Head of Communications and Media – Ethiopia Country Office( Re-advert )

at Save the Children
Location Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Date Posted June 27, 2021
Category Communication
Journalism
Job Type Full-time
Currency ETB

Description

Position - Head Of Communication

No of Positions: 1

Duty Station: Addis Ababa

ROLE PURPOSE:

 The Head of Communications and Media is responsible for leading strategic communications for projects and the organization and serves as the official spokesperson for Save the Children Ethiopia country office. The post holder will be the public face of the orgnansiation, leads strategic and a external communication work, including but not limited to crisis communication. He/ She will develop, adapt and manage Country Office’s communication and media strategy, guidelines, plans etc. The position holder will produce high level and high quality communication products such as statements, briefs, case stories, reports etc. to be shared internally within the Country Office and wider Save the Children International movement.

Child Safeguarding:

Level 3 - the responsibilities of the post may require the post holder to have regular contact with or access to children or young people

SCOPE OF ROLE: 

Reports to: Deputy Country Director, Program Development, Quality and Impact

Dimensions: Save the Children works in all regions in Ethiopia with a current staff complement of approximately 1,700 members and current expenditure of approximately $110+ million each year.

Staff directly reporting to this post:  3-4

A.KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY: 

Planning and Implementation of a CO communications strategy

·  Work with the key CO staff, regional office staff particularly Advocacy, Media and Communications team, the Global Media Unit team based in London and others to flesh out and implement the country office’s internal and external communication strategy and guidelines.

·  Develop and rollout a specific, time-bound plan of the internal and external communications strategy

·  Monitor the progress of the implementation of the communications strategies and adapt it to new opportunities

·  Develop and roll out annual communication and media plan for the CO with/through the involvement of relevant managers.

·  Leads on the development of humanitarian communication packs for specific categorized responses including but not limited to proactively writing reactive statements, media briefs, proactive press statements and guidelines for sensitive humanitarian communication.

External Communications and Media

·  Develop external communications and media strategies/guidelines to guide the engagement of Save the Children Ethiopia Country office with the media and general public, including social media

·  Ensure that all media messages and engagements are developed to the highest level of quality and timeliness and then approved by the Country Director or PDQ- DCD, as appropriate

·  Oversee, develop, revise and communicates latest signoff and external engagement processes and protocols with all staff and appropriate stakeholders

· Identify media topics, prepare media messages, assess appropriate media channels for communicating those messages and facilitate the process of disseminating/communicating those messages

·  Develop guidelines and monitor the quality of external events including but not limited to those labelled media sensitive

·  Establish proactive, strategic and beneficial relationship with the media that can help in advancing Save the Children’s strategic priorities in Ethiopia

·  Familiarise himself/herself with the work of Save the Children Ethiopia to effectively represent the organisation in media engagements where relevant, including but not limited to crisis and sensitive communication 

·   Ensure the quality of all materials and products that will be produced and shared with external stakeholders/audiences as it relates to branding requirements, sign off procedures and communication redlines established and revised as appropriate

·   Advice and guide the SLT on pertinent media agenda as it relates to Save the Children’s work, keep them abreast of current developments to inform our public engagement and provide capacity building trainings to selected staff on media engagement, content development and public facing campaigns as appropriate

·   Advice and guide regional and global media colleagues on Ethiopia’s representation on our global and regional media work, provide up-to-date information on redlines and sign off protocols for media content on the country, provide feedback and serve as backstop for the CO for global communication and media packs that mention Ethiopia

·  Work closely with relevant program or functional leaders of the country office in identifying, producing, organising and disseminating/communicating on the works of the country office/programs to external stakeholders, including the media

·  Enure adequate budgeting and planning for external events and continued media engagement

Internal Communications

·  Develop internal communications strategies and guidelines that follow SCI global guidelines and good practices

· Ensure the production of standard communications materials and services regarding CO programs through the application and application of of minimum standards

·  Ensure the production and dissemination of periodic communication materials such as leaflets, updates, stories of success etc. by working with relevant program/function leads CO

·  Ensure appropriate communications materials are communicated through appropriate channels including messages to staff, the web-site, project briefs, and other channels

·  Develop and oversee implement a strategy for communications among CO staff

·  Ensure that cross cutting themes like child participation, gender, disability are mainstreamed in all media and communications work

Capacity building

·  identify communications capacity gaps of SCI Ethiopia Country Office and its partners and work to ensure they are improved

·   Develop and implement communications capacity building plan in general with particular focus on identifying, planning and implementing communication initiatives, methods and skills of documenting and communicating lessons and good practices

·  Build staff capacity in developing and implementing community level communication initiatives

·   Build capacity of key staff at all levels to ensure they are able to be effective ambassadors for SCI work in Ethiopia

·  Ensure key staff have media training

Staff and budget management

·  Lead and manage the communication team and their reports.

·   Work with the program development unit, projects, and the Finance and Awards Departments to ensure that all positions are budgeted within awards

·  Oversee that all direct staff proactively build and maintain technical skills and competencies required for leading their communications responsibilities

·   Manage the performance of the Communication Team through:

o   Effective use of the Performance Management System including the establishment of clear, measureable objectives, provision of ongoing feedback, periodic reviews and fair and unbiased performance evaluations;

o   Coaching, mentoring and accessing capacity development opportunities;

o   Recognition and rewards for outstanding performance;

·Support the development of an organisational culture that reflects our dual mandate values, promotes accountability and high performance, encourages a team culture of learning, creativity and innovation, and frees up our people to deliver outstanding results for children and excellent customer service for our members and donors.

·  Identify succession plans and team members with high capacity for future promotion.

·  Manage the budget of the communications unit with the eventual objective of managing most/all project communications budgets to provide comprehensive communications services for projects.

SKILLS AND BEHAVIOURS (our Values in Practice)

Accountability:

§  Holds self-accountable for making decisions, managing resources efficiently, achieving and role modelling Save the Children values

§  Holds suppliers accountable to deliver on their responsibilities

Ambition:

§  Sets ambitious and challenging goals for themselves and takes responsibility for their own personal development

§  Widely shares their personal vision for Save the Children, engages and motivates others

§  Future orientated, thinks strategically and on a global scale

Collaboration:

§  Approachable, good listener, easy to talk to; builds and maintains effective relationships with colleagues, Members and external partners and supporters

§  Values diversity and different people’s perspectives, able to work cross-culturally.

Creativity:

§  Develops and encourages new and innovative solutions

§  Cuts away bureaucracy and encourages an entrepreneurial approach

Integrity:

§  Honest, encourages openness and transparency, builds trust and confidence

§  Displays consistent excellent judgement

 

Job Requirements

QUALIFICATION AND EXPERIENCE

Experience and Skills: 

·       Masters or post graduate degree in social science, human rights, development, international relations, journalism/mass communication and media

·       At least ten years of experience in leading communications teams/initiatives

·       Knowledge of and/or direct work experience in the non-profit sector

·       Experience in developing and implementing communications improvement strategies

·       Human resources Personnel and budget management experience

·       Excellent representational skills with a proven track record of influencing key audiences

·       Demonstrated ability to think strategically, to analyze complex information and offer creative, practical and effective solutions

·       Excellent influencing and negotiation skills, including an ability to deal with people at all levels with credibility, tact, and diplomacy

·       Excellent written and verbal communications skills, and an ability to produce good quality documents, information for a variety of audiences and communicate good practices

·       Competencies in utilizing technological solutions for communication

·       Strong inter-organisational skill such as networking, negotiation and communication.

·       Willing and able to travel time to support field teams as security permits

·       Ability to produce high-quality communications products and services under tight deadlines

·       Excellent English skills, both verbal and written, required.

Skills and Experience:

KEY COMPETENCIES

Technical competencies:

·      Ensures linkages across portfolio ensuring quality and coherence of MEAL systems and evidence gathering

·      Manages resources and capacities to develop and maintain quality MEAL systems

·      Facilitates strategic alignment of data to global priorities

Generic Competencies

·      Child Rights: Promotes an enabling environment for participation, and accountability to children

·      Be the Innovator: Promotes innovation to find new and better approaches to driving progress for children

Deliver Results at Scale: Promotes a clear focus on impact in a project and programme design, management, and oversight

Generic Competencies

  • Being the Voice of Children: Promotes evidence-based policy and public engagement that includes the voices of children and their communities
  •  Advancing Equality & Inclusion: Displays a commitment to ensuring everything we do considers the most deprived and marginalized children and adolescent
  • Building & Strengthening Partnerships: Promotes working with diverse partners as critical to delivery

Child Rights: Promotes the rights of children in own work and in work with colleagues and peer's,

Additional job responsibilities

The duties and responsibilities as set out above are not exhaustive and the role holder may be required to carry out additional duties within reasonableness of their level of skills and experience.

Equal Opportunities

The role holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with SCI’s global Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and Gender Equality Policies, supported by relevant procedures.

Child Safeguarding:

We need to keep children safe so our selection process, which includes rigorous background checks, reflects our commitment to the protection of children from abuse.

Safeguarding our Staff:

The post holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with the SCI anti-harassment policy. 

Health and Safety

The role holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with SC Health and Safety policies and procedures.

We offer a competitive package in the context of the sector. The duty station of the position holder will be in Addis Ababa This role is offered on the basis of national terms and conditions only.

The Organization
We employ approximately 25,000 people across the globe and work on the ground in over 100 countries to help children affected by crises, or those that need better healthcare, education and child protection. We also campaign and advocate at the highest levels to realize the right of children and to ensure their voices are heard.

We are working towards three breakthroughs in how the world treats children by 2030:
• No child dies from preventable causes before their 5th birthday
• All children learn from a quality basic education and that,
• Violence against children is no longer tolerated

We know that great people make a great organization, and that our employees play a crucial role in helping us achieve our ambitions for children. We value our people and offer a meaningful and rewarding career, along with a collaborative and inclusive environment where ambition, creativity, and integrity are highly valued.

 

Applying Instructions

Application Information:

Please attach a copy of your CV and cover letter with your application, and include details of your current remuneration and salary expectations. A copy of the full role profile can be found at http://www.savethechildren.net/careers

We need to keep children safe so our selection process, which includes rigorous background checks, reflects our commitment to the protection of children from abuse.
All employees are expected to carry out their duties in accordance with our global anti-harassment policy.

HOW TO APPLY
Interested applicants who meet the MINIMUM requirements should apply using the below link:

https://stcuk.taleo.net/careersection/ex/jobsearch.ftl?lang=en

WARNING: Do not to pay any money to get a job. Please report fraudulent jobs to info@newjobsethiopia.com