Communications Officer at Mott MacDonald

 Job Description
The Communications Officer will support all communication aspects of programme interventions and implement a strategy to effectively disseminate important information and key findings from the programme to both Nigerian and international audiences.

Accountabilities:
Strategic and Intervention Support

• Work with the DEEPEN senior management team (to include the Team Leader, Deputy Team Leader and Results and Learning Leader) to develop and implement an effective communications strategy for the programme, both to influence stakeholders in Lagos and to advocate for or inform change outside of Lagos;
• Identify and highlight any political and/or commercial sensitivities arising from programme interventions and/or communications and liaise with DEEPEN’s senior management and/or technical teams to ensure that such sensitivities are managed appropriately. This will include differentiating between communications with official bodies (such as the Ministry of Education) and those with market players, and understanding the subtleties of those differences;
• Consider and promote the sustainability of communications activities as regards private education (in Lagos initially) in accordance with the programme’s M4P approach;

Communications, Publications and Branding

• Take responsibility for the development and delivery of all communications activities regarding the programme including advocacy, campaigns, newsletters, leaflets, policy briefs, fact sheets, case studies, booklets etc., and the development and maintenance of the DEEPEN’s website;
• Ensure that all written materials are drafted in a concise manner, plain English and appropriately worded for the relevant audience, and the material presented in attractive, creative and compelling formats;
• Manage the programme brand by developing and driving strategies to ensure the effective delivery of the set objectives of the programme by ensuring that the brand is properly represented to all stakeholders;
• Maintain, update and oversee the programme resource centre (website) and social media channels and accounts;
• Ensure that the programme has all the necessary tools for the timely and appropriate dissemination of information, in particular, ensuring that the website is managed appropriately to ensure the accurate and useful dissemination of information to both internal and external stakeholders;

Managing Relationships

• Work closely with each of the four Intervention Leaders and the Results and Learning Leader to develop valuable and accurate content for dissemination and to ensure that communications adequately address the key results (it is important that DEEPEN’s results are irrefutable and clear communications will be an important component of this);
• Liaise with DFID, and its Results Adviser and Communications Advisor in particular, to ensure consistent and agreed communications;
• Liaise with printers, prepare print specifications and ensure that only quality products are accepted and issued;

Knowledge Management

• Proactively capture information and evidence about DEEPEN and its activities;
• Maintain and ensure the use of a document repository for staff (including national and international consultants, as appropriate) to store and share key programme materials, photographs and documents (to include monitoring information)

General

• Produce regular (at least quarterly) reports, containing rolling work plans and costed budgets that describe achieved and intended communication activities in the programme, and contributing to formal and informal reporting to DFID;
• Assist the Education Data, Research and Evaluation in Nigeria (EDOREN) programme and/or DFID (as appropriate) on DEEPEN’s statutory and/or annual reviews;
• Ensure that communications address the disaggregated areas of gender and poverty (household income level) wherever possible to communicate the programme’s impact on girls and low-income families specifically