Country: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Closing date: 10 Dec 2015
OVERSEAS DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE
Communications Officer
Contract: Fixed-term until 1st December 2016
Salary: £27,328 – £32,599 pa
Location: London
Ref: SocDev/07/15
The UK’s leading independent think tank on international development and humanitarian issues.
About us
ODI aims to inspire and inform policy and practice to reduce poverty by locking together high-quality applied research and practical policy advice.
We are looking for an experienced Communications Officer to join the Social Development Programme. The purpose of this role is to increase the impact of the Programme’s and ODI’s research on development policy and practice and Programme’s and ODI’s reputation and image through efficient and effective external and internal communication.
This role will be split within the programme working approximately 50% of time managing the overall communications strategy, outputs and events for the Social Development Programme and approximately 50% of time on the Global Girls Research Initiative (also held within the Social Development Programme).
The Social Development Programme’s body of work focuses on exploring the role of social norms and relationships in maintaining the cycle of poverty and exclusion. The teams researchers have varied and extensive research, policy and programme experience in the themes of gender, poverty, social exclusion, social protection, child protection, social and gender norms and adolescence. They work globally with recent projects located in MENA, Africa and South and South East Asia.
The Global Girls Research Initiative is a £26.4 million 9 year programme designed to provide decision makers with an evidence base to make informed policy and programming decisions that can improve development outcomes for adolescent girls in developing countries. This includes areas of reducing child, early and force marriage, violence against women and girls; improved health, education and improved economic empowerment.
Main duties and responsibilities include:
The Communications Officer will work with the Operations and Partnership Manager, the Strategic Learning Manager (GGRI) and the Programme Officer (Social Development Programme) in developing effective communications strategies for GGRI and the Social Development Programme. The Communications Officer will undertake the following duties and responsibilities for both the Social Development Programme and the GGRI.
Digital communications:
Support in the development of the GGRI website, branding and logo.
Maintain and update programme and GGRI website pages, and intranet pages
Conduct social media updates and monitoring.
Liaise with Communications team to post blogs or items on different online platforms.
Sourcing of images and graphics, and handling permissions and copyright.
Work with researchers to develop content for social media platforms, for example twitter or Facebook
Publications
Lay-out programme publications, with the support of GGRI and Social Development Programme administrators, using ODI’s publishing system
Co-ordinate with external suppliers – for copy-editing, infographics or lay-out where necessary
Liaise with ODI’s publications team about scheduling and production
Ensure publications are in line with ODI’s and GGRI’s publications, infographics and brand guidelines
Media and public affairs
Working with senior programme staff, identify opportunities in specialist media or speaking opportunities, to amplify the impact of research
Working with ODI’s events team & senior staff to plan and organise high quality events, workshops and seminars
Work with researchers to produce blogs or Op Eds for external publications
Market events on appropriate external platforms
Work with GGRI country partner communications officers on events and media outreach
Programme outreach
Draft and layout marketing emails (newsletters, updates) and co-ordinate their review and approval.
Monitor online mentions of work in social media and media and log through M&E systems & prepare reports for internal and external clients
Oversee the maintenance of Programme contacts database.
Communications Liaison
Update the central communications team on substantive Programme research
Participate in ODI comms meetings to create a “feedback loop” between Programme and central comms
Participate in ODI’s comms planning and weekly meetings
Other duties
In close liaison with the OPM, SLM and PO providing information about the Programme’s work in response to media enquiries and general requests from visitors, by telephone or e-mail.
Assisting with the preparation of communications strategies or components for inclusion in specific bids and proposals.
Delivering specific project communciations outputs
Like all Programme members, s/he will be expected to participate fully in the Programme’s affairs, including management meetings.
About you:
Knowledge and Qualification
Educated to degree level, preferably in the communications field.
Knowledge of online production processes for publishing and digital processes
Experience
Experience in the strategic use of social media
Experience with a range of online content platforms including YouTube, Flickr and Storify
Experience of creating and sending e-newsletters (preferably using Mailchimp) and managing contact lists
Experience of monitoring and analysing performance using Google Analytics and other online tools
Experience of developing multimedia products
Experience using website content management systems (preferable Drupal and Wordpress)
Experience of managing relationships with external agencies
Experience of events organization, including selecting panelists, preparing briefing and marketing and promotion
Experience of media pitching to relevant media within this field
Experience formatting professional publications
Experience in international development, or related field.
Experience of working with international partners
Skills/Abilities
Skilled in writing for a range of audiences, including writing for web
Strong writing skills and the ability to summarise research information in clear, non-specialist language;
Skilled in writing, proofing and editing
Strong organisational ability – able to work independently under supervision.
Strong communications skills, able to work with staff and partners of different disciplines and backgrounds
Self-starter ability to generate plans and ideas and carry them through to completion
Excellent IT and Microsoft Office skills; practical experience with email and internet communication systems (e-conferencing and listservs etc); database management skills.
A good grasp of design principles; experience of graphic manipulation (preferably Photoshop or Illustrator); web Publication experience (preferably html or Content Management skills) and an understanding of DTP.
Ability to work to strict deadlines and under pressure.
Desirable
Language skills would be an asset.
Knowledge and experience of Adobe Indesign.
Experience of communications work in Africa or Asia would be an asset
Closing date: 10th December 2015
Interview date: 18th December 2015
ODI is an equal opportunities employer Charity Reg. No.228248
How to apply:
For more information, please download an application pack from our website at www.odi.org.uk/jobs. If you are experiencing difficulties downloading, please telephone 020 7922 8234/0351 or email recruitment@odi.org.uk.**