Communications Specialist Job Vacancy in Kenya - Internews Network

Position Title: Communications Specialist, East Africa

 

ABOUT THE EARTH JOURNALISM NETWORK (EJN)

Internews’ Earth Journalism Network aims to engage and support local journalists and media organizations around the globe to effectively produce and promote environmental content. Internews EJN East Africa Wildlife and Conservation Journalism project is running the Biodiversity Knowledge Hub, which seeks to improve media coverage of environment and conservation issues in Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania, and Rwanda.

Specifically, the Biodiversity Knowledge Hub will build awareness in East Africa about the importance of biodiversity and the threats to it, through convening the conservation community, and the media and building their capacity to produce community-quality news, information, and stories. The Hub will also produce a series of features reports and support tools to help communicators and the public better understand of biodiversity and the threats to it, while building the capacity of local conservation NGOs and civil society.

ABOUT THE OPPORTUNITY

The Communications Specialist will help Internews develop a social media component to the East African Biodiversity Knowledge Hub, spreading news and information about the topic throughout Kenya. The Specialist will work with conservation and biodiversity-related organizations, helping them better engage with both digital and legacy outlets, so they are better able to provide illustrative stories about how they are contributing to Kenya’s sustainable development.

LOGISTICS

Internews has a field office in Kenya. Ultimately, this role will be based in Nairobi, Kenya. The selected candidate may have the opportunity to work remotely on a partial (2-3 days per week) or full-time basis. Contingent upon COVID-related travel restrictions, the successful candidate may be required to travel to partners’ offices throughout Kenya.

Wherever possible, we work to try to find solutions for international hiring that work for both the company and the candidate. This means that some of the particulars around the offer for a role will be dependent on several factors and that the benefits and salary structure that apply to a position will ultimately be based upon the candidate’s location and where the role is hired

This is a term position, with an expected duration of 12 months. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, so candidates should apply soon.

OUR COMMITMENT TO FOSTERING A CULTURE OF BELONGING

We are an organization of dynamic, mission-driven individuals who are passionate about our core values and about supporting positive change in the world. We pride ourselves on our commitment to innovation and flexibility. We believe that diverse teams are strong teams and work to support an ethic of belonging, dignity, and justice for all people. Our current team includes a mix of genders, parents and non-parents, and people of multiple races, nationalities, ages, sexual orientations and socioeconomic backgrounds. We are an EEO employer and encourage candidates of all races, genders, ages, orientations, ethnicities, and national origins to apply, and welcome those with alternative backgrounds and experiences.

DAY-TO-DAY TASKS will include:

  • Help conservation partners to design better communications strategies and explain their mission and value to the public;
  • Develop the social media component of the East African Biodiversity Knowledge Hub;
  • Post on relevant platforms(Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn, and TikTok), sharing biodiversity stories, resource materials, recordings from webinars ,reports, and news from conservation partners;
  • Build the audience for the Hub’s content and EJN convenings;
  • Work closely with the project manager, consultant(s), and partners to , provide journalistic, accurate, reliable information on biodiversity that helps combat misinformation and lays the groundwork for other organizations to promote their conservation missions;
  • In all duties, demonstrate an understanding of and commitment to upholding Internews’ Core Values

QUALIFICATIONS WE’RE LOOKING FOR

  • University degree in Communications or Journalism OR equivalent social/digital marketing training or experience
  • Experience working with grassroots/locally-led organizations as a communications lead or social media specialist.
  • Experience and understanding of legacy media
  • In-depth knowledge of social media platforms
  • Expertise in designing and implementing communications and/or social media strategies and campaigns
  • Experience with social media analytics tools
  • Media networks and contacts, or ability to build such networks
  • Demonstrated ability to work with and build conservation partners social media communications skills from “where they are,” and help them better tell their own organizational stories effectively on various platforms (blogs, websites, podcasts, social networking sites, etc.)
  • Experience developing communication materials like press releases and fact/ tip sheets
  • Experience working with conservation/environmental and biodiversity-related fields
  • Proven ability to work with diverse peoples and organizations
  • Previous experience working remotely

How to apply

To apply, please submit CV and optionally a cover letter via our Careers page.