Communication Short-term Technical Consultant at Palladium Group

Ref No: req15136

Background

• Global Prosperity Fund’s ‘Skills for Prosperity’ is a 2-year FCDO funded programme, which seeks to improve the cost-effectiveness, access, quality, relevance and equity of skills through innovative approaches in 9 Middle-Income Countries around the world, including Nigeria. 
• In Nigeria, the Skills for Prosperity (S4P) country programme will work in three targeted states to:
  • Improve access to quality Higher Education and TVET for youth and young women, with a focus on improving access to and the quality of apprenticeships, and supporting training institutions to deliver demand-driven, competency-based training,
  • Strengthen education-to-employment linkages, and
  • Build the capacity of training institutions to improve outcomes for vulnerable women and people with disabilities.
• Apprenticeships, training, and capacity building interventions will focus on identified high growth sectors of the economy (Agriculture/Agribusiness/agro-allied industries; Creative and Entertainment, and Information and Communications Technology sectors).
• S4P aims to directly benefit youth, vulnerable women and People with Disabilities (PwD) in targeted states of Kaduna in the north, and Lagos in the south.

About the Work

• As Skills for Prosperity - Nigeria approaches the last six months of implementation, we will be increasing efforts to widely communicate the Programme’s work and achievements as well share our knowledge, successful apprenticeship/traineeship models and experiences improving the TVET sector in Nigeria.
• We are, therefore, recruiting a Communication and Media Consultant with extensive experience, under the supervision of the Team Lead, to support achievement of the Programme’s communication objective of effectively communicating results from the Programme’s work with international and local audiences; thereby improving visibility of issues, opportunities and others. Specifically, we hope to:
  • Show how S4P-N’s interventions respond to challenges faced by various stakeholders as it pertains to improved access, quality, relevance including considerations of Gender equality and social inclusion in the National Apprenticeship and Traineeship System
  • Increase awareness of crucial systems and policy issues related to TVET in Nigeria
  • Make topical issues affecting the TVET sector, at National and sub-national levels, top-of-mind for the media
• The Communcation and Media consultant will undertake a needs assessment to the Programme’s intervention states as necessary, and upon approval, develop a plan tailored to the Programme’s communication needs.
• S/he will provide advice, guidance and support on planning and implementing internal and external communication efforts to improve awareness of the Programme’s work to international, national and local audiences and across online and offline platforms. 
• S/he will also support content creation and circulation for offline and online media (social media and website).

Activities
Develop and effectively circulate communication materials, including feature stories and news, briefings, articles, statements, speeches, factsheets, case studies, publicity materials, videos, animations, media advisories, press releases, press/media kits, and write-ups about events, for an integrated mix of international and local communication channels including social media, blogs, e-news, the media and others.

• Develop and oversee the production of all communication and publicity materials for events (presentations, graphics, handouts, banners, and others), including liaising with Technical Leads and other relevant staff to elicit information to aid their development.
• Ensure proper communications before, during and after all events including national and state level events, knowledge sharing workshops/ meetings, seminars, trainings, conferences and others.
• Profile media channels that can be used to communicate with the Programme’s audiences, develop a register of media practitioners, expand the Programme’s contacts with print, TV, Radio and social media outlets to enhance exposure, respond, where appropriate, to queries from the media and other external parties, and carefully select media practitioners to participate in and cover the Programme’s events.
• Support the Programme in enhancing its internal capacity for communication and knowledge sharing. This will include identifying capacity gaps and providing capacity building as appropriate and necessary.
• Liaise with internal and external stakeholders to gather and verify information as part of content development and assessing media outlets among others.
• Identify and effectively communicate the Programme’s activities and outcomes with international platforms, both online and offline.
• Support with other communication and events management related tasks as necessary.

Output/Deliverables:

• Evidence of media coverage in selected Programme events
• Articles, social media posts, case studies, stories, and other communication materials developed for sharing the Programme’s work and achievements.
• Evidence of improved visibility for the Programme
• Evidence of improved engagement and traffic on the Programme’s social media platforms.
• Appropriately edited and captioned multimedia materials – videos, photographs and others – developed for the Programme.
• Capacity building workshop(s) on improving communication and media engagement.
• Quarterly reports and newsletters of planned and executed activities.

Qualifications

• Relevant academic qualifications in a related field.
• Extensive experience in communication or other related field such as public relations, journalism, public affairs or international relations.
• Fluency in English (oral and written) is essential.
• Proven experience and understanding of communication and outreach at the international level, and proven ability to position and advocate for issues and influence government, private sector, civil society, donors and other stakeholders.
• Experience developing, including conception, design, packaging and production, and dissemination of communication materials targeted at a wide range of audiences, and understanding of dissemination channels.
• Proven experience building and sustaining strong relations with the media.
• Working knowledge of relevant computer software and online tools such as MS Office, WordPress, social media platforms, Adobe InDesign/Illustrator/Photoshop, Affinity Publisher/Designer/Photo,  electronic mail procedures.
• Experience and knowledge of social media, web and social analytics, and digital/multimedia communication strategies and tools.
• Strong organisational and interpersonal skills, ability to pay attention to details, meet deadlines and effectively and efficiently manage multiple tasks, and ability to be innovative and proactive.
• Demonstrated writing and editing skills, and ability to convey complex ideas in a concise, clear, direct, and interesting style.
• Previous experience working with governments and/or international development agencies would be an asset.