Media and Advocacy Manager - Somalia/Somaliland Country Office

Team/Programme: PDQ
Location: Nairobi
Grade: TBC (Competitive Package)

Child Safeguarding:

Level 3 - the responsibilities of the post may require the post holder to have regular contact with or access to children or young people

Role Purpose:

The Media and Advocacy manager will shares in the overall responsibility to undertake advocacy work to advance Save the Children’s policy positions and influence decision-makers, both at Nairobi level and internationally.

S/he will manage media enquiries regarding Save the Children in Somalia and will provide support the PDQ department on all issues of advocacy and media.

Scope of Role:

Reports to: Director of Quality Programmes

Dimensions: Save the Children International works in 4 regions in Somalia/Somaliland with a current staff complement of approximately 450 staff and current expenditure of approximately 64$ million in 2012.

Staff directly reporting to this post: None

Key Areas of Accountability:

The Media and Advocacy manager is responsible for contributing to advance Save the Children’s policy positions and influence decision-makers, both at Nairobi level and internationally.

S/he will provide support the PDQ department on all issues of advocacy and media within the Country Office.

S/he will have a support role in establishing and promoting an advocacy strategy to ensure that our Country Office:

is informed on the extent to which both the emergency response and development interventions are affecting the lives of the targeted populations;
have evidence-based knowledge on the positive and negative impact that both the emergency response and development interventions are having over the communities where SCI works;
receives regular, timely and context-specific, meaningful feedback from our staff, partners, programme participants (who are or are not targeted by our interventions), and that feedback effectively informs and signals areas where strategic attention is required.

Media Work

Develop and implement media guidelines for local and international media for SCI programme in Somalia/Somaliland.
Act as media focal point for Somalia programme with SCI media team, ensuring appropriate communications and procedures for media all followed as per SCI guidelines;
Lead on building a close network of media professionals, stakeholders and communities to ensure appropriate media coverage of SCI’s initiatives in relation to Somalia/Somaliland;
Lead on journalist and any media visits to Somalia/Somaliland
Writing relevant articles on child-rights issues for media purposes and develop message points in response to media queries;
Produces materials for print/online/voice/visual and social media outreach, where appropriate;
Compile and circulate updates on the situation including figures, key highlights, and links to news stories;
Collect and gather interest case studies and stories that are newsworthy for use in media work;
Draft media briefings, talking points, Q&As, press releases and media statements based on the advocacy priorities identified;
Ensure the internal and SCI sign off procedure for all external communication;
Evaluates results and impact of external communications activities.

Advocacy Work

Develop and implement an advocacy strategy to guide SCI’s work in relation to the Somalia Programme;
Draft and support the production of advocacy material to be used at regional and international levels;
Manage advocacy initiatives on Somalia in close coordination with the PDQ, the Operations department and the Country Director, the Humanitarian Advocacy Working Group, and communications and media staff;
Ensure SCI Somalia Country annual Plan and reports have clear advocacy objectives and strategies, and indicators for assessing the impact of SCI’s advocacy work;
Support the SMT in high-level advocacy work towards the Humanitarian Country Team, key UN agencies, donors and other agencies, including the Nairobi NGO Consortium;
Ensure that all advocacy messages, documents and strategies are evidence-based drawn from field experience and assessments, of high quality and effective, and are authorised by the Country Director, and when necessary ensure products are signed-off according to the Save the Children International sign-off procedures;

Contribute to international advocacy strategies on improved and timely emergency response, resilience, child protection as well as long-term needs in Somalia;

Define key advocacy opportunities and targets at national and regional levels, and if needed mobilise international advocacy support for these;
Work with colleagues operational in the field to identify key coordination or protection issues that need to be raised with key donors or agencies;
Collect and gather interest case studies for quality reporting purposes;
Contribute to keep track of all sources of funding allocated to Somalia, and help the PDQ department to develop advocacy objectives;

Lead Save the Children’s advocacy in Somalia on issues including Protection of Civilians, Rights Violations, Humanitarian Access, Governance and Security, Child Protection, IDPs, Refugees and Returnees; as well as on the possibility of renewed crises;

External Representation

Act as the first focal point for media enquiries on Somalia;
Conduct interviews with the media, and keep track of all SCI’s interviews and media coverage of SCI in Somalia;
Build alliances and partnerships with other INGOs to undertake coordinated advocacy, as well as coordinating activities with other SCI Regional Country Programmes;
Organise media visits to the affected areas, accompanying journalists during these field visits;
Lobby and influence key stakeholders (UN agencies, Donors, relevant Government Ministries, International and National NGOs) related to Somalia in line with advocacy priorities identified in the Country Annual Plan and in the Reponses Strategy

Staff Management, Mentorship, and Development

Ensure appropriate staffing within the Media and Advocacy team as well as within the PDQ department;
Ensure that all staff understand and are able to perform their role in both emergency and development contexts;
Manage the Media and Advocacy team, define expectations, provide leadership and technical support as needed, and evaluate direct reports regularly;
Build advocacy capacity and knowledge of Nairobi and field-based staff;
Ensure the recruitment, training, and promotion of staff as appropriate and ensure availability of appropriate professional development opportunities for staff directly under his/her supervision;
Incorporate staff development strategies and Performance Management Systems into team building process.
Establish a result based system and follow up;
Oversee that Media and Advocacy staff proactively build and maintain advocacy skills and competencies; required for leading and/or advising first class programs – both for development and emergency programs;
Manage the performance of all staff with the Media and Advocacy team through:

Effective use of the Performance Management System including the establishment of clear, measureable objectives, ongoing feedback, periodic reviews and fair and unbiased evaluations;
Coaching, mentoring and other developmental opportunities;
Recognition and rewards for outstanding performance;
Documentation of performance that is less than satisfactory, with appropriate performance improvements/ workplans

Documentation of performance that is less than satisfactory, with appropriate performance improvements/ workplans;
Support the development of an organisational culture that reflects our dual mandate values, promotes accountability and high performance, encourages a team culture of learning, creativity and innovation, and frees up our people to deliver outstanding results for children and excellent customer service for our members and donors.

Skills and Behaviours (our Values in Practice)

Accountability:

Holds self accountable for making decisions, managing resources efficiently, achieving and role modelling Save the Children values
Holds the team and partners accountable to deliver on their responsibilities - giving them the freedom to deliver in the best way they see fit, providing the necessary development to improve performance and applying appropriate consequences when results are not achieved

Ambition:

Sets ambitious and challenging goals for themselves (and their team), takes responsibility for their own personal development and encourages others to do the same
Widely shares their personal vision for Save the Children, engages and motivates others
Future orientated, thinks strategically

Collaboration:

Builds and maintains effective relationships, with their team, colleagues, members and external partners and supporters
Values diversity, sees it as a source of competitive strength
Approachable, good listener, easy to talk to

Creativity:

Develops and encourages new and innovative solutions
Willing to take disciplined risks

Integrity:

Honest, encourages openness and transparency

Qualifications and Experience

Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in communication, journalism, international humanitarian law or related area. A first-level university degree in combination with at least 8 additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.
Demonstrated experience in media management and proven ability to understand print/broadcast/online/social media and using these fora to promote clear messages for humanitarian and development issues.
Clear understanding of the range of media networks and tools available to influence key targets, and their applicability in a humanitarian situation
A clear understanding of key humanitarian actors - including UN agencies and bilateral donors - and how they coordinate and operate in emergency situations;
Proven experience of external representation and direct lobbying of high-level targets
An ability to synthesise complex information into concise and compelling policy briefing notes and media/advocacy documents
Direct experience working with communities affected by disasters, and organisations seeking to serve them
Proven experience of using media for advocacy purposes
An ability to coordinate and work with diverse groups of people based in multiple locations
An ability to manage complex workloads and stressful situations
Good personal organisational skills, including time management, and ability to meet deadlines and work under pressure
Excellent command of English language, both verbal and written
Commitment to and understanding of Save the Children International’s aims, values and principles
Information Communication Technology literate