ILRI vacancy: Public Awareness Coordinator

The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) seeks to recruit a Public Awareness Coordinator who is an exceptionally strong and passionate writer who takes pleasure in framing complex research findings so that these are understandable and useful to a wide-ranging audience, especially decision-makers and their constituencies. The jobholder, will work directly with ILRI’s team leader for Communications, Awareness and Advocacy and also closely with other communications colleagues, ILRI directors, managers, scientists and other program staff and consultants to support the organization’s corporate communications, particularly to influence decision-making.

The jobholder will: help raise the profile of livestock-research-for-development work and influence decision-makers of the importance of development-oriented livestock research across the tropics, work across a range of mediums and topics to turn out compelling communications materials that help translate ILRI’s research into real-world impacts and skillfully coordinate efforts to publicize ILRI’s work in collaboration with scientists and communications colleagues across the centre.

ILRI works with partners worldwide to enhance the roles that livestock play in food security and poverty alleviation, principally in Africa and Asia. The outcomes of these research partnerships help people in developing countries keep their farm animals alive and productive, increase and sustain their livestock and farm productivity, find profitable markets for their animal products, and reduce the risk of livestock-related diseases.

ILRI is a not-for-profit institution with a staff of about 700 and, in 2014, an operating budget of about USD83 million. A member of the CGIAR Consortium working for a food-secure future, ILRI has its headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya, a principal campus in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and offices in other countries in East, West and Southern Africa and in South, Southeast and East Asia. www.ilri.org

CGIAR is a global agricultural research partnership for a food-secure future. Its science is carried out by 15 research centres that are members of the CGIAR Consortium in collaboration with hundreds of partner organizations. www.cgiar.org

 Responsibilities

• Identify and develop compelling stories based on ILRI research for various communications outlets, including the institute’s website and blogs and international media.
• Undertake field trips to obtain high-quality stories, photos and video for use in online and print publications as well as for media outreach.
• Lead the development of extensive and productive media relations at the international, regional and national levels to ensure high visibility for ILRI research.
• Ensure optimum use of social media to raise awareness about the institute’s work and to strengthen its relationships with donors, partners and other stakeholders.
• Create content for ILRI’s annual report and other public awareness documents.
• Illustrate and enhance high-profile slide presentations of ILRI’s directorate.
• Mentor communications staff at headquarters and in ILRI’s regional offices, sharing ideas and suggestions on story development and editing blog articles, as appropriate.
• Train and otherwise empower ILRI staff and partners to influence targeted audiences effectively through public awareness-oriented communications.
• Ensure that ILRI’s external communications documents have strong visual as well as writing appeal.
• Train, advise and coach centre staff on media relations and communications generally.
• Support the planning and organization of high-profile ILRI workshops, conferences and exhibits.
• Support the production and dissemination of ILRI’s annual corporate highlights, calendar and other corporate materials.
• Contribute to the ILRI-wide communications and knowledge management (CKM) community of practice, participate in CKM learning, reviewing and planning activities and ensure that these activities follow ILRI standards and agreed channels.
• Any other duties as may be assigned.

Requirements

• Postgraduate degree (MSc/MA) in English, communications, journalism or a related field or a bachelor’s degree and a strong track record in this field, or a degree in science with a subsequent career in science communications.
• Minimum of 10 years of relevant experience in science or development communications.
• Superb English writing, editing and proofreading skills.
• Proven ability to translate scientific/technical materials into accurate, lively, informative or persuasive materials for the general public.
• Proven teamworking with a strong desire to work in a mix of highly diverse cultural, ethnic, national, intellectual and institutional environments.
• Passion for outstanding communications products (writing, photography, videography).
• Proficient in use of social and new media tools.
• Excellent networking, advocacy and campaign skills.
• Computer savvy.
• Ambitious to make a difference through standout communications.
• Highly organized multi-tasker able to focus, prioritize, handle and complete on time myriad streams of work.
• An appetite for ensuring the diverse behind-the-scenes kinds of mundane work (e.g., scrupulous filing, complete categorization of online repository materials, careful budgeting, attention to administrative details) that are the foundation of the more creative aspects of communications work.

Advantages:

• Experience working within a scientific, humanitarian or development context and working on projects funded by international donor agencies.
• Experience in news media work (drafting substantive news releases, organizing media events, overseeing journalist enquiries, managing good relations with major media).
• Experience in social media work: professional blogging; astute regular user of social media serving organizational objectives.
• Knowledge of industry-standard communications software (e.g., Photoshop, InDesign, Final Cut Pro).
• Excellent judge of and/or skilled in photography, graphic design, audio recording or video production.

The ideal candidate will be:

• Someone who reads science/development publications for pleasure and enjoys engaging with scientists
• A skillful storyteller who provokes reader passions
• An astute judge of what communications best suit what audiences and purposes
• Equal parts writer and editor who can develop any kind of material to great effect
• Scrupulous about never sacrificing the highest standards of accuracy for communications effects
• Passionate about finding fresh ways to tell stories and excited by new possibilities
• Inspired by the ideas of others and an inspiring team member for others
• Someone who thinks across multimedia platforms and experiments with new media
• Self-directed and resourceful, with an adventurous and generous spirit

Post location: The position is based at ILRI’s Headquarters, in Nairobi, Kenya.

Position level: This position is job grade 4C.

Duration: 3 years with the possibility of renewal, contingent upon individual performance and continued funding.

Benefits: ILRI offers a competitive international and salary and benefits package which includes 15% Pension, Medical insurance, Life insurance and allowances for: Education, Housing, Relocation, Home leave, Annual holiday entitlement of 30 days + public holidays.

*Benefits are tax free subject to compliance with tax regulations of country of citizenship.

How to apply: Applicants should provide a cover letter and CV explaining their interest in the position, what they can bring to the job and the names and addresses (including telephone and email) of three referees who are knowledgeable about the candidate’s professional qualifications and work experience to the Director, People and Organizational Development. The position title and reference number REF: PAC/ IPP /09/14 should be clearly marked on the subject line of the cover letter.

All applications should be submitted through our recruitment portal, http://ilri.simplicant.com. Screening of applications will start on 31 October 2014 and continue until the position is filled.

To find out more about ILRI, visit our website (http://www.ilri.org) and our main corporate News (http://news.ilri.org/) and Clippings (http://clippings.ilri.org/) blogs.

To find out more about working at ILRI visit our website at http://www.ilri.org/ilricrowd/

ILRI is an equal opportunity employer