Active in Sierra Leone since 1998, the IRC supports the Sierra Leonean institutions - government, civil society and community-based organizations to address local needs. The IRC does this through programs and partnerships designed to improve the life of women, youth and children by implementing Health, Education, and Women's Protection and Empowerment programming. The IRC has a country program office in Freetown, and field offices in Kenema, Kono, Bo and Kailahun.
Summary: The position will provide effective communications support on the Ebola crisis to the IRC country program, and for this will be reporting to the Deputy Director of Programs. The communications manager will work closely with the relevant Ebola Response Consortium (ERC) focal points, the health coordinator, the country management team and the IRC's global communications and advocacy team.
Responsibilities:
Work with International Media
Work with international media, as needed, to best support ongoing communications about the situation and our response.
- Update and disseminate IRC Sierra Leone's media strategy, including talking points for IRC staff, in collaboration with the Country Director, other senior staff in Sierra Leone, and the HQ media team.
- Serve as IRC Sierra Leone's in-country focal point for all media issues, including interview requests and field visits.
- Cultivate relationships with journalists in Sierra Leone, and pitch stories to them when instructed by the County Director.
- Devise media opportunities related to IRC Sierra Leone's programs, and cultivate potential "voices" within IRC's field staff.
- Travel to field sites to take photographs and video footage to be used for donor reporting IRC's website.
- As directed by the HQ media team and Sierra Leone team, contribute to IRC's social networking efforts, including Twitter, Facebook, and Flickr.
- As directed by the Country Director and Global Advocacy Team, coordinate the development of advocacy materials with Sierra Leonean program senior management and technical leads.
- Produce/update and disseminate country program factsheets, Sierra Leone briefing documents for new staff, situation reports, info-graphics, blog posts, and other public relations materials.
Work with Local Media/Community Outreach
Liaise closely with the local media in SL and with the program teams to assist in crafting appropriate and impactful communications with/for the Sierra Leonean population.
- In coordination with the program teams, assist in devising a strategy (and oversee the implementation of said strategy) targeting the local Sierra Leone media, to combat the local proliferation of misinformation about Ebola, such as mode of transmission, infection prevention, and control, and treatment, etc.
- In coordination with the program teams, assist in devising a strategy (and oversee the implementation of said strategy) targeting the local Sierra Leone media to spread information about the IRC and the ERC's work.
Information Management
- Assist with ongoing information management as possible, to keep abreast of latest numbers, outputs, etc.
- Create and maintain an "Information Database" for the country which captures number of beneficiaries
- Support programs to document good practices, lessons learned, trends and implementation issues.
- Ensure that epidemiological data-analyzed by the health coordinator-are taken into account in the creation/modification of communications strategies.
Job Requirements:
Education:
- Bachelor's degree in journalism, international affairs, or a related field
Experience:
- 3-5 years' experience in communications, preferably with an NGO, UN agency, or private sector in the field
- On-the-record media experience highly desirable
- Experience working in a multi-cultural setting and in preference in Africa
Skills and abilities:
- Excellent writer
- Ability to work effectively, efficiently, diplomatically and calmly in a high-pressure environment on issues that are often complex and politically sensitive
- Creativity in tapping and cultivating mainstream media and social networking communities
- Keen insight into the news business and understanding of what makes journalists tick
- Proven ability to identify and market good story ideas
- Highly organized and detailed oriented
- Experience with Microsoft Publisher and other visual software applications
- Experience with social networking platforms, including Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, and others.
- Demonstrated ability in photography and camera work is desirable.
Working Environment:
Security:
The security level for the IRC in Sierra Leone is 2 yellow. There is an ongoing outbreak of infectious disease, common criminality and potential risk of civil disturbance. The IRC is firmly committed to staff safety and wellbeing measures are in place in all offices and guest houses to mitigate against risk.
Housing:
Housing will be in an IRC guest house with hot and cold running water and air conditioning.
HOW TO APPLY:
Please follow this link to apply: http://www.aplitrak.com/?adid=ZWRpdGhiLjIwMjQzLjM4MzBAaXJjLmFwbGl0cmFrLm...
