Strategic Communications Director (Проєкт Трансформація комунікацій)

Chemonics International Inc.

SCOPE OF WORK

USAID Transformation Communications Activity

Job Title: Strategic Communications Director

Estimated Period of Performance/Level of Effort: Long-term

Chemonics seeks a Strategic Communications Director for the ongoing USAID Transformation Communications Activity in Ukraine. The project aims to  partner with the Government of Ukraine (GOU), private sector, and civil society to increase the resilience of Ukraine’s democracy through innovative communications initiatives that engage Ukrainians in a conversation about the country’s democratic transformation and European integration. The objectives of the Activity are to equip USAID and its partners to conduct data-driven communications; increase the quality and quantity of strategic communications on reform dividends; and broaden the use of social impact content by Ukraine’s civic leaders and creative sector.

General Provisions

The Strategic Communications Director will lead TCA’s Objective 2 strategic communications efforts. In coordination with the technical expertise of TCA’s Strategic Communications Advisor, the Strategic Communications Director will oversee TCA’s development, creation, and delivery of strategic communications campaigns to support the GOU and civil society partners.

Principal Duties and Obligations (Essential Functions)

As Strategic Communications Director, the Employee is responsible for the following principal duties and obligations:

• Manage the work of Objective 2 (Strategic Communications) team, helping the team to develop project activities that support the project’s goals and objectives as set forth in the project contract with USAID, approved annual work plans, and other relevant deliverables, and help to draft scopes of work for individual consultants or grantees.
• Utilizing the technical expertise of the Objective 2 Advisor, work alongside all team leads to ensure a coherent and strategic vision for the implementation of the Program with buy-in from USAID and key counterparts and stakeholders. 
• Oversee efforts to publicize and amplify the programmatic effect of the TCA activities, working in coordination with technical and operational team members.
• Engage with beneficiaries and counterparts to design and take actions that utilize traditional media, social media, events, and other venues to enhance messaging of the TCA activities.
• Develop and manage outreach and communications efforts for TCA activities which will have a high likelihood of achieving impact and respond to the current social and political situation in Ukraine
• Strategically engage with the GOU and civil society partners in collaboration with project leadership to identify strategic communications needs to inform, engage, or generate discussion or use for specific policies, issues, and/or causes.
• Analyze and utilize data from various sources (including TCA funded research) to recommend communications and outreach approaches that will maximize impact of not only individual existing grant activities but the overall objectives of the TCA program.
• Provide technical assistance to beneficiaries, subcontractors, and potential partners as required, during the activity preparation stage and in the implementation phase in coordination with other staff.
• Develop scopes of work for consultants, subcontractors, and partners to fill gaps in key capacities and develop strategies for campaigns and to strengthen their capabilities for media relations and outreach, social media marketing, brand marketing, and crisis communications.
• Coordinate and liaise with the Awards Team to ensure effective projects and subcontract implementation, compliance, and procurement requirements.
• Evaluate activities’ progress, and coordinate with assistance recipients and other staff to prepare, review, and approve monitoring and evaluation data and final reports.
• Perform other duties as required or assigned.

Required Skills and Qualifications:

To perform this job successfully, the Employee must be able to perform each essential duty, obligation and responsibility satisfactorily. The qualifications listed below are representative of the required knowledge, skills and/or abilities needed to perform the principal duties.

• Demonstrated experience managing strategic communications and public awareness campaigns for government, NGOs, and the private sector.
• Demonstrated ability to establish strong working relationships with representatives of state institutions, experts, opinion leaders, journalists, communication sector specialists.
• Demonstrate ability to use research, extract data for communication campaigns, generate queries for the research team
• Experience working on USAID or donor-funded programs preferred. 
• Minimum of 5 years of experience working in communications or related field. 
• Ukrainian, Russian, and English fluency, with excellent presentation skills and strong ability to communicate clearly and concisely in writing in all languages. 
• Experience in managing and implementing communications efforts for internationally funded programs.
• Willingness to learn modern communication tools and to constantly raise professionalism.
• Excellent interpersonal skills in the context of interacting with Ukrainian and international colleagues, counterparts, business representatives or community members. 
• Demonstrated creative thinking, initiative and self-motivation in handling all assigned tasks. 
• Demonstrated professional excellence and strong analytical skills.
• University degree in relevant field required. 
• Ability to work professionally and constructively as part of team, meet deadlines, communicate effectively, and deal with diverse environment. 
• Experience of communication projects targeted on external audiences is an advantage.

Please note:

• Early application submissions are strongly encouraged
• Recognizing that TCA only has one Strategic Communications Director position available, candidates applying for the Strategic Communications Director in response to this advertisement may also be considered by Chemonics for other relevant Strategic Communications positions/roles as needs arise

Application instructions:

To apply, please submit your application via the following link no later than June 10, 2022. https://app.smartsheet.com/b/form/6116f86e2e7d442f96cc45447742b1d6  Please complete the required information and upload your cover letter and CV for consideration. No telephone inquiries, please. Finalists will be contacted.

Chemonics is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate in its selection and employment practices on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, disability, genetic information, age, membership in an employee organization, or other non-merit factors.

Chemonics values the protection of your personal data. If you are in the European Union, please read our EU Recruiting Data Privacy Notice to learn how we process personal data. You may access the notice via the following link: https://chemonics.com/eu-recruiting-data-privacy-notice/.