Plan International Nigeria is part is the global federation of Plan International and was registered as a National Organization in 2014 in Nigeria. Plan International works in 52 developing Countries across Africa, Asia and the Americas. Plan’s Global Strategic Goals (2017-2022) is to advance Children’s Rights and Equality for Girls ad our Ambition is, “together, we take action so that 100 million girls learn, lead, decide and thrive”. We reach as many children as possible, particularly those who are excluded or marginalised through the delivery of high-quality programmes that deliver long-lasting benefits to children and their communities.
We are recruiting to fill the position below:
Job Title: Communications & Advocacy Officer
Location: Maiduguri, Borno (Travel required Frequent)
Reports to: Country Communication Advisor
Reports to: Country Communication Advisor
Role Purpose
- Under the general guidance of the Country Communication Advisor and with support from the Emergency Response Manager, the Communications & Advocacy Officer will be responsible for implementing the approved Plan International Nigeria integrated communications in emergency strategy.
Dimensions of Role
- The position will oversee the production of key and high quality offline and online multi-media communications resources that secure coverage in support of Plan International’s emergency work in Nigeria.
- This will help raise the profile of Plan International’s work nationally and internationally, in support of advocacy and fundraising goals while positioning Plan International to interact with key audiences and to promote the respect for childrens rights and welfare.
Accountabilities
Strategy Implementation and Enhancement:
Strategy Implementation and Enhancement:
- Lead the development and implementation of an integrated communications strategy and operating plan aligned to organizational priorities for outreach, income and impact.
- Build and manage a high-performance communications function that is structured, focused and staffed for productive and quality work.
- Monitor the context for challenges, risks, threats and opportunities related to the emergency context that may impact communications and public engagement approaches, messaging and operations
- Ensure Plan International’s rights- based programming approach and child protection policy are appropriately reflected in the emergency communication strategy, work plan and products.
- Oversee the management of the communications and guest relations department budget and resources.
- Ensure brand visibility, adherence to procedures, protocols and policies.
- Support High Profile/VIP visits to the organization to create, maintain and enhance the reputation and goodwill of the organization.
- Monitor and evaluate the impact of our communications work
- Donor/Public Engagement Communications Management:
- Highlight the humanitarian situation on the ground, cover Plan International’s response and reinforce Plan International’s advocacy and policy positions in line with Global Strategy.
- Gather internal knowledge and transform it into a range of of compelling human interest child- focused content such as: case studies, eyewitness accounts, blogs, first person account, images, audio, video for sharing with all publics.
- Ensure access to content in high resolution formats in the global Media Bank
- Liaise with program point persons for media outreach activities such as drafting Op-Eds, quotes, press releases, media briefs, media pitches, multimedia content and organising media engagement activities around events, country visits, member meetings
- Support efforts for timely country office reports such as sit reps, weekly updates, and donor related materials.
- Lead all Public Relations Events.
Media Management:
- Oversee proactive in-country media engagement to generate proactive and positive news coverage as well as opportunities to raise the visibility of Plan International (North-east Nigeria Response).
- Prepare and position the Emergency Response Manager for important media opportunities and interviews that promote and protect the public image of Plan International Nigeria, while raising public awareness on key issues of children’s rights especially girls.
- Lead the process to identify, train and position other media spokespersons within Plan International (North-east Nigeria Response) from the project-level to senior leadership as a strategic and appropriate way for responding to media inquiries and achieving positive coverage.
- Host and organise media trips to North-East Nigeria impact area and act as an advisor and support to press officers in affiliates who are working to deliver media coverage within their markets
- Develop a crisis communications management plan to protect the reputation of Plan International (North-east Nigeria Response) from actual or potential media crisis.
Staff Engagement Internal Communications Management:
- Develop and deliver a staff engagement Communications strategy to ensure staff and volunteers Plan International (North-east Nigeria Response) and the partnership at large are informed and engaged with the organizations work.
- Establish systems and safeguards for the appropriate and effective flows of relevant information to and from Plan International (North-east Nigeria Response) staff when required.
Advocacy Communications Management:
- Work closely with the program specialists in defining key issues, messaging, and identifying appropriate communications channels for public advocacy initiatives.
- Support advocacy campaigns by engaging the media to gain exposure and credibility, managing media sensitivities and risks, and increasing public discussion and fundraising.
Communicating with communities:
- Develop and facilitate community-level Communications for Development (C4D) programming, together with appropriate project staff and community members, for the amplifying of Child and
- Community Voice that engages supporters and donors, and builds staff and community connections and life skills.
- Ensures that Plan International’s global policies for Safeguarding Children and Young People and Gender Equality and Inclusion are fully embedded in accordance with the principles and requirements of the policy including relevant Implementation Standards and Guidelines as applicable to their area of responsibility. This includes, but is not limited to, ensuring staff and associates are aware of and understand their responsibilities under these policies and Plan International’s Code of Conduct (CoC), their relevance to their area of work, and that concerns are reported and managed in accordance with the appropriate procedures.
Key Relationships
- The role will be supervised by the Country Communication Advisor with dotted reporting to the Emergency response manager
- The role will have frequent interaction with programme staff, partners, donors, media and stakeholders
Technical Expertise, Skills and Knowledge
Essential:
Essential:
- A First degree or Master’s in Communications and Communication for development
- At least 5 years’ experience working on communications or media for NGO or in journalism especially in emergency settings.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills and the ability to communicate complicated and technical issues in a concise and clear way, to a wide range of target audiences
- Demonstrated experience of the key responsibilities, including working with media, delivering Communications strategies, managing internal communications, knowledge of digital media, and creating networks
- A track record of achieving results and strategic impact on communications and media and in building capacity for teams to deliver
- Must show demonstrable impact in using communications as a tool for social change
- Sound political judgement and risk management
- Strong understanding of the international humanitarian community, preferably experience working with/in coalitions of other INGOs and the UN.
- Demonstrated and considerable experience of working with international media, communications or public relations roles
- Fluency in English and Hausa language
Skills:
- Excellent analytical and critical thinking skills, including ability to find, absorb, analyse and prioritise information from many different sources, and proven experience of strategy development
- Ability to work in a volatile and, at times, insecure environment, under pressure, to tight deadlines, with competing priorities and minimal supervision
- Ability to travel – sometimes at short notice
- Flexibility and adaptability
- Excellent inter-personal skills and ability to work in multi-national, multi-cultural teams
- Computer literate and well versed in basic software (Word, Internet Explorer, Excel, etc).
Plan International’s Values In Practice
- We are open and accountable
- Promotes a culture of openness and transparency, including with sponsors and donors.
- Holds self and others accountable to achieve the highest standards of integrity.
- Consistent and fair in the treatment of people.
- Open about mistakes and keen to learn from them.
- Accountable for ensuring we are a safe organisation for all children, girls & young people
- We strive for lasting impact
- Articulates a clear purpose for staff and sets high expectations.
- Creates a climate of continuous improvement, open to challenge and new ideas.
- Focuses resources to drive change and maximise long-term impact, responsive to changed priorities or crises.
- Evidence-based and evaluates effectiveness.
- We work well together
- Seeks constructive outcomes, listens to others, willing to compromise when appropriate.
- Builds constructive relationships across Plan International to support our shared goals.
- Develops trusting and ‘win-win’ relationships with funders, partners and communities.
- Engages and works well with others outside the organization to build a better world for girls and all children.
- We are inclusive and empowering
- We empower our staff to give their best and develop their potential
- We respect all people, appreciate differences and challenge equality in our programs and our workplace
- We support children, girls and young people to increase their confidence and to change their own lives.
Physical Environment
- Typical office environment with frequent travels to the field
Level of Contact with Children
- Mid contact: Occasional interaction with children
Job Title: Deputy Emergency Response Manager
Location: Maiduguri, Borno (with frequent travel to Mubi & Abuja)
Reports to: Emergency Response Manager
Travel required Frequent
Effective Date: June 2018
Grade: E
Role Purpose
Location: Maiduguri, Borno (with frequent travel to Mubi & Abuja)
Reports to: Emergency Response Manager
Travel required Frequent
Effective Date: June 2018
Grade: E
Role Purpose
- The purpose of this role is to support the international Emergency Response Manager (ERM) who is leading the emergency response work of Plan International Nigeria in the North East.
- The role will particularly be responsible for operational activities including dealing with issues of Finance, Human resources Admin and logistics.
- The ERM is covering a variety of different tasks, which includes among others overseeing the development and implementation of the Emergency Response Plan (incl. project implementation of different projects with different institutional donors and National Offices), maintaining the emergency master budget, ensure the regular development of Sitreps, representing the organisation at various clusters, working groups and towards external as well as internal (i.e Regional Office, IH, Lake Chad Basin Unit) humanitarian actors, being the overall line manager for the whole emergency response team which is spread across three locations (Abuja, Maiduguri and Mubi).
- To ensure that all these tasks can be appropriately addressed by the ERM, he/she will need to be able to delegate certain management authority and tasks to the Deputy ERM to ensure continuity and regular oversight and support to the emergency response team.
- Furthermore, it is key that in the absence of the ERM, no gap in terms of decision making regarding the response actions as well as continuous management support to the response team is occurring.
Accountabilities
Emergency Response Programme Management:
Emergency Response Programme Management:
- Provide leadership on humanitarian response operational issues – including dealing interfacing with finance, coordinating with HR and overseeing the Admin and logistics team and any other operational tasks as agreed with the ERM.
- Regular monitoring of project implementation status in terms of expenditures and activity implementation progress).
- In absence of the ERM (i.e. due to leave, illness, other tasks) represents the emergency response team of Plan Int. Nigeria both internally and externally and therefore will act as Officer in Charge (OiC) including all related authority which is required to be the OiC.
- Jointly reviewing and revising where required with the ERM and the Plan Nigeria CMT the emergency response plan.
- Support program teams in implementation of emergency response programs, including support for start-up of new grants as well as during implementation and tracking of qualitative and timely implementation
- Support program teams with operational challenges by working closely with the logistics and admin department
- Support program teams in tracking expenditures and by reviewing financial reports.
Information and Co-ordination:
- Representing Plan International at all relevant external and internal meetings with humanitarian actors in the absence of the ERM
- Support the coordination and interlinkage of existing projects with new projects to ensure coherence by providing pro-actively as well as per request information to the Lake Chad Programme
- Coordinator, regional DRM team as well as colleagues of the national offices (NOs) within the Plan Federation..
- Participate in the lake Chad Programme NO/CO calls including updates on the emergency situation and response programme of Plan Nigeria
Capacity Building:
- Provide orientation and guidance on key processes in developing and implementing emergency response projects and proposals to the colleagues of Plan Nigeria.
- Ensure that new project designs are informed by needs assessments and contextual analysis
- Orient the emergency response team members on the use and concept of relevant human. Standards like SPHERE, CHS, INEE and CPMS
- Log-frame approach and application
- Linking CO emergency response team members to DRM related training opportunities
- Support project teams to enhance local PNGO capacity on organizational development, PCM and donor compliance
- Resource Mobilisation for follow up and new DRM grants
- Close collaboration with Business Development Advisor and CO Resource Mobilization Advisor at one side and technical specialist to ensure that proposal/project development is coordinated and well informed from a technical/programmatic point of view
- Support BDA and ERM in identifying potential extension/follow up intervention sectors through enhanced donor engagement
- Ensure that new intervention ideas are in line with overall Lake Chad and Plan Nigeria emergency programme and donor priorities.
- Support ERM and BDM regarding project presentations to COs, NOs & donors to enhance resource mobilization.
Security:
- Work closely with ERM and Security Advisor to monitor the security situation and to keep staff informed on new developments
- Support staff to implement safety and security measures
- Ensures that Plan International’s global policies for Safeguarding Children and Young People and Gender Equality and
- Inclusion are fully embedded in accordance with the principles and requirements of the policy including relevant Implementation Standards and Guidelines as applicable to their area of responsibility.
- This includes, but is not limited to, ensuring staff and associates are aware of and understand their responsibilities under these policies and Plan International’s Code of Conduct (CoC), their relevance to their area of work, and that concerns are reported and managed in accordance with the appropriate procedures.
Key Relationships
Internal:
Internal:
- ERM of Plan International Nigeria
- Country Director of Plan International Nigeria
- Head of Programmes of Plan Int. Nigeria
- Lake Chad Programme Coordinator and Lake Chad Business Development Manager
- Various departments within Plan International Nigeria (HR, Finance, Admin., Programmes etc.)
- All members of the emergency response team (incl. technical specialists, field coordinators, emergency admin., emergency project managers)
- Regional DRM Manager and DRM Programme Specialist of Plan WARO (West Africa Regional Office)
- DRM/ERMs of Plan International in Niger and Cameroon, other members of the Emergency Response country teams where required, EiE and CPIE Specialists in WARO and International Headquarters (IH) and the Country Education and Protection teams as appropriate
- Representatives of the NOs who collaborate with the CO on DRM projects in Nigeria
External:
- Other agencies and stakeholders related to the programme – national and state government, relevant UN system, International NGOs, Local partners and communities.
Qualifications
Essential:
Essential:
- At least 5 years professional experience of coordinating/implementing humanitarian projects with at least 3 years of coordination/management role at programme level.
- Fluency in English in writing and speaking (mandatory)
- Demonstrable experience in coordinating and/or implementing related emergency projects funded through international donors (i.e. SIDA, ECHO, USAID, DFID, GFFO)
- Demonstrable experience of coordinating programmes/projects in line with key international humanitarian standards
- Demonstrable experience in direct supervision and line management of project staff
- Demonstrable experience of organizational representation and engagement with humanitarian donors
- General knowledge and understanding of INEE and CPIE minimum standards, Core Humanitarian Standards, SPHERE, Red Cross/NGO Code of Conduct and other relevant international standards for humanitarian response.
- Ability to work independently and as a team player who demonstrates leadership and is able to guide local and international staff if required and also able to work with disaster affected communities in a sensitive and participatory manner.
- Well-developed written and oral communication skills. This includes effective negotiation and representation skills.
- Well organized even within a fluid working environment and has a capacity for initiative and decision making with competent analytical and problem solving skills
- Works with trustworthiness and integrity and has a clear commitment to Plan’s core values and humanitarian principles
Values in Practice
- We are open and accountable
- Promotes a culture of openness and transparency, including with sponsors and donors.
- Holds self and others accountable to achieve the highest standards of integrity.
- Consistent and fair in the treatment of people.
- Open about mistakes and keen to learn from them.
- Accountable for ensuring we are a safe organisation for all children, girls & young people
- We strive for lasting impact
- Articulates a clear purpose for staff and sets high expectations.
- Creates a climate of continuous improvement, open to challenge and new ideas.
- Focuses resources to drive change and maximise long-term impact, responsive to changed priorities or crises.
- Evidence-based and evaluates effectiveness.
- We work well together
- Seeks constructive outcomes, listens to others, willing to compromise when appropriate.
- Builds constructive relationships across Plan International to support our shared goals.
- Develops trusting and ‘win-win’ relationships with funders, partners and communities.
- Engages and works well with others outside the organization to build a better world for girls and all children.
- We are inclusive and empowering
- We empower our staff to give their best and develop their potential
- We respect all people, appreciate differences and challenge equality in our programs and our workplace
- We support children, girls and young people to increase their confidence and to change their own lives.
Physical Environment
- Typical office environment with travels to project sites
Level of Contact with Children:
- Mid contact: Occasional interaction with children
How To Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should submit their CV’s and a Statement of Interest responding to how they have demonstrated the above listed values in the course of their career to: Maiduguri.Recruitment@plan-international.org Indicate the “Job Title and Location” as subject of the mail.
Interested and qualified candidates should submit their CV’s and a Statement of Interest responding to how they have demonstrated the above listed values in the course of their career to: Maiduguri.Recruitment@plan-international.org Indicate the “Job Title and Location” as subject of the mail.
Application Deadline 25th May, 2018.
Note
- Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. Sent all applications as specified above.
- Plan International operates an equal opportunities policy and actively encourages diversity, welcoming applications from all areas of the international community. Women are encouraged to apply.
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