Research Information, & Advocacy Officer

Caritas Kenya is the Social Development arm of the Kenya Episcopal Conference (KEC) and a member of International federation under the auspices of Caritas Internationallis.

It holds mandate to coordinate and facilitate effective implementation of the Catholic Church Development nd Humanitarian programs in the following sectors: Emergency interventions, Poverty Eradication, Capacity Building, Gender, Social Development, Advocacy and Climate change

Research Information, & Advocacy Officer

1. Job Purpose

To support Caritas Kenya by taking responsibility for the range and quality of Caritas’s information communication and Advocacy services on emergencies and development issues with Caritas member organizations and other stakeholders and exploiting the opportunities for communication afforded by Caritas website; ensuring that a participative approach is adopted in all work with members, and that mutual support is encouraged, collaboration facilitated and good practices shared.

To plan and implement publicity programmes designed to promote the work of Caritas Kenya to the Kenyan public and International Community by producing and using appropriate mass media outlets

2. Duties and Responsibilities:

In conjunction with Caritas Kenya National Executive Secretary:

• Coordinate with the other Caritas communication officers working in Kenya to ensure that the needs of the national partners/beneficiaries are being met while at the same time the needs of the confederation are being delivered.
• Promote the work and visibility of Caritas Kenya to the Kenyan public and International Community by producing and using appropriate mass media outlets
• Preparing a media strategy, with planned journalist visits and media coverage needs.
• Facilitate the role of Caritas Kenya spokesman, Bishop Chairman, in media interviews.
• Contact media in the country (local and international ) to explain Caritas response
• Respond to requests from Caritas Members for specific stories or for interviews and liaising with CIMO’s on regular basis to assess needs in media coverage during emergencies.
• File and circulate stories detailing the work of Caritas Members in responding to the emergency
• Establish appropriate contacts and represent Caritas with key stakeholders at various workshops, briefings and other meetings and collect information and assess needs
• Manage and maintain Caritas website content as well as oversee Caritas’s library of resources and other information systems, ensuring that systems are in place to monitor the wider political and third sector environments.
• Produce regular Information and Advocacy report with feedback from and to all Caritas projects.
• Coordination of advocacy activities and development of position papers/policies for Caritas
• Establish contacts with lobbying and advocacy groups from the national and international network
• To act as a member of the Caritas Kenya team and carry out any reasonable duties as requested by the line manager

3. Education Qualifications

• Candidates must have a minimum of a university degree in Research Information, & Advocacy Officer or equivalent.
• An advanced university degree (Masters or equivalent) in a relevant field will be an added advantage.

4. Other relevant skills:

• Minimum of 3 years’ experience in the field of communication and/or information management and advocacy.
• Experience of website management and design
• Familiarity of working with the public relations and media relations
• Knowledge and commitment to the values of the Catholic Church
• Excellent communication skills (both written and oral) as well as high attention to detail.
• Experience in working as part of a team to deliver key outputs on time and within budget.
• Time-management and organizational skills
• Creativity to communicate in different ways

Interested candidates should send their applications, including detailed CV, academic certificates and daytime telephone number, by hand, courier or post to:

Secretary General
Kenya Episcopal Conference-Catholic Secretariat
P.O Box 13475-00800
Nairobi.

hr@catholicchurch.or.ke

Applications must reach us on or before 14th August 2012

Only short listed candidates will be notified.