Job Description

Job Description/Requirements

JOB TITLE Communications Officer
REPORTING TO SEMA Head of Operations
DEPARTMENT/UNIT SEMA
DURATION OF CONTRACT 2 years (Renewable)
DUTY STATION Nairobi preferable; other locations in Africa possible if able to legally work in the country without visa sponsorship and willing to travel up to 25%

Amref Health Africa was founded in 1957 and has since grown to become the largest African-based international health development organisation; currently implementing more than 140 programs, directly reaching more than 12 million people across 35 African countries. Headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, Amref Health Africa has offices in eight countries in Africa, namely, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia, Malawi, South Sudan, Zambia and Senegal. Amref’s work in each country responds to local needs and priorities, strengthens existing capacities in communities to have ownership of their health and strengthens the local health systems. An additional eleven advocacy and fundraising offices are located in Europe and North America. Amref has a staff complement of over 1,500.

Amref Health Africa is driven by its vision of ‘Lasting health change in Africa’ and its mission ‘To increase sustainable health access to communities in Africa through solutions in human resources for health, health service delivery, and investments in health’.

ABOUT SEMA REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH
Shaping Equitable Market Access for Reproductive Health – SEMA Reproductive Health – is a new, innovative partnership that aims to transform SRH markets so that people everywhere have sustained access to comprehensive, quality, and affordable SRH products. It emerged from a collective reflection by partners that although we have made tremendous improvements in SRH markets, we need to do business differently moving forward. In particular, we need to support countries to be stewards of their total markets and build a collaborative platform for countries, donors, and other partners to align on priority market problems, jointly problem-solve, and coordinate resources more efficiently to overcome SRH market challenges.
To that end, SEMA has been designed to strengthen countries’ and global partners’ capacities to build healthier, more equitable, and more resilient SRH markets to ensure sustained access to comprehensive, quality and affordable SRH products and services. To do so, SEMA will focus on aligning and strengthening efforts across geographies and private and public sectors through three core focuses:
1. Proactively monitor SRH market health by aggregating, analyzing, and monitoring market data to develop a holistic, unified view of user demand and current market supply of different SRH markets across regions and sectors to generate critical insights that can drive strategy & execution
2. Identify market barriers across geographies and co-design strategic solutions, tapping the unique strengths of existing networks and organizations in-country and globally to align on the most strategic approach
3. Support countries and global partners to finance and implement interventions including helping governments mobilize domestic funding against the problems, crowding in new players, directly funding market interventions and encouraging coordination of global investments to drive impact.

SEMA was announced in July 2021 alongside the Generation Equality Forum in France, with country governments from Nigeria, Burkina Faso, and Uganda; financial support from the Children's Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF), Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs (MAE); and strategic partnership from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the Foreign Commonwealth Development Office (FCDO), and the Reproductive Health Supplies Coalition. The donors have currently committed approximately $55-70 million over five years to launch this organization with the aspiration to mobilize additional resources.

SEMA will operate in a lean coordinating structure backed by in-country focal points. SEMA will implement select functions directly and manage a pool of re-granting or contracted services via implementing partners to leverage and invest in ecosystem partners. SEMA is being incubated within Amref Health Africa to rapidly scale and deliver quick wins from the get-go and will spin out to form an independent entity once established. It is overseen by a governing body and leverages a technical oversight committee of a diverse group of experts for strategic and technical advice.

JOB PURPOSE
The Communications Officer will report directly to the SEMA Head of Operations and develop and drive a communications strategy and activities for SEMA to advance its mission. The portfolio will include activities to: (i) raise awareness, political commitment, and resources for SEMA and its priorities; (ii) develop and build partnerships to advance work with country governments, regional agencies, civil society, private sector, and multilateral and bilateral agencies; (iii) collaborate with partners to elevate attention and resources for SRH generally. The work may include a range of activities such as in-person and virtual events, dynamic social and print media management and engagement, influencing,
leadership communications support, partnership collaboration, packaging success stories, message development, website/production, newsletters, etc. in consultation with SEMA leadership and other partners.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES
• Work with SEMA Leadership Team (Executive Director, Head of Operations, Head of Markets, and Head of Data & Analytics) to develop an effective and impactful communications strategy leveraging creative and dynamic approaches to advance SEMA’s strategic objectives • Sets targets/KPIs, tracks and reports on communications strategy implementation, including a timeline and reporting on what is and is not working and updating strategic recommendations
• Manage communications budget and prioritize investments
• Manage contractors against communications plan and strategy
• Develop partnership with communications leaders in key partner organizations (e.g., FP2030, UNFPA, USAID, Gates Foundation, CIFF, FCDO, France, etc.) to align messaging and activities to promote common objectives
• Develop and implement vision for the SEMA website to advance SEMA’s objectives and maximise messaging impact including sharing of success stories, technical papers, investment opportunities, sharing of best practices, etc.
• Produce and disseminate quarterly newsletters with SEMA stakeholders and partners
• Develop internal collateral (overviews, case studies, messaging, Q&A) for SEMA stakeholders (leadership, Governing Body, staff) to support the SEMA brand and support the advocacy agenda

• Create internal communications protocols and initiatives that will foster, boost and strengthen employee morale
• Coordinate various webinars and events and represent SEMA at relevant events and press conferences
• Drives design and implementation of events to help advance SEMA’s goals including media engagement, social media activities, etc.
• Reach out to influencers, media and beyond in order to promote story placement on a national and global level to advance SEMA’s objectives
• Support fundraising and development as needed

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
Education and Professional Qualifications
• Bachelor’s degree or higher in Communications, International Development, Social Sciences or a closely related field.

Required Qualifications and Experience
• Minimum of five (5) years of relevant experience in designing and executing marketing and communications strategies and campaigns, preferably in the field of sexual and reproductive health, global health or global development.
• Experience supporting successful and impactful communication strategies for comparable programs or organizations working with diverse stakeholders (governments, funders, implementation organizations)
• Ability to think strategically, set priorities and manage concurrent projects, handle pressure, manage time effectively, exercise independent judgment and assume responsibility for seeing projects through to timely and successful completion
• Experience writing content for various audiences including researchers, policy makers, donors, online influencers and others
• Experience selecting and managing communications contractors
• Strong experience in the dynamic/adaptive use of social media to advance a communications strategy/agenda.
• Up to date on industry trends in communications and knowledge management and able to stay ahead of the latest developments in the industry.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities
• Deep personal commitment to sexual & reproductive health & rights, including the right to safe abortion for all who need it
• Language skills: Excellent spoken and written English and French
• Experience with design applications and email marketing tools
• Excellent writing and presentation skills, including presentation and reporting to leadership
• Self-motivated; willingness to work independently and as part of a team
• Great interpersonal skills and able to work effectively in multi-cultural work environment and committed to promoting an inclusive culture where everyone is valued and belongs
• Eagerness to contribute and collaborate to a team working in a start-up environment (i.e., enjoy creating, can be flexible, embrace ambiguity)
• Entrepreneurial and creative

How to apply
Interested? Please visit our website https://amref.org/vacancies/ to make your application. You will be directed to our online portal where you will need to create an account in order for you to be able to submit your application. Your application should include a cover letter detailing why you are the best fit for this position and your CV with relevant skills and experience Closing date will be March 10, 2022.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

Duly note that Amref Health Africa does not require applicants to pay any money at whatever stage of the recruitment and selection process and has not retained any agent in connection with recruitment.

Amref Health Africa is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff to share this commitment. Amref Health Africa is an equal opportunity employer and has a non-smoking environment policy.

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