Senior Associate, Communications, UPGI, BRAC International

Career with BRAC International

BRAC is an award-winning international non-governmental development organization, with the vision of a world free from all forms of exploitation and discrimination, where everyone has the opportunity to realize their potential. BRAC is a leader in developing and implementing cost-effective, evidence-based programs to assist poor and disadvantaged communities in low-income countries, including in conflict-prone and post-disaster settings. It is an organization of and for the people of the Global South, pioneering new development and social enterprise approaches to equip communities to achieve prosperity. As well as being the world’s biggest NGO by the number of staff and people directly reached, BRAC has regularly been ranked the number one NGO in the world by the Geneva-based NGO Advisor, an independent organization committed to highlighting innovation, impact, and governance in the non-profit sector. BRAC retained the top spot in 2020 among the top 500 NGOs for the fifth consecutive year.

BRAC was founded in Bangladesh in 1972 by Sir Fazle Hasan Abed. It started its first program outside of Bangladesh in Afghanistan in 2002 and has since reached more than 6.5 million in 11 countries in Africa and Asia. BRAC has a holistic approach to development that uses a wide array of programs that include microfinance, education, health, agriculture, gender, and human rights. BRAC invests in communities’ own human and material resources, catalyzing lasting change and creating an ecosystem in which the poor have the chance to seize control of their own lives.

About the Position

BRAC Ultra-Poor Graduation Initiative (UPGI) seeks an organized and self-motivated Senior Associate who will support a growing team that advocates and provides advisory services around BRAC’s Graduation approach to a variety of stakeholders, governments, donors, other practitioners, academics, and the media. This role offers the opportunity to help improve systems, maximize outreach, and influence greater awareness and support of an evidence-based poverty alleviation intervention.

The ideal candidate has experience contributing to and implementing creative digital strategies, with strong skills in social media, website management, writing, and developing and organizing databases. A background in contributing to the growth of audiences across digital communications channels and a desire to transition to more hands-on responsibilities and project management is preferred. The Senior Associate will report directly to the Head of Communications and will work as an integral part of an agile communications team. Candidates should be prepared to work closely with colleagues in other time zones. Duty stations in BRAC Hubs may be advantageous: such as Washington DC, New York, or Nairobi.

The Senior Associate will be responsible for supporting the implementation of the team’s communications strategy through digital media. They will oversee logistics and help improve BRAC UPGI’s digital presence online through social media management, web development, paid promotion, and outreach. In addition, they will keep aware of digital trends, track key stakeholders, and focus professional development on building skills needed to inform digital strategy and tactics.

Position Responsibilities:

Social Media

The Senior Associate will oversee BRAC UPGI’s social media channels, designing strategies, developing content, and implementing campaigns that reach BRAC UPGI’s key stakeholders, educating and influencing them around our proven approach to eradicating extreme poverty. They will:

• Draft social media copy.
• Make strategic monthly social media plans and schedule content via a social media management platform (Hootsuite).
• Draft timely social media copy in response to relevant stakeholder posts, publications, and events.
• Manage and update the social media database featuring all evergreen content that links back to existing collateral, coverage, and projects.
• Collaborate with the Manager and Associate on the development of visual content that complements written copy and highlights key issues and information, data for BRAC UPGI, and poverty eradication.
• Create periodic reports (monthly, quarterly, annually) that assess progress against goals, suggest variables to test, and track improvements over time.
• Monitor and report on social media activity from key stakeholders on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis and provide suggestions on strategic engagement through social media and beyond.

Digital Advertising

The Senior Associate will support the Deputy Manager of Communications in planning, launching, and overseeing BRAC UPGI’s digital advertising campaigns across LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Google.

• Draft advertising copy.
• Select and edit images and videos for ads.
• Report on campaign performance and recommend adjustments.
• Support Deputy Manager in planning campaigns, including targeting, budgeting, setting objectives, and conversion tracking.

Website

The Senior Associate will help enhance and optimize BRAC UPGI’s website, keeping it up to date with recent content and improving the user experience.

• Ensure new messaging and content are featured and consistent on the site.
• Manage backend of the website in WordPress, including adding and updating blogs, resources, and key pages on a regular basis.
• Coordinate with the Deputy Manager of Communications and website team to maintain and fix any website issues, improve website performance, and increase traffic through Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
• Create monthly, quarterly, and annual reports that assess progress against goals, monitor data, and develop strategic recommendations based on Google Analytics, Ahrefs, Google Search Console, and/or Google Data Studio.

Stakeholder Tracking

• In addition to tracking key stakeholder activity on social media, track relevant content and messaging from stakeholders via UPGI comms inbox and report relevant updates from stakeholder newsletters; media monitoring alerts.
• Recommend strategic next steps for BRAC UPGI engagement with stakeholders based on tracking.
• Improve systems and processes around stakeholder tracking, including stakeholder mapping/Salesforce CRM system; media monitoring alerts, and reporting.

Safeguarding Responsibilities

• Ensure the safety of team members from any harm, abuse, neglect, harassment, and exploitation to achieve the program’s goals of safeguarding implementation.
• Practice, promote and endorse the issues of safeguarding policy among team members and ensure the implementation of safeguarding standards in every course of action.
• Follow the safeguarding reporting procedure in case any reportable incident takes place, and encourage others to do so.

Qualifications:

The candidate for Senior Associate should possess exceptional skills in writing, social media management, and website management and exhibit an interest in international development. Additionally, they will have the following attributes:

Education and Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree in communications, journalism, marketing, economics, public policy, or related field. Additional coursework and specialization in international development would be considered favorably.
• 2-4 years of experience with a background in social media, website management, and digital advertising preferred.
• Experience with or knowledge of international development, public policy, multilateral institutions, and/or global governance.
• Prior communications experience at a global development organization or working on global issues is helpful.

Knowledge & Skills:

• Excellent writing and editing skills are desired, as is the ability to distill key messages from complex arguments for a variety of stakeholders.
• A passion for social media management and skills at monitoring and strategically engaging in conversations across social platforms
• The candidate must have demonstrable skills in planning, organizing, and managing digital communications campaigns across multiple platforms, including social media, digital ads, and websites.
• Stakeholder tracking skills, including media monitoring, stakeholder mapping, and regularly researching and updating profiles of key organizations and contacts.
• Proficiency with the tools needed to manage a brand in a digital space, including but not limited to: HTML; WordPress; Google Analytics, social media management tools such as Hootsuite; Google Ads; Facebook Ads Manager; LinkedIn Campaign Manager.
• Strong organization and project management skills, including the ability to prioritize and meet deadlines for multiple projects simultaneously.