Project Communications Officer – EMEAA Bureau – Africa

Reporting Line: The Communications Officer reports to Head of Communications and External Relations (HQ).
Place of Work: S/he will be based in the main office at the country level, overseeing multiple implementation Countries in Africa (DRC, NIGER, Mauritania) with frequent trips to the Countries field.

Responsibilities

Under the supervision of RET’s Director of Communications and External Relations, the Communications Officer is responsible to:

• Create a Communications Strategy for specific projects and implement its action plan according to RET’s and donors’ guidelines and requirements.
• Producing Visual and Institutional Communications toolkit for specific projects, including Communications materials (Booklets, brochures, videos, presentations, articles, press releases, Interactive digital stories…etc) and campaigns to highlight the outcomes of projects/achievements/milestones and/or disseminate specific key messages to different target audiences and promote brand recognition among the communities, and local partners.
• Facilitate Field visits for HQ, donors and or partners visiting the implementation sites and handling all media coordination and Press releases in line with RET’s guidelines and procedures.
• Develop Institutional content and designs as needed respecting RET Visual & institutional identity and illustrating communications objectives into clear, aesthetics layouts through various mediums/tools.
• Assist in communications to the staff (internal communications) and produce the communications tools staff need in their daily work (service cards, business cards, outreach material, etc.);
• Assist in developing and implementing advocacy campaigns or awareness campaigns for projects and or events, including drafting campaigns strategies and action plans.
• Organize trainings with key staff members on issues such as RET’s mandate, RET’s Communication Toolkit, RET’s Institutional Identity, RET’s Security and Consent procedures, safe use of personal social media, etc. Guarantee that the country staff is aware of (and uses) RET’s main communications tools, identity, taglines and global mission; Ensure the country staff understand issues of security and consent when taking pictures/videos or posting on personal social media and verify that RET’s official communications procedures are followed.
• Help create content on RET’s activities and achievements for various countries for use on RET’s global media platforms (website, social media, newsletters, global brochures, etc.);
• Coordinate with the RET country staff to find the stories, facts, data and testimonies needed to create content.
• Draft clear and well targeted texts and articles for print, website, social media and any online use and expand brand to digital landscape such as banners/campaigns, interactive stories and advocacy campaign for outreach and for Social media.
• Responsible of collecting, archiving, documenting all Comms materials produced during the project (including photos, videos, presentations, news…etc) on the organization Intranet.
• Ensure all content has gone through the proper internal validation channels before publication.
• Produce a well-organized and safe photo record of RET’s presence in the country.
• Design layouts for print and digital materials in line with RET’s institutional visual identity and core messages.
• Work with external professionals (draft briefs, follow procurement rules, negotiate prices, verify the quality, coordinate with other RET departments such as logistics and finance or RET HQ) when needed to produce high-end designs and videos.
• Develop a strong knowledge of the main service providers of print and digital material in the regions of project implementation and create profession relationships with them.
• Understand and remain up to date in printing processes, color codes and formats; know the printing materials and their properties, have an understanding of average prices in order to produce material that corresponds to the needs of the team;

Secondary Tasks

• Understand the media landscape of the region of implementation and develop a contact list of the main journalists RET may need to interact with;
• Up-to-date in printing processes, color codes, and formats; know the printing materials and their properties, have an understanding of average prices to produce material that corresponds to the needs of the team;
• Complete any additional task, as requested by the Director of Communications and External Relations.

Competencies Required

• Bachelor in communications, Design Arts, Political Science or other related fields;
• Previous experience (3+) working in communication or journalist position (or any other position requiring regular content creation.);
• Excellent written and oral communication skills both in English and French; any additional language such as German, Spanish, Turkish, Arabic would be considered an asset;
• An ability to think strategically and view communications as a tool to reach the objectives of the organization; Strong capacity to synthetize complex issues and a strong inclination towards clarity of thought.
• A strong sense of aesthetics and design.
• A capacity and natural inclination to closely follow security and consent verifications, internal procedures and rules;

Technical Competencies

• Strong understanding and practical knowledge of (1) Social Media Content Management and (2) Website Content Management Systems (CMS);
• Design Skills, Video Editing Skills, Photography Skills: Proficiency with design and video softwares (Adobe Creative Could, InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, Premiere Pro, Final Cut);
• Excellent word processing and IT skills, including knowledge of a range of software packages and comprehensive capabilities in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams, Sharepoint);

In addition, like all RET Staff

• Comply with internal policies, ensuring that activities and their performance comply with what is established in RET’s Code of Conduct and other Manuals.
• Work as a team member to achieve RET’s goals.
• Manage in a transparent way RET’s resources, fulfilling effectively and efficiently the tasks entrusted.
• Propose, constructively, alternative solutions to problems that arise in the work area.

How to apply:

To apply please visit:

https://retgermany.de/jobs/project-communications-officer-emeaa-bureau-africa/

Due to the urgency to fill this post, RET reserves the right to review the CVs on a rolling basis and selected candidates may be interviewed prior to the closing dates listed, therefore early applications are encouraged. RET is not in a position to respond to every applicant individually due to the anticipated high number of applications. Please note that only short-listed candidates will be contacted for the first interview.