Social Marketing Officer

Post categorization: National position

Location: ACORD Headquarter, Nairobi, Kenya

Some travelling within Africa and internationally

Background

ACORD (Agency for Cooperation and Research in Development) is a Pan African organisation founded in 1976 as an independent international development organisation.

It is working for social justice and development in Africa, through a combination of practical interventions on the ground, people-centred research and policy advocacy.

ACORD has decentralised country offices in 17 African countries that work with communities on livelihoods and food sovereignty, HIV/AIDS, peace building and women’s rights.

ACORD also campaigns and engages in advocacy on these issues in the UK and in Africa.

ACORD believes that people have a right to a just and equal society and is committed to making that right a reality for people on the margins of African societies. We work in common cause with people who are poor and those who have been denied their rights to obtain social justice and development and be part of locally rooted citizen movements.

Job Summary

ACORD is a registered charity no.283302 in the UK with its Secretariat split between Nairobi and London.

ACORD is entirely grant funded with an average annual budget of GBP7 million per year.

ACORD was created as a consortium of non-governmental development organisations in Europe and Canada and the founding member organisations still provide the financial backbone of ACORD. Other important donors are institutional bilateral and multilateral donor agencies such as European Union and DFID, as well as other international NGOs.

The large majority of ACORD funds are in the form of project restricted grants from institutional donors. ACORD has set up an online donation facility. Work is also underway to explore fundraising from corporations.

The aim is to align the funding with the vision, mission, strategic priorities and operational needs of ACORD.

In the 2011-2015 strategic period particular emphasis is on enhancing the quality of funding; including through mobilising more unrestricted funding and moving beyond traditional funding sources to corporations, possibly the African diaspora, university students, and exploring the feasibility for ACORD to raise its own income. More emphasis on marketing will be required to support such innovative fundraising from non-traditional sources.

The Social Marketing Officer will focus on areas of work that are new to ACORD with a view to generate financial and ideological support for ACORD’s work on generating policy and practice changes. For the financial support, emphasis is on raising more unrestricted funding and funding from new sources.

Focus will be on fundraising from corporations; mobilising unrestricted funding through various ways, such as promoting the online donation facility of ACORD; and supporting related branding and marketing to enhance the visibility and image of ACORD. The position will also support the efficiency of ACORD’s advocacy campaigns.

He/she will collaborate extensively with colleagues across the organisation. The role of the Social
Marketing Officer falls within ACORD’s Partnership Development team and the post is reporting to the Partnership Development and Communications Advisor.

Responsibilities

Within the broad parameters set in ACORD’s approved global strategy 2011-2015, and related strategies and policies:

Support the enhanced efficiency of ACORD's people-centred advocacy campaigns;
Contribute to increasing traffic on ACORD’s website;
Support overall marketing with a view to mobilise unrestricted funding and funds from nontraditional sources, e.g. corporations;
Contribute to a culture of information sharing and organisational learning in social marketing and communications;
Any other emerging tasks as agreed with the Partnership Development and Communications Advisor

1) Support the enhanced efficiency of ACORD's people-centred advocacy campaigns

Through team meetings and one to one interviews with line manager provide progress reports on campaigns to ensure effective communications within the team
Takes responsibility for specific campaigns as agreed with the Partnership Development and Communication Advisor
contribute to implementing the Supporters Relationship Management database and takes responsibility for uploading social marketing and advocacy data
assists with the development and implementation of ACORD’s target audience development objectives

2) Contribute to increasing traffic on ACORD’s website

The Social Marketing Officer will support ACORD’s online shop and donation facility:

Help develop and monitor online marketing activities
Benchmark other websites and identify online partnership opportunities
Enhance ACORD’s online shop and marketing content of the website
Help develop online communication material (e.g. banners, screensavers, ads…)

3) Support overall marketing with a view to mobilising unrestricted funding and funds from nontraditional sources, e.g. corporations

The Social Marketing Officer will support the overall marketing objectives of ACORD both externally and internally. He/she will support the development of brand strategies and social marketing plans across the organisation.

More specifically:

Identify African Diaspora groups and partnership opportunities and research new market opportunities
Develop promotional opportunities and ideas from conception through to deliver
Aid in developing brand identity and related positioning and messaging to help inform the creative process
Maintains brand consistency across all communication material, advertising, campaigns and all internal and external communications as it pertains to ACORD brand, ensuring ACORD guidelines and policies are followed.
Supplies bi-weekly advance marketing figures for analysis
Map out potential donors and competitors
Assists with the implementation of the social marketing strategy with specific objectives and targets
Maintains liaison with external and internal suppliers, assisting in commissioning and delivery of marketing material
Provides accurate and creative copy writing and proof reading skills as directed by the Communication and Partnership Development Advisor and working to pre-agreed deadlines
Ensures that all printed promotional material is distributed effectively throughout ACORD departments and to the ACORD Board

4) Contribute to a culture of information sharing and organisational learning in social marketing and communications

Maintain relevant statistics and information relating to the overall operation of the relevant PDU objectives, including the financial position of agreed areas of responsibility, working within predetermined budgetary restrictions as agreed with the Partnership Development and Communication Advisor
Archive relevant marketing material with a view to build marketing databases
Provide regular information where necessary to assist with the compilation of reports
Monthly progress report on achievements, challenges and budget status related to designated areas of work to allow monthly PDU reports to be prepared

5) Any other emerging tasks as agreed with the Partnership Development and Communications Advisor

Because of the dynamic environment there might be a need to take on any emerging tasks in
agreement with the supervisor and as ACORD’s work in relation to Partnership development,
funding and communication keeps on evolving.

Required qualifications

Master degree in Marketing or equivalent professional qualification
3-5 years working experience in marketing or related field of expertise
Experience in all aspects of implementing and maintaining marketing strategies
Technical marketing skills and sound understanding of marketing principles
Knowledge and proven experience in new social media and online marketing
Proven experience in customer/donor relationship management and market research
Relevant knowledge on marketing data analysis
Fully conversant with ICT and office applications. Experience with relevant software applications

Relevant Competencies

Excellent written and oral communication skills for different audiences
Excellent collaboration and team work
Organization and planning
Problem analysis and problem-solving
Formal presentation skills (for a private sector and donor audience)
ICT competencies
Persuasiveness and ability to conceptualize and present ideas in a clear and convincing manner
Ability to work well in a multicultural environment across different geographical locations
Ability to handle change and unpredictability
Ability to deliver under pressure and to multi-task
Creativity, innovation and ability to take initiative
Good judgement and ability to situate actions within a value-based and grant funded organisation like ACORD
Good understanding of the development challenges in Africa and trends in social marketing and fundraising

Time frame

The contract will be for 1 year with possibility for extension.
There is a four months probation period.
On the basis of this broad TORs an individual operating plan with specific deliverables within the team and organisational workplan will be agreed with the supervisor

Time frame: The contract will be for 1 year with possibility for extension.

Remuneration: A competitive national package

Download the application form from this link and apply to:

Human Resources & Organisational Development Manager
ACORD Nairobi, ACK Garden House,
P. O. Box 61216, 00200,
Nairobi, Kenya

Tel: +254 20 2721172, 2721185/86

To apply, please complete the application form (attached for download) and e-mail it with a detailed Curriculum Vitae and cover letter to recruit@acordinternational.org with the Job Title in the Subject Box.

Closing Date: 28th October 2011