the development sector.
• Demonstrable research experience (e.g. operational research, implementation research, and peer-reviewed research), as well as experience in data management (qualitative and quantitative analysis) and report writing.
• Experience designing MEL systems, dashboards, and reporting tools;
• Proven experience engaging senior government, donor, and private-sector stakeholders;
• Experience in M&E of health systems, workforce development, or youth employment, exposure to gender-responsive or inclusive employment models; and
• Demonstrable project management skills, including budgeting, planning, reporting and attention to operational detail.

CORE COMPETENCIES

• Strategic Planning: Obtains and identifies key issues and relationships relevant to achieving long-range goals; commits to a course of action to accomplish a goal after developing alternatives based on logical assumptions, facts, available resources, constraints and Amref values.
• Driving innovation: Open to new ideas and experiences; seeks out learning opportunities; handles situations and problems with innovation and creativity; thinks broadly and strategically; supports and drives organizational change.
• Driving for results: Sets high goals for personal and team accomplishment; uses measurement methods to monitor progress toward programme goals; tenaciously works to meet or exceed goals while deriving satisfaction from that achievement and continuous achievement.
• Creating an inclusive environment: Makes decisions and initiates action to ensure that programme policies leverage the capabilities and insights of individuals with diverse backgrounds, cultures, styles, abilities and motivation.
• Delegation and empowerment: Identifies and leverages opportunities to accelerate results and build capability by assigning tasks to individuals or own team with clear boundaries, expectations, support and follow-up, with the intent of involving others in agreement, for successful outcomes.
• Innovative leadership: Creating a culture that inspires people to generate novel solutions with measurable impact for existing and potential stakeholders (internal and external); encouraging experimentation with new ways to solve work problems and seize opportunities that result in unique and differential solutions.
• Proactive Learner: Identifying own strengths and shortcomings that impact organizational and programme results; actively pursuing development experiences that will enhance own impact on long-term organizational outcomes.