Communications Officer – Libya/Tunisia

The Tadamon programme is a 1-year programme funded by the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) and the Islamic Solidarity Fund for Development (IsFD) from 2021-2022 that aims to expand the current cooperation between SPARK, IsDB and IsFD in the Middle East to address the impact of COVID-19 on the delivery of short courses, higher education programmes and support for jobs placement of graduates in IsDB member countries. SPARK has developed a fast track global COVID-19 response programme, which focuses on safeguarding jobs and access to higher education for fragile countries among the IsDB MCs.

We aim to contribute to the immediate and medium-term efforts to prevent, contain and respond to the negative impacts of COVID 19 on the youth women and other vulnerable groups in Libya. We provide COVID-19 support to SMEs through short courses, awareness-raising and psychosocial support to the public on protection and treatment of COVID-19 pandemic; we aim to improve women, youth and vulnerable groups’ sustainable employment and/or self-employment following entrepreneurship skills developments; and aim to support SMEs to scale up through technical assistance, access to market and finance opportunities.

The Communications Officer will be responsible for all communication for the Tadamon programme in Libya, including responsibility for implementing the national communication strategy and planning activities in line with the SPARK communication guidelines.

The Communications Officer will report to the Regional Programme Director for the North Africa region and coordinate closely with the communications unit at SPARK HQ.

Main Tasks and Responsibilities:

The responsibilities and tasks include, but are not limited to:

• Create and execute a communications and outreach strategy for the programme, including development and coordination of promotional materials for various target groups including small and medium-sized businesses;
• Work with local partner organisations on communications deliverables;
• Support the creation of engaging content surrounding Tadamon, including video production, news and story writing, photography etc.
• Collect news and stories to be published in SPARK’s newsletters, website, social media channels, videos and other organization-wide communication;
• Coordinate response to donor requests on visibility and access to participants (video production, news and story writing, photography, etc.);
• Manage the SPARK Libya Facebook page, promoting engagement;
• Organising events;
• Cooperate with other (I)NGOs and other stakeholders to promote SPARK activities;
• Develop a network of journalists;
• Other ad hoc tasks and duties.

Requirements and Skills

• University diploma in a relevant field;

• A minimum 3 years of relevant working experience in a prior comparable position and with international NGOs;

• Clear interest in development aid, youth, and employment;

• Proven experience in designing and implementing outreach and communication strategies;

• Excellent English and Arabic language skills;

• Proven editing and writing skills;

• Social media knowledge and experience are essential;

• MS Office experience is essential;

• Mailchimp and WordPress experience is an asset;

• Graphic design skills (Adobe InDesign, Photoshop) are an asset;

• Photography skills an asset;

• Experience working with SMEs and entrepreneurs is an asset;

• Good communication and social skills and ability to work in multicultural settings;

• Good team worker while able to work independently;

• Ability to work under pressure;

• High energy, pro-active and service-minded;

• Libyan/Tunisian nationality only.

SPARK Offers

• A challenging and exciting position in an international environment;
• Remuneration based on experience and SPARK salary grid;
• Full-time contract for 9 months (2 months probation period), with the possibility of extension.
• Training opportunities

About SPARK

SPARK develops higher education and entrepreneurship to empower young, ambitious people to lead their fragile and conflict-affected societies into prosperity. SPARK is a dynamic and growing, international not-for-profit development organisation with 100+ staff members, in more than 14 offices around the world. SPARK supports refugees in the Middle East by providing them with scholarships in universities and higher education institutions in the region. SPARK also supports young entrepreneurs in fragile states, to start or grow their own businesses.