Communications and Engagement Manager, Skills for Prosperity Hub

Project Overview and Role:
The Skills for Prosperity programme aims to to improve the affordability, quality, relevance and equity of Higher Education and TVET in Brazil, Egypt, Kenya, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Nigeria, Philippines and South Africa. The S4P Hub is a demand driven management facility to support the in-country Skills for Prosperity programmes in the nine partner countries. It advises on the delivery of the programme and manages the programme implementation on a day-to-day basis, acting on behalf of FCDO, including where this is delivered by downstream delivery partners.

The Communications and Engagement Manager is the Hub’s communications specialist, facilitating internal and external communications and sharing learning. This is a varied and challenging role which gives scope for autonomy and creativity. It involves collaborating with a small core team, working with Skills for Prosperity (S4P) Hub technical experts, Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) staff and delivery partners in nine countries. The main objectives of the role are to raise the profile of the programme, increase engagement with internal and external stakeholders and promote and share learning from S4P.

This post will be based in London, with some flexibility for remote working. There are no direct reports, but the role may involve managing short-term experts. The role requires a consultative and collaborative approach, working effectively with other team members to co-ordinate and prioritise communications activities.
Primary responsibilities include:

The deadline for applications on this posting is 23:59 on 24th April 2022.

Primary Duties and Responsibilities:
●Lead implementation of the communications strategy for the Skills for Prosperity programme, and monitor and evaluate it to improve reach and engagement.
●Regularly review and update the S4P Global Communications Calendar, to plan, co-ordinate and develop communications activities and products that achieve S4P communications objectives.
●Manage and curate content for the programme social media channels Medium publication, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube.
●Build and promote the programme’s thought leadership. This includes directly contributing to it and supporting the S4P Hub team members, Lead Technical Advisors, the FCDO and country teams to develop high-quality think pieces for the S4P Medium publication.
●Develop and disseminate key communications products, such as the quarterly S4P newsletter, which promotes achievements and learning externally.
●Identify opportunities to support the improvement of communications plans, approaches and products developed by delivery partners, including reviewing documents, providing feedback and guidance and delivering capacity building activities.
●Support the effective implementation of the S4P Hub’s communications tools and products, including the application of the S4P global brand guide and style guide across the S4P network.
●Support the programme research and learning activities. This includes proofreading and copy-editing the programme publications, ensuring they are written in clear, jargon-free, plain English and are visually engaging. It also includes developing appropriate communication strategies to promote their publication and engage stakeholders.
●Identify opportunities to raise the profile of S4P, particularly with the UK education and skills sector, including identifying external events that can be used to showcase S4P.
●Manage and develop the S4P Huddle, an online collaboration platform to share learning across the S4P network and grow S4P Hub engagement with delivery partners
●Organise virtual and face-to-face S4P events and workshops, co-ordinating inputs from the Hub team and experts, developing agendas/programmes and overseeing operational arrangements.
●Lead on the development of learning products such as case studies and success stories, and identify and plan creative ways to effectively promote learning across the S4P network and externally.
●Create, develop and utilise a lessons learned management system.

Required Qualifications:
●Graduate degree or equivalent relevant experience.
●Experience in a management-level communications role in a complex stakeholder environment, ideally in the education, skills, economic development or international development fields.
●Experience promoting thought leadership, ideally in a relevant field.
●Experience of working with experts to harness knowledge and expertise to support learning, collaboration and problem solving.
●Good understanding of different communication channels and platforms and the style and type of content needed to reach different target audiences.
●Experience managing social media channels, such as Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.
●Experience of organising virtual and face-to-face events, including conferences, meetings, workshops and capacity building activities.
●Ability to provide support and capacity building on communications approaches and tools.
●Strong writing and proofreading skills, with attention to detail.
●Ability to present information in a simple, creative and visually engaging way, including using PowerPoint.
●Track record of effectively influencing and negotiating in a complex matrix structure, building positive relationships that produce results.
●Well-developed project management, planning and organisational skills.