DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATION

Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders), an international medical humanitarian association founded in 1971, provides medical assistance to populations whose lives are threatened: mainly in cases of armed conflict, but also epidemics, pandemics, natural disasters, or exclusion from care.

MSF WACA (West and Central Africa) was created in 2019 and aims to bring about a change in the dynamics of the MSF movement. WACA is driven by a significant number of doctors and humanitarians of Doctors Without Borders from West and Central Africa who wish to be heard, to contribute and above all to proactively assume responsibility for the humanitarian mission of the organization. WACA reflects an identity of humanitarians, an aspiration for MSF, a truly inclusive movement of people who share the values of empathy for others. Its strength is based on other MSF associations and its associative fiber is amplified by concrete operational objectives.

The executive team starts to arrive in 2021 and this new post of Director of Communication is completing the current executive team.

As the Director of Com for MSF WaCA, you will have the task and the opportunity to draw the orientations and the set up adapted to the challenges of today and tomorrow inscribed in the realities of this region.

Why join us?

You will find yourself in a rich multicultural environment embellished with many relaxation areas to exchange or just create. The opportunity to test and learn. Every idea is welcome, your comments and opinions will be appreciated at all levels of the organization. The chance to be a key player in a growing and highly qualified team. And most importantly, great colleagues in a healthy work environment… (yes, yes..)

We are looking for: Director of Communication

Department: General Direction

Direct Manager: Deputy General Director Working %: 100%

Position based in: Abidjan

Type of contract: Fixed Term Renewable

Position to be filled on: As soon as Possible

General Objective:

As the director, you participate in the drafting of the strategic plan and its implementation. You define and manage the institutional communication strategy in close collaboration with the General Management and technically support the operational com while relying on the WaCA com set up that you will design (In & OUT MSF WaCA). You organize the articulation of communication actions with the fundraising department in order to support their efforts within the framework of MSF communication policies. You identify with the executive the positioning issues for MSF, animate the stakeholders around their definition and defend MSF WaCA positions within the movement.

Main responsibilities:

1/ Design MSF WaCA Com Objective, Strategic plan & Com set up in line with MSF WaCA strategic plan.

! Expecting a bottom-up approach with Civil society to define WaCA com objective & strategy.

• Define action plans aimed at meeting operational communication needs, seizing public communication opportunities vis-à-vis MSF’s prescribing audiences and promoting the adaptation of MSF communication formats and channels to the evolution of uses,
• Arrange and animate the communication department in order to guarantee its responsiveness and the complementarity of actions between the development of messages, the production of content and dissemination,
• Ensure the integration of the contributions of the speakers in the elaboration of the MSF speeches (other departments, movement)
• Organize reporting on MSF communication actions with WaCA and the rest of the movement,
• Manage certain projects on your own (campaigns, events, etc.).

2/ Define and animate the communication policies of MSF WaCA and the internal mechanisms necessary for their implementation:

• Formalize the framing of MSF communication actions taking into account internal and external developments,
• Implement specific actions intended to support MSF’s orientations in terms of public communication (organization and work culture; training),
• Clarify, in collaboration with the operations management, the roles and responsibilities of internal actors in the development of messages and in the identification of speaking opportunities,
• Facilitate discussions on public communication within WaCA and the movement and defend the point of view of MSF WaCA,
• Contribute to the structuring of the means dedicated to communication within the movement.

3/External relations and fundraising support:

! the fundraising component will be developed later with the arrival of the person in charge of fundraising.

• Identify fundraising opportunities based on MSF operational news,
• Co-organize communication actions for MSF donors,
• In collaboration with the fundraising management, adapt the processes and work organization between the fundraising and communication department in order to get the most out of MSF’s communication actions,
• Regularly organize physical or virtual media events for management (information sessions, press conferences, etc.) in line with WaCA’s and management’s fundraising objectives.
• Represent MSF WaCA within MSF platform as the « DirCOM5 » and the « Full DirCOM ».

4/ Animate the teams :

• Recruit, supervise, lead, and support its teams and contribute to the development of the skills of its employees,
• Set guidelines, define objectives, evaluate their work,
• Make sure of the good contribution of his department to the projects/transversal works/inter-departments.

5/ Be responsible for the budget of his department:

• Develop, manage, and monitor the budget.

6/Flexibility

Some flexibility is expected with the startup com or tasks such as writing, multimedia production support can be expected

JOB PROFILE

Education / Qualification / Pre-requisites :

• Hold a diploma in one of the following fields: communication, public relations, international relations, journalism, marketing.

Aptitudes – Soft skills :

• Leadership skills
• Excellent Team & project management skills
• Strong in empowering team members and stakeholders by delegating works appropriately
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills based upon excellent skills in active listening, assertive communication, and negotiation.
• Analytical capacity & Identification of strategic priorities
• Agility and ability to use technology.
• Proven Result oriented.

Professional experience required:

• Has 5 year-experience in one of those fields: public relations, media, communication, or marketing.
• Having an in-depth knowledge of the media and political landscape of the WaCA region is essential.
• Experience working with a Board of Directors (associative and executive role) is highly desirable.
• Experience with MSF is an asset

Langages skills :

• English (Fluent)
• French (Fluent)

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In a dynamic work environment, MSF offers equal recruitment and development opportunities without any form of discrimination based on gender, religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity, geographical origin, profile, physical disability, or any other discriminatory ground.

Female candidates who meet the requirements are strongly encouraged to apply.

N.B.:This job description provides a framework for the main responsibilities and primary activities of the position. It is not exhaustive. Therefore, the responsibilities and activities of the position may differ from those described in this job description due to organizational and operational needs.

Deadline:22/10/2022 at 18:00 GMT+ Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.