Communications Manager - Nairobi, Kenya - Mercy Corps

Description

About Mercy Corps

Mercy Corps' Sudan crisis response seeks to meet the humanitarian needs of vulnerable Sudanese and other conflict-affected people across the country. Mercy Corps Sudan is recognized as a leader in market systems, agricultural, and food security and building on this experience, the MC Sudan humanitarian program will layer in resilience and other program activities where appropriate and feasible to do so. Assistance is delivered with a focus on needs, in partnership with local actors and civil society.

The Program / Department / Team

The Cash Consortium of Sudan (CCS) is a collaborative platform to advance a progressive vision of the potential of cash assistance to transform humanitarian response and recovery in partnership with vulnerable conflict-affected populations. CCS is led by Mercy Corps, building on its global experience and learning on leading cash consortia in multiple country contexts, as well as general expertise in cash coordination and breadth of technical resources. International partners include Acted, CARE, the International Rescue Committee (IRC), and the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), each of which bring strong cash and complementary technical competencies, as well as expansive operational coverage in Sudan. The CCS also includes nine Sudanese NGOs as partners in alignment with global aid sector commitments to enhance the prominence of local actors in driving humanitarian response and recovery. IMPACT is a non-implementing partner dedicated to Monitoring, Evaluation, Research and Learning. IMPACT will support quality data systems and an objective evidence base that will be essential to CCS' accountability and adaptive management to refine programming approaches to enhance impact as the Sudan crisis context evolves. The CCS will work closely with other consortia and actors in Sudan to deliver an effective CVA response for communities affected by the crisis.

The core pillars of the CCS response include: 1) basic needs through cash assistance both at the community level through Group Cash Transfers (GCTs) delivered to Community-Based Organizations (CBOs), as well as at the household-level through Multi-Purpose Cash Assistance (MPCA); 2) strengthening market systems to ensure resilience of key market actors and supply chains as well as strengthening the availability and affordability of key commodities; 3) strengthening capacity of local partner organizations with an emphasis on accompaniment and mentorship; and 4) generation of learning and evidence to inform broader response efforts.

General Position Summary

The CCS Communications Manager is a bold and proactive individual. The Communications Manager will work very closely with the CCS Secretariat as well as national and international partner organizations. The Communications Manager will be a critical member of CCS team, tasked with keeping abreast of developments in the country, Reporting of projects and stakeholder communications and the creation of communication materials and communications surrounding our programs, strategies and impact. The Communications Manager is responsible for ensuring that existing and future donors, partners and stakeholders are aware of CCS programs and activities, ensuring that staff within our organization have the right information, knowledge and assets to communicate with their relevant stakeholders. The Communications Manager is expected to be tech-savvy, innovative and a fast thinker. The Communications Manager oversees a Communications Officer based in Sudan.

Essential Job Responsibilities

Communications

• Develop a communications plan, including development of a website and social media presence.
• Write, edit, and distribute various types of content, including material for a website, press releases, marketing material and other types of content that take the message to the public.
• Lead and/ or support partners to collect content, such as interviews with program participants, success stories, video, and photo coverage of program events for dissemination to various audiences and reports.
• Create and produce internal newsletters for the consortium.

Accountability to Beneficiaries

Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our beneficiaries and to international standards guiding international relief and development work, while actively engaging beneficiary communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring, and evaluation of our field projects.

Supervisory Responsibility

Communications Officer (in Sudan)

Security

• Ensure compliance with security procedures and policies as determined by country leadership.
• Proactively ensure that team members operate in a secure environment and are aware of policies.

Accountability

Reports Directly To: CCS Director.

Works Directly With: CCS Secretariat, local and international partner organizations

Accountability to Participants and Stakeholders

Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our program participants, community partners, other stakeholders, and to international standards guiding international relief and development work. We are committed to actively engaging communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring, and evaluation of our projects.

Knowledge and Experience

• Hold a degree in Communications, Political Sciences, Public Information, International Relations, or a related field, Master's preferred.
• Minimum 4 years of relevant experience working in media, journalism, advocacy, or communications and marketing, or in closely related external relations contexts.
• Very good technical affinity for media contexts including knowledge of a wide range of multimedia, web, and digital tools.
• Outstanding newswriting and editing skills and social media skills.
• Graphic design skills are strongly preferred.
• Fluency in English and Arabic, both written and verbal

Success Factors

The CCS Communications Manager is proactive and has a strong team spirit. S/He will have excellent abilities to absorb and synthesize information on the operational context and CCS programming impacts in a compelling way for various target audiences. S/He will have good partnership management and interpersonal skills skills and will be dynamic, agile and able to apply innovative approaches and strategic thinking to support effective communications from the CCS. S/He will have the ability to work with tight deadlines and produce work of a high quality.

Living Conditions / Environmental Conditions

The position is based in Nairobi, Kenya and it requires up to 40% travel to support consortium programming in Sudan and neighboring countries such as Chad, South Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia. This may include travel to insecure locations where freedom of movement is limited and areas where amenities are limited.

Mercy Corps team members represent the agency both during and outside work hours when deployed in operational countries or on a visit to a program site. Team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner and respect local laws, customs and MC's policies, procedures, and values at all times and in all in-country venues.

Fostering a diverse and open workplace is an important part of Mercy Corps' vision. Mercy Corps is an Equal Opportunity Employer regardless of background. We are committed to creating an inclusive environment.

Organizational Learning

As part of our commitment to organizational learning and in support of our understanding that learning organizations are more effective, efficient and relevant to the communities they serve, we expect all team members to commit 5% of their time to learning activities that benefit Mercy Corps as well as themselves.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Achieving our mission begins with how we build our team and work together. Through our commitment to enriching our organization with people of different origins, beliefs, backgrounds, and ways of thinking, we are better able to leverage the collective power of our teams and solve the world's most complex challenges. We strive for a culture of trust and respect, where everyone contributes their perspectives and authentic selves, reaches their potential as individuals and teams, and collaborates to do the best work of their lives.

We recognize that diversity and inclusion is a journey, and we are committed to learning, listening, and evolving to become more diverse, equitable and inclusive than we are today.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Mercy Corps is an equal opportunity employer that does not tolerate discrimination on any basis. We actively seek out diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and skills so that we can be collectively stronger and have sustained global impact.

We are committed to providing an environment of respect and psychological safety where equal employment opportunities are available to all. We do not engage in or tolerate discrimination on the basis of race, color, gender identity, gender expression, religion, age, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin, disability (including HIV/AIDS status), marital status, military veteran status or any other protected group in the locations where we work.

Safeguarding & Ethics

Mercy Corps is committed to ensuring that all individuals we come into contact with through our work, whether team members, community members, program participants or others, are treated with respect and dignity. We are committed to the core principles regarding prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse laid out by the UN Secretary General and IASC. We will not tolerate child abuse, sexual exploitation, abuse, or harassment by or of our team members. As part of our commitment to a safe and inclusive work environment, team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner, respect local laws and customs, and to adhere to Mercy Corps Code of Conduct Policies and values at all times. Team members are required to complete mandatory Code of Conduct e-learning courses upon hire and on an annual basis.