Director of Advocacy and Communication Job in Nairobi Kenya

Director of Advocacy and Communication - Kenya Country Office
 

Team / Programme: Kenya Country Office Senior Management Team   

Location:  Nairobi
 

Grade:  TBC  (Competitive Package)    

Post Type: National or International
 

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

Role Purpose: As a member of the Senior Management Team (SMT) in Kenya, the Director of Advocacy and Communication shares in the overall responsibility for the direction and coordination of the Country Office.  

The Director of Advocacy and Communication in his/her capacity is responsible for providing leadership to ensure excellence in serving members and their donors, in both emergency and development contexts.
 

Scope of Role: 

Reports to: Country Director
 

Dimensions: Save the Children has been operational in Kenya since 1984, providing support to children through developmental and humanitarian relief programmes delivered both directly and through local partners. 

Current programming focuses on child protection, child rights governance, education, health, HIV/AIDS, livelihoods, nutrition and WASH. Save the Children has an operational presence in Dadaab Refugee Camp, Eldoret, Habaswein, Mandera, Meru and Wajir and has a logistics hub in Garissa. 

Currently, we have a staff complement of approximately 340 staff and a budget of approximately US$15 million this year.

Staff directly reporting to this post: 2

• EveryOne Campaign Manager
• EveryOne Campaign Officer

Key Areas of Accountability:

As a member of the Senior Management Team, contribute to:

• Leadership of the Kenya Country Office
• 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
• Help design and implement a coherent organizational structure that is consistent with agency practices and appropriate to programme needs
• Ensure Kenya Country Office complies with all Save the Children Management Operating Standards and Standard Operating Procedures
• Ensure that all required support is provided promptly, at scale and in line with the rules and principles during humanitarian responses, working closely with the Regional Office

Advocacy

• Lead the development of an advocacy strategy for the Kenya Country Office. 
• Support thematic directors/advisors to articulate their top priority advocacy objectives in line with the new Country  

Strategic Plan

• Identify key opportunities and events in Kenya for Save the Children to position itself as the leading organisation for children’s issues in the country
• Ensure that Save the Children receives national recognition for achieving proven and innovative national impact from well-managed child development programs and emergency response
• Oversee thematic directors and other program staff in their work, including development of a plan for achieving their priority advocacy objectives in both an emergency and development context.  This should include guidelines on the meaningful and safe participation of children in advocacy
• Build capacity of programme staff to undertake advocacy through training, development and implementation of advocacy strategies
• Work with the Senior Management Team to build a culture of developing advocacy strategies that are funded for all thematic areas as part of our Theory of Change and ensure that programme staff are held accountable for advocacy
• Support programme staff to develop appropriate advocacy messages across thematic and programme areas, and ensure the CO has a set of advocacy messages as required for thematic/strategic areas (e.g children affected by humanitarian situations etc)
• Take the lead in Humanitarian responses for advocacy and support the development/management and implementation of advocacy strategies, while keeping abreast of the humanitarian advocacy issues across the global, regional and country

Media & Campaigning

• Liaise and maintain contact with members and implement communication activities including facilitating media visits and working within incoming media & communications surge support during emergencies
• Ensure that the branding and communication guidelines of Save the Children are uniformly and consistently followed across the Kenya Country Office
• Build capacity of programme staff to handle media through training and simulation of various media opportunities (especially emergencies)
• Develop briefing documents for various audiences, including country briefs, programme briefs and update these regularly
• Lead the management of Kenya-specific campaigning and communications materials and work closely with the EVERY ONE Campaign manager & Officer to successfully implement the EVERY ONE Campaign in Kenya

Communication

• Proactively develop a high profile for Save the Children in Kenya through the production of high quality, well researched, and well written products (in a variety of mediums) reflective of the dual mandate portfolio, responding quickly and appropriately to external requests for information, especially in emergencies
• Develop and deliver a clear and effective system for internal and external communications including the dissemination of newsletters and other documents and publications for internal external stakeholders.
• Update the Kenya profile on the various SCI platforms (web-page/xtranet/e-newsletters) and establish knowledge management systems that allow staff to have shared access to documentation related to the CO  
• Lead the Country Annual Reporting Process and support the dissemination of strategic programme findings including evaluations, research, programme success stories.
• Coordinate field visits by member staff, donors and others as needed, in close liaison with admin, logistics and field office teams    
• Establish Standard Operating Procedures for the management of all visits to the Kenya CO programs including standards for briefings, debriefings, evaluations and communications. Disseminate and train staff in the implementation of these SOPs
• Keep abreast of current programme portfolio including attending programme visits, and develop strategies to link evidence from programme to advocacy work

Staff Management, Mentorship, and Development

• Ensure appropriate staffing within CO to undertake Advocacy, Campaigning, Communications and Media Relations work
• Ensure that all staff understand and are able to perform their role in an emergency
• Manage Advocacy, Communication and Campaigns Team; define expectations, provide leadership and technical support as needed, and evaluate direct reports regularly
• Ensure the recruitment, training, and promotion of staff as appropriate and ensure availability of appropriate professional development opportunities for staff
• Incorporate staff development strategies and Performance Management Systems into team building process.  Establish result based system and follow up
• Manage the performance of all staff in the advocacy, campaigning and communication work area through:

1. Effective use of the Performance Management System including the establishment of clear, measureable objectives, ongoing feedback, periodic reviews and fair and unbiased evaluations;
2. Coaching, mentoring and other developmental opportunities;
3. Recognition and rewards for outstanding performance;
4. Documentation of performance that is less than satisfactory, with appropriate performance improvements/ workplans  

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 the team and partners accountable to deliver on their responsibilities - giving them the freedom to deliver in the best way they see fit, providing the necessary development to improve performance and applying appropriate consequences when results are not achieved

Ambition:

• Sets ambitious and challenging goals for themselves (and their team), takes responsibility for their own personal development and encourages others to do the same
• Widely shares their personal vision for Save the Children, engages and motivates others
• Future orientated, thinks strategically

Collaboration:

• Builds and maintains effective relationships, with their team, colleagues, members and external partners and supporters
• Values diversity, sees it as a source of competitive strength
• Approachable, good listener, easy to talk to

Creativity:

• Develops and encourages new and innovative solutions
• Willing to take disciplined risks

Integrity:

• Honest, encourages openness and transparency

Qualifications and Experience

• Masters degree in an area of social development, communications or equivalent.
• A general appreciation of the issues concerning the INGO sector with an in-depth knowledge in communications, marketing and/or fundraising
• Recommended a minimum of 7 years management experience in a corporate or an NGO environment, with experience in successfully leading the development and implementation of communication and campaign strategies for an international humanitarian organisation, preferably in Kenya or the East Africa Region.
• Demonstrable track record of leading change which has led to significant results for the organisation and their stakeholders
• Highly developed interpersonal and communication skills including influencing, negotiation and coaching
• Highly developed cultural awareness and ability to work well in an international environment with people from diverse backgrounds and cultures
• Strong results orientation, with the ability to challenge existing mindsets
• Ability to present complex information in a succinct and compelling manner
• Experience of building personal networks, resulting in securing significant new opportunities for the organisation
• Has a strong international network within media and marketing to draw
• Excellent writing and presentation skills in English. Similar skills in Kiswahili and other local languages an advantage
• Preferred: experience and skills in using computer software, publishing packages, web-design and knowledge management systems to produce and manage high quality communications materials for presentations, publications and internet/xtranet
• Ability and willingness to dramatically change work practices and hours, and work with incoming surge teams, in the event of emergencies
• Willingness to travel to Save the Children’s field offices and operational areas on a regular basis
• Experience of solving complex issues through analysis, definition of a clear way forward and ensuring buy in
• Understanding of Save the Children’s vision and mission and a commitment to its objectives and values

How to apply

The application period is now open and will close on Friday 15th March 2013. 

To apply for open position, please send a short cover letter and CV to Kenya.jobapplications@savethechildren.org  indicating the position applied for in the subject line.