Job Vacancy @ Restless Development – Communications Officer

Job Description

ABOUT RESTLESS DEVELOPMENT:

In 2016, Restless Development launched a new vision and strategy designed by young people. Having championed the engagement and influence of young people at every stage of the development of the United Nations’ new Global Goals, Restless Development is developing a complimentary strategy that will:

Convene, advocate and empower young people and youth agencies to lead change, and
Collaborate with partners and governments who share our vision for young people to be at the forefront of achieving a just and sustainable world for all.

Building on Restless Development’s proven model of youth engagement, over the next five years ten thousand volunteers will deliver the new strategy through a reinvigorated ‘Restless Model’ for youth-led development that will give youth-led organisations around the world a recipe for lasting, transformative change led by people and their communities. In addition, Restless Development will engage hundreds of partners and thousands of young people working for youth-led change through:

A platform that young people can access to lead change through their own ideas and innovation;
A coalition of technical youth-led development agencies that partner organizations can join;
A youth ‘lab’ where knowledge, insight, research and experience is shared.

Restless Development Sierra Leone has and will continue to be a flagship Programme within the context of this new strategy. The agency’s role at the forefront of the social mobilization and behaviour change data collection efforts in the country has led the agency to become an international leader in community engagement.

OUR APPROACH TO SAFEGUARDING:

Restless Development considers the welfare and protection of children, young people and vulnerable adults to be an organizational imperative with primacy over the success of programmes or strategic objectives. We recognize that safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility and we expect all of our staff, volunteers and partners to ensure we protect the communities in which we operate from harm and abide by our Safeguarding Policy.

ABOUT THE ROLE:

Job title Communications Officer
Location Freetown
Salary Salary Le 54,140,428.56 (Gross Annual)
Preferred start date June 2022
Length of contract 7 Months
Reports to Hub Director
Direct reports None
Expected travel National

Restless Development has been working in Sierra Leone since 2005, working with and for young people to design and deliver youth-led programmes that tackle some of the biggest issues facing the country. When Ebola broke out in 2014, Restless Development worked with the next generation of young people – including 3,000 social mobilisers – to reach and build trust with communities across half of the country, playing a critical role as the country put an end to the disease. Now, Restless Development is working with hundreds of young leaders in every district of Sierra Leone to unleash the power and agency that exists within communities, strengthen the provision of key services, and build a new future for Sierra Leone. You can read more about the Sierra Leone Hub and all current programmes ​on our website​.

We are looking for an innovative young person with the right communication skills to join our team in an exciting new role, which will push you to take the lead in developing our internal and external profile with key stakeholders, the media and staff. You will be a highly creative and self organized individual with excellent verbal and written communication skills in English and Krio, and strong ICT skills including social media, and open to learning about new technology and communication tools.

KEY PRIORITIES :

Communication resource production, Partnerships and Marketing 55%

Lead production, design and distribution of innovative and high quality newsletters, annual reports, other published reports and media products in line with Restless Development’s brand
Develop and lead partnerships with various media actors (press, TV, radio, online media)
Contract management with any funded media projects within your portfolio
Event coordination and effective representation of the organization at events in line with our values
Contribute to the investments and partnerships team in terms of planning, training and building culture within organization
Lead and coordinate press activities for Restless Development Sierra Leone including producing press releases, media briefs, articles, case studies
Act as a brand guardian to ensure brand and message consistency
Coordinating coverage for seasonal features, programs, and other events
Responding to requests and comments sent to the organization’s email and social media accounts
Maintaining the email newsletter list
Coordinate media interest in the organization and ensure contact with media houses

Managing internal and external communication 25%

Work together with the programmes and MEL teams to improve system for internal communication
Coordinate collection, editing and posting of news stories, practice sharing and case studies and share locally and globally
Increase Restless Development’s visibility and showcase the organization as the ‘go-to’ agency for youth through
Social media Engagement (FB, Inst, Twitter, Blogs #WeAreRestless)
Event management –, International Youth Day, Restless Values day, partner events,
Media engagement incl press, TV, radio, online media, offline media, key influencers
Identify, share and look for opportunities to innovate our communication and marketing techniques
Support promotion and dissemination of our research and activities
Tracking and reporting statistics on web site, blog and email newsletter
Organizing and maintaining photography and media archive
Share expertise around communication and marketing opportunities with programmes team

Developing and rolling out marketing and communications strategy 15%

Further develop and update and monitor implementation of the existing communication and marketing strategy, with internal and external stakeholders measuring performance against set standards
Introduce communication and marketing strategy to staff and ensure implementation across the organization, and develop staff capacity and ownership on communication tools
Annual benchmarking around Restless Development’s brand, position and visibility to support development of communication and marketing strategy
Track news from government, donors, UN agencies on youth development to inform direction and share through social media
Work closely with management team to deliver communication and marketing targets in business plan
Managing our brand, ensuring it is understood and used effectively by staff and helps achieve our goals and mission.
Defining staff responsibilities for marketing and communications activities and supporting them to deliver.

Administrative systems 5%

Maintaining an organizational contacts database.
Developing and managing a system of coherent, regular and relevant communication with supporters..
Managing the organization’s public email account and responding to enquiries as well as sharing communications with relevant staff that come through the email account.
Managing the organization’s social media pages
Train staff on the communication protocol

Other:

Other duties as required. Occasionally working on weekends and holidays for which time off in lieu can be taken.

ABOUT YOU:

We are looking for people with the right competencies and skills for the role, and who demonstrate the personal qualities consistent with our Values.

Values Behaviours What we expect of the Communications Officer
HEART
We are who we serve. We are brave.

Values-led Inspires a Restless passion and professionalism in those they work with, both internally and externally.
Innovation Works on own initiative and offers creative approaches to improving work.
HEAD
We are 100% professional. We prove that young people can

Delivers Quality Manages their time effectively to deliver quality against individual goals. Ensures value for money when utilizing resources and efficiently processing finances.
Decision Making Proposes solutions to challenges and consults with others when making operational decisions within their area of responsibility.
VOICE
We generate leaders. We are proud to carry the banner for youth-led development.

Leadership Capably manages their own workload and takes up opportunities to lead on areas of work, with support from colleagues. May supervise Interns and/or teams of Volunteers.
People Development Understands how individual goals contribute to team priorities. Uses feedback to identify personal growth areas willingly and provides constructive feedback to others.
HANDS
We are in it together. We listen and learn.

Effective Communication Clearly expresses ideas or opinions and actively listens and learns from those around them. Applies effective communication when actively engaging with stakeholders and teams of volunteers.
Collaboration Is an integral team member, contributing to team excellence and maintaining strong relationships with colleagues and stakeholders.

SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE
Essential
Graduate degree in related field e.g. Public relations, Mass communications, Marketing, Media, Journalism
+2 proven media, marketing and or/ communications work experience
Demonstrated online marketing and social media experience
Excellent IT skills with competence in Microsoft Office and graphic design Programme (s) such as WordPress Canva, or Photoshop and HTML
Good skills in photography, voice recording and editing, video and radio production
Proven experience of managing and implementing media and communications projects from start to finish, including evaluating their impact
Excellent writing and presentation skills
Fluent in English, written and spoken
Desirable
Experience of volunteering/NGO’s or working with young people.
Experience from editing websites.
Experience of working with databases.
Established contacts with national print, broadcast journalists and Programme producers in place.

Restless Development is an Equal Opportunities employer and welcomes applications from young people, women, those living with HIV, disabled people, and other marginalized groups.

WHAT WE DO FOR YOU:

Remuneration

We are proud to commit to a transparent global salary scale, ensuring a fair and comparable system of pay across all global locations, taking into account statutory benefits. In addition to salary, we offer End of Service Benefit, and NASSIT (10% employer contribution) for all staff.

Values and Culture

At Restless Development, we’re proud that the strength and integrity of our values has been recognized by staff, beneficiaries, donors and others who we work with. Beyond this, we have a culture of recognizing and celebrating both our values and our global achievements with monthly Values Champions and an annual Values Day.

Work-life balance

It goes without saying that we work hard at Restless Development. We also recognize the importance of helping staff to maintain a positive work-life balance by offering:

24 days’ annual leave (in addition to public holidays and with an extra day of annual leave given for each full year of service, up to a maximum of 28 days).
Access to flexible working.
Study leave, maternity, paternity or adoption leave, and other leave allowances.
A day’s leave on your birthday.

Professional development

Restless Development is proud to be an employer who recognizes potential and invests in the development of its staff. We are committed to the professional development of our staff through:

Empowering opportunities to work on significant projects which stretch and inspire staff – allowing them to develop on-the-job.
Training and development opportunities, including supporting our staff to identify mentors both within and outside of the agency.
Quarterly Staff Workshops for all staff to give and receive agency updates, receive training, and socialize.

Travel and medical benefits

A contribution is made towards staff medical of up to 2,500,000 Le per year. When travelling with work, staff will be covered by Restless Development’s travel insurance.

KEY DATES

Please send your updated Curriculum Vitae and a motivation letter to email: ​sierraleonejobs​@restlessdevelopment.org on or before 5:00pm Friday 17th June 2022.

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