International Communications Advisor- Country Support

Role purpose

This role aims to amplify Christian Aid’s and its partner’s messages in the lead up to COP27 on climate justice through international and national media in the countries where Christian Aid operates. Climate Justice is an important part of Christian Aid’s policy and advocacy and its programmatic work and the main theme of our strategic communications in 2022.

Key outcomes

• Positive, on brand media coverage for the climate justice policy and advocacy messages and campaign of Christian Aid and its partners, in the run-up and during COP27 across traditional and new media outside the UK achieved by you personally and by colleagues you advise and support.
• Colleagues and partners are supported to produce high-quality comment articles / blogs and other content that is published by the mainstream and specialist media, in support of climate justice and its arguments.
• Drive and/or support GAP, PPRL and Communications colleagues and partners to create and promote activities, tools, resources, case studies and impact stories that support our climate justice messaging
• GAP, country teams and partners are supported to develop media strategies for advocacy campaigns targeting national and international key influencing moments.
• Work with colleagues to ensure content is produced and used on Christian Aid and partners digital platforms and to liaise with relevant staff and partners at country level to maximise the use of the content generated.
• Journalists are engaged and productive relationships developed with target journalists in the Global South working in key regional and national media outlets.
• Colleagues across the organisation get sound, timely advice on potential media interest in the campaigns, publications, and other work that they are planning in relation to climate.

Applied skills/knowledge and expertise

Essential

• Educated to degree level.
• Experience working as a journalist for national or regional media organisation (broadcast, print, online or a mixture) and or press officer for a civil society organisation.
• Strong and demonstrable understanding of news values, based experience of working as a news journalist/press officer in the mainstream media.
• You must have the confidence and ability to sell particular Christian Aid and partners stories to individual journalists – and the news sense to understand which journalist(s) you should contact about particular stories.
• Strong ability to write and edit for publication by the mainstream media, evidenced by news, features and/or comment articles published by print on online mainstream media organisations (or their broadcast equivalent).
• Proven experience of using social media effectively and appropriately and the ability to translate this into effective social media work for Christian Aid.
• Ability to produce newsworthy, accurate and legally sound press releases for Christian Aid, working together with all the colleagues who ought to have a say. Your writing ability may be assessed in a test, if you are chosen for interview.
• Ability to translate potentially dry, academic or specialist material into stories that will be covered by the mainstream media.
• Experience of story-gathering in developing countries.
• Ability to use produce and/or use case studies of grassroots, programmes and people affected by climate change to support advocacy messaging
• Ability to liaise with a wide range of people, both internally and externally and on many levels, with credibility, tact, and diplomacy.
• Awareness of the different media markets in which country teams operate and the differing opportunities, challenges and risks they face
• Good knowledge of international development and international relations.

Desirable

• Deep knowledge and understanding of climate politics to counter the climate emergency and the policy issues at play.
• Ability to interrogate financial and technical data.
• Knowledge and understanding of churches and faith based advocacy
• Experience of working in a media relations team, for a charity or in the public or private sector.
• Ability to work in French, or a major African language