Communications Officer

In the context of the ‘Displaced and Refugee youth Enabling Environment Mechanism (DREEM)’ initiative, funded by the MasterCard Foundation, WUSC is seeking to hire a Communications Officer to provide strategic guidance, technical advice, effective coordination and capacity building for components of the ‘Displaced and Refugee youth Enabling Environment Mechanism (DREEM)’, a five year project based in northern Kenya and funded by the MasterCard Foundation.

Background:

World University Service of Canada (WUSC) is a leading Canadian international development organization that works with and through its southern partners to promote sustainable development. Founded in 1957 and currently working in more than 20 countries worldwide with an annual budget of approximately $45 million dollars, WUSC fosters youth-centered solutions for improved education, economic, and empowerment opportunities to overcome inequality and exclusion. We believe youth have the potential to provide for their families, build strong communities, and create positive social change for future generations. Globally, WUSC has a network of higher education institutions, civil society organizations, private sector partners, professionals, students, volunteers, faculty, and community leaders that can be leveraged to support our work.

WUSC’s members are Canada’s most globally engaged post-secondary institutions. WUSC offers a dynamic international work environment with a diverse intercultural workforce. We offer employees exciting opportunities to apply their skills and gain experience all while making a difference for youth around the world. Employees at WUSC work hard to create lasting change in education, employment and empowerment.

Displaced and Refugee youth Enabling Environment Mechanism (DREEM) project

WUSC through the DREEM project will play a unique role as a technical assistance and strategic learning partner to the Mastercard Foundation and Mastercard Foundation partners. The DREEM project will contribute to the Mastercard Foundation’s commitment to meaningfully include refugee and displaced youth in their Scholars Program and Young Africa Works initiative. As the Mastercard Foundation also works to develop a new refugee and displaced youth strategy, the DREEM project will engage with the Foundation to ensure that the project continues to support the overall goals of the Foundation.

The DREEM project will focus on three key pillars:

1. Support Scholars Program (SP) partners and staff with the knowledge, capacity and networks to meaningfully recruit and serve refugees and displaced youth in higher education and transition to work and to work towards more inclusive societies;

2. Support Young Africa Works (YAW) country partners and staff in Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Ethiopia to gain the knowledge, capacity and networks to meaningfully include and develop programming that meets the unique training and employment needs, opportunities and aspirations of refugee and displaced youth, especially young women;

3. Strengthening Economic Opportunities for Refugees (SEOR) to complement WUSC’s existing Learning through Education and Access to Employment Pathways (LEAP) project and provide refugee entrepreneurs, especially young women with improved access to market-oriented business support services that improve business and employment outcomes in Kenya.

Job Role

Under the supervision of the Nairobi-based DREEM Deputy Director, the Communications Officer will work closely and in collaboration with the WUSC team in Kenya, the WUSC team based in Canada and the Mastercard Foundation team.

Responsibilities:

• Finalize and operationalize the DREEM communications strategy

• Write, produce, and edit a variety of high-quality communications products about DREEM’s work and thematic issues of focus for a variety of channels (e.g. annual report, blogs, newsletters, case studies, etc.) and in a variety of formats (e.g. written, audio, video)

• Provide quality control for all communications products that are published by DREEM, including print, web, and social media

• Support the designing of social media visual assets and physical assets (i.e. photo, video, t-shirts, etc.)

• Work closely with the WUSC Ottawa Communications team and the Mastercard Foundation communications team to ensure that the DREEM project effectively follows corporate communications guidelines and is also showcased on corporate social media channels and other engagement opportunities with our global network of followers

• Regularly report on social media and Google analytics, to help identify trends and recommend optimization for digital communications

• Develop and manage a DREEM photo and video asset database

• Work with the project team to identify partners and beneficiaries to showcase in a variety of communications efforts;

• Condense resources and learning materials for public dissemination

• Create content and manages any social media related to the DREEM project;

• Work with and manages external consultants when necessary (e.g., graphic designers, web developers, photographers, etc.);

• Work with the project team to plan and implement communications activities for project events and community engagement efforts (i.e. workshops, fora, roundtable meetings, etc.)

• Other related tasks as required

Line Manager

Deputy Director – DREEM Project

Qualifications:

The ideal applicant will combine technical expertise in one or more of DREEM’s sectors (higher education, durable solutions for refugees, vocational and technical training, support to entrepreneurs and businesses), a familiarity with the East African refugee context, a strategic and analytical mindset, excellent listening and interpersonal skills, and an ability to get things done.

Specific competencies:

• At minimum, a Bachelor’s degree in a related field (Media, Communications, International Development)

• Three to five years of experience in communications; experience working for a non-profit and/or in international development is preferred.

• Superior researching, writing, and editing skills in English are essential

• Strong computer skills (e.g. Google Suite) are essential

• Design and video-editing skills (e.g. Canva, Adobe Creative) are a strong asset

• Website and UX Design experience a strong asset

• Demonstrated commitment to the mission and values of WUSC

• Ability to multitask

• Must be motivated, creative, hardworking, optimistic, and a team player

Other requirements

• The role will require regular travel (up to 20%) to field sites in Kakuma Refugee Camp, Kalobeyei Settlement, and nearby communities in northern Turkana, and may require international travel for conferences, workshops and meetings;

• Ability to work a flexible schedule.