Communication Officer Agriculture sector

SNV Netherlands Development Organisation is looking for:

Communication Officer Agriculture sector

Consultancy contract

SNV is an international not for profit development organisation, funded from public and private sources, working in 38 countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. SNV specialises in supporting the resourcefulness of development actors by developing local capacities, improve performance and services, strengthen governance systems, help create access for excluded groups and make markets work for the poor. Our global team of advisors use their specialist sector and change expertise in Agriculture, Renewable Energy and WASH to facilitate sustainable change in the livelihoods of millions of people living in poverty.  

SNV’s overall objectives in the agriculture sector are to create innovative market based solutions that increase income and employment for small holder farmers; improve food security and nutrition for all; strengthen the environmental sustainability of agricultural production and meet the challenges of a changing climate. By adopting inclusive business and systemic value chain approaches around selected  product groups (milk and meat, staple food crops and cash crops), SNV aims to improve productivity, quality and value-added and trigger collaborative relationships that are profitable and mutually beneficial for small holder farmers and their business partners.  To this effect SNV is engaged in providing advisory services, knowledge networking and evidence based advocacy.

SCOPE OF WORK and OBJECTIVES

As part of our corporate communication unit, SNV seeks a communications officer who will work closely with the Managing Director - Agriculture, the Global Sector Coordinators - Agriculture, Country Directors and Country Sector Leaders to improve both internal and external communications for the Agriculture sector.

The communication officer will drive a brand led communications strategy that positions SNV within the Agriculture sector as one of the preferred partners to do business with and strengthens the corporate SNV brand by profiling our work in agriculture.

TASKS

With guidance from the Core Agriculture Team and the corporate communication unit, the Communication officer will:

• Asses the existing communications initiatives and make suggestions for improvement;
• Develop a communications strategy for the sector and set clear objectives;
• Manage the SNV agriculture website and ensure it is up to date with regular newsitems, relevant publications and attractive stories about our work.
• Contribute agriculture content (stories!) to corporate publications such as the annual report, magazines, brochures, leaflets and video’s;
• Manage production of professional level publications and key communications materials including annual reports, newsletters, brochures etc. Where appropriate use professional writers;
• Increase SNV’s presence on the web and social media;
• Foster good working relationships with media agencies, relevant correspondents and journalists;
• Leverage on conferences, workshops and events to profile SNV;
• Take the lead in the planning and implementing of high profile events for the Sector;
• Support knowledge networks and their members in the production of compelling messages and success stories;
• Support advocacy initiatives by coordinating appropriate audience research, compiling and analyzing relevant data, preparing materials (e.g. films, videos);
• Support internal knowledge sharing and profiling of SNV’s work in Agriculture through the internet.
• Draft speeches for senior management team and prepare effective public presentations;

DELIVERABLES

At the end of the assignment the following should be in place:

• A communications strategy – as an extension of the corporate SNV communication strategy - for the sector which recommends a set of key messages to promoted to target audiences and defines the resources and means for implementation;
• A communications plan, comprising the principal communication activities scheduled during the project period;
• A calendar of major sector events in place;
• Improved visibility of SNV as a major player in the Agriculture Sector;
• SNV’s has established a better presence on electronic and social media (better results in google searches);
• The Agriculture website is up to date and appealing, excellently structured and easy to navigate;
• Promotional material such as newsletters, brochures, videos are available in the right quality and quantities;
• Advocacy initiatives supported;
• Relationship with media well managed and visibility of SNV increased;
• Terms of references of the tasks that are entrusted to service providers and specialized agencies;
• Sector annual report for 2014 finalized.

REQUIRED BACKGROUND, EXPERIENCE and COMPETENCIES

• Master’s Degree in Communications, Journalism, Public Relations or any relevant discipline.  Professional accreditation is highly desirable;
• A minimum of 10 years work experience in communications, at least 3 of which should have been spend working in a role within an international development context;
• Ability to develop and implement communications strategies, working with a range of staff, consultants and partners;
• Ability to research, analyse, valuate, synthesis and edit information;
• Strong interpersonal and relationship building skills; experience of working in a matrix organisation;
• Excellent communication (writing and oral) skills, presentation skills with experience in profiling an organisation in an international setting;
• Proficiency in IT, with a good understanding of web design techniques and the use of various social media channels; knowledge of Drupal or Sharepoint 365 is an asset.
• An eye for design. Knowledge of photo editing or design programmes is an asset. 
• Collaborative, proactive, outgoing and ability to work independently and in a team

Languages: Fluent in English (preferably native speaker).  Working knowledge of French and Spanish is an advantage

ACCOUNTABILITY and TIMEFRAME

The communication officer will be accountable to the Head of Communications and will work closely with the Managing Director of Agriculture and other key internal and external stakeholders.  Duty station will be determined, but may be the Hague, the Netherlands or Nairobi, Kenya. This is a position on local terms and conditions, but all qualified applicants are welcome to apply. The assignment is for a full time position (36 or 40 hours, depending on duty station) till 31st of December 2014. .

How to apply?

Please apply by clicking on http://snv.devhire.devex.com/jobs/328754 and completing your application in our in-house recruitment system before 30 January, 2014.

More information about SNV

For more information, please refer to our website:www.snvworld.org

We do not appreciate third-party mediation based on this advertisement.

Closing date: 

Thursday, January 30, 2014

Type of contract: 

Consultancy