Job Openings at Lwala Community Alliance

Overview

Our Health Systems Strengthening (HSS) Team leads Lwala’s policy and advocacy work to strengthen community health systems. The HSS Team works closely with our Communications & Development Team to develop advocacy strategies, communicate evidence and asks to target policymakers, and tell stories about how our work is changing the health system.

The Advocacy & Communications Manager sits within the HSS team and will report to the Health Systems Director , with linkages to the Communications & Development Team. The position will support policy, advocacy, and communications to advance community-led health at the county, national, and global level, as well as position Lwala as a leader in community health systems strengthening. The Advocacy & Communications Manager will be based in Kenya with travel required between Nairobi, Migori County, and 2 additional counties.

Key Responsibilities

The responsibilities of Advocacy & Communications Manager include, but are not limited to, the following:

1. Communications and Advocacy
2. Lead the development and execution of advocacy strategies to advance community-led health in national and county policy, in close collaboration with the HSS Director.
3. Develop and execute a communication strategy that targets key audiences in Kenya—including policymakers, technical staff in the Ministry of Health, partner organizations, and funders—in close collaboration with the Communications & Development Manager; produce communications materials with tailored content and messages.
4. Contribute to the Communications & Development Team editorial calendar, proactively identifying communication opportunities and conceptualizing new communication materials.
5. Track the development and revision of relevant policies, guidelines, curricula, etc. and identify opportunities for Lwala to contribute; conduct policy analysis as needed.
6. Liaise with program staff to identify success stories, key learnings, and programmatic milestones to document for advocacy and communication materials.
7. Conceptualize and author content for blogs/articles, briefs, fact sheets, newsletters, and quarterly and annual reports.
8. Own and drive Lwala’s social media strategy, including Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, LinkedIn, and Instagram; gather and create content for social media; create strategies to increase engagement with audiences in Kenya.
9. Lead media engagement in Kenya, including preparation of media briefs (whenever necessary), in consultation with the HSS Director.
10. Create conference abstracts and presentations for stakeholder meetings (e.g. MOH, technical working groups, partner organizations, donors).
11. Support relevant business development opportunities, including participation in project design and proposal development.
12. Support production of monthly monitoring & evaluation dashboard, focused on reporting on policy advocacy related indicators.
13. Lead the design of branding and communications materials, managing contractors when needed.
14. Provide technical support to Lwala staff on advocacy and communication efforts, including capacity building for staff if needed.
15. Relationship Management
16. Represent Lwala in national and global coalitions and technical working groups; contribute to coalition goals and activities.
17. Build partnerships with like-minded organizations to advance advocacy and positioning/business development goals.
18. Develop and maintain productive relationships with government staff, community health committees, health facility management committees, and local community.
19. Support in organising effective and impactful field visits for donors, partners, and other stakeholders.
20. Participate in sharing of learning and experience with the team, across the organization and with like-minded/peer organizations.
21. Support technical assistance to other stakeholders interested in replicating our community-led health model through health system strengthening and policy change.
22. Maintain good public relations and promote positive visibility of the work of Lwala.
23. Financial Management and Reporting
24. Develop weekly plans and activity requisitions for approval by the HSS Director.
25. Build a culture of accountability for organization’s resources on behalf the HSS program.
26. Prudently utilize and monitor financial and material resources allocated to HSS; timely liquidation of utilized funds as per Lwala’s finance policy.
27. Timely submission of reports and weekly updates.

Qualifications and Experience Required

1. Bachelor’s degree in a related field (e.g. public health, health systems management, health communications). Master’s degree is a plus.
2. At least seven years of relevant professional experience, including five years supporting advocacy and communications initiatives.
3. Demonstrated ability to communicate (orally and in writing) complex issues in a concise, compelling, and easily understandable manner, including the ability to analyze and draft policy. The ideal candidate will be an excellent storyteller.
4. Demonstrated experience developing communication materials, including blogs/articles, briefs, fact sheets, newsletters, and graphics for social media. Experience in photography/videography a plus.
5. Experience in social media strategy, content creation, and familiarly with strategies to increase engagement.
6. Demonstrated success in influencing public health policies at the national or subnational levels. Knowledge of community health issues desirable.
7. Demonstrated success planning and coordinating advocacy activities to support policy goals.
8. Proven ability to create and maintain effective working relationships with government personnel, NGO partners, and international organizations; experience working with coalitions desirable.
9. Experience interfacing with multiple communication channels, knowledge management systems, and online platforms.
10. Ability to work in a highly collaborative environment as part of a cross-disciplinary team operating across Kenya and the United States.
11. Ability to work independently with minimal direction and under tight deadlines.
12. Proficiency in MS Office products. Strong preference for proficiency in WordPress, mail chimp, and Adobe Illustrator (or other graphic design software).
13. Excellent English language writing and editing skills.

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State date: February 2022

Background

Founded by a group of committed Kenyans, Lwala builds the capacity of rural communities to advance their own comprehensive well-being. We support communities to design, implement, and evaluate solutions to their most pressing health challenges. Then, we build coalitions of communities, health workers, government, and universities to generate evidence of impact and infuse these insights into the formal health system in Kenya and beyond. This bottom-up change promises holistic solutions that are custom-built for the systems they are meant to reform.

The Role

Lwala is growing our strategic partnership and business development capacities to meet organizational needs and fundraising goals. In the last five years, we have grown from $1.3 million to over $8 million in annual revenue, with support from private foundations, technical health funders, and individual donors. In order to implement our ambitious 2025 Strategy, we expect to raise $50m over this 5-year period. To support the organization in reaching this goal, we are hiring a Strategic Partnerships Manager based in Kenya who will steward relationships with key donors and partners, scope new funding opportunities, and lead the development of successful proposals. This role will report to Lwala’s Co-CEO based in US and will work closely with the Co-CEO based in Nairobi and the Communications and Development Manager based in Washington DC.

Key Responsibilities

The responsibilities of the Strategic Partnerships Manager include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Work with Co-CEOs and Communications & Development Manager on donor prospecting and organization positioning.
• Develop a cultivation strategy and relationship mapping for large technical funders, including USAID, other bi-laterals as well as partners positioned to prime technical awards.
• Build and maintain relationships with key partner organizations; position Lwala as a partner/sub-grantee of choice on community-led health
• Scope funding opportunities lead the development of proposals, with special attention to program narratives, work plans, milestones, and budgets; liaise with program staff on the design of new or expanded initiatives.
• Develop concept notes aligned to institutional funder priorities and use these concepts and other tools to attract new partnerships.
• Lead the development of coalition/consortium proposals, including the negotiation of scope, roles, and budget; lead networking and positioning on behalf of coalitions where Lwala is a member.
• Navigate due diligence and compliance processes, including for USAID and other high compliance donors.
• Partner with communications and advocacy staff to develop and execute a communication strategy that targets key partner organizations and funders
• Author content for communications materials, as needed, in support of the Communications & Development team.
• Support knowledge management around donor engagement and cultivation.
• Support the grants management team in managing technical grants and be the lead on such grants.
• Work with the Communication & Development team to update grants management dashboard and track progress toward overall fundraising goals.

Qualifications and Experience Required

• Bachelor’s degree in a related field (e.g. public health, business development, health systems management). Master’s degree is preferred.
• Ten years of relevant, professional experience, including four years of experience related to strategic partnerships and business development.
• Knowledge of the funding landscape for health and development in Kenya, including existing relationships with key partners and donors. Knowledge of/experience with USAID bids is a plus.
• Demonstrated ability to develop winning proposals, including the ability to facilitate communication between program staff and leadership about program design, objectives, and milestones.
• Experienced relationship builder, with demonstrated ability to cultivate donors and build strong partnerships with implementing organizations.
• Demonstrated ability to communicate (orally and in writing) complex issues in a concise, compelling, and easily understandable manner.
• Ability to work in a highly collaborative environment and cross-disciplinary team and regularly take meetings outside of normal business hours to connect with colleagues in the United States.
• Strong desire and aptitude to manage people in the future.
• Ability to work independently with minimal direction and under tight deadlines.
• Maturity to tolerate nuance, handle competing priorities, multiple reporting relationships and communicate with executive-level leadership and a global audience.
• Process-oriented with capacity to develop and drive work plans and meet deadlines.
• Proficiency working with Microsoft Office including Excel and Google Suite.
• Must be a creative and strategic thinker, problem solver with good judgment, strong communicator, with excellent written, presentation, oral communications in English and interpersonal skills.
• Based in Kenya, with the ability to travel between Nairobi and Migori County.

What we offer

• Competitive salary with opportunity to grow
• Full benefits package including medical, vision, dental and group life plan
• Contributory pension scheme
• Annual leave of up to 22 days
• Exposure to global collaborators and opportunities to travel internationally
• Room to innovate and challenge systems
• A fun, collaborative and fast-paced working environment