Communications Specialist – East Africa at Educate!

Performance Objectives 

Create compelling content, including impact stories, articles, blogs, social media posts and graphics, to support Educate!’s thought leadership and fundraising strategy.

• Draft, edit and project manage collation of real-life case studies and success stories that provide evidence of Educate!’s impact.
• Suggest ideas for impact stories, social media posts, articles and blogs.
• Run our LinkedIn channel, including posting and analytics.

Build systems and processes for collating stories from the field.

• Work closely with in-country teams to develop and maintain effective communication plans for gathering the information needed for content creation.
• Develop relationships with Educate! program officers, youth leaders and mentors, as well as external stakeholders for the purpose of story gathering.
• Manage a database of impact stories and build a local network of photographers and videographers.

Become the link between program and country teams in East Africa and the global communications and external relations function.

• Work with the Director of Marketing & Communications to create content/thought leadership material to advance our org-wide priorities. 
• Become an internal "expert" on specific products, solutions, or aspects of Educate!'s work that we can promote externally.
• Coach colleagues in East Africa on best practice in communications and troubleshoot to develop solutions as they arise on projects and systems.

Qualifications 

This position is well-suited for those with 8-10 years of communications experience. The ideal candidate will have: 

• Extremely strong written communication skills; comfort generating copy is a must.
• Experience in digital communications is a big advantage, as is any experience in media creation.
• An understanding of how to adapt and tailor communications, both written and verbal, for a variety of different audiences and purposes.
• The ability to review, summarize and present a high volume of information quickly and accurately with advanced structuring, writing and editing skills.
• Strong verbal communication skills, project management, and social judgment for cultivating relationships with colleagues in program and country teams, external stakeholders and young people.
• Passion and interest in youth development.
• Excellent organization and time management skills; experience working with a remote team to successfully manage multiple projects with competing timelines. 
• High degree of proficiency working in a fast-paced, flexible, goal-oriented environment, with the highest level of personal and professional integrity. 
• A self-starter, able to prioritize and manage multiple assignments and competing projects, take initiative, and work independently to a deadline.
• Willing to travel around East Africa up to once every two months to report on Educate!’s programs.

We’re also requiring for this position: 

• Degree in a related area 
• Bachelor’s Native proficiency in spoken and written English