Senior Communications Associate/Communications Specialist

Location: New Delhi, India

Reporting to: Communications Manager, with secondary reporting to the Programme Lead for the Powering Livelihoods programme

Our partners are seeking to hire a candidate with exceptional stakeholder management, project management, outreach strategy and writing and editing skills to enable sustained outreach and communication for our partners Sustainable Livelihoods (Powering Livelihoods programme and Green Economy) research teams.

Powering Livelihoods is a initiative that aims to boost India's rural economy by scaling up the penetration of clean energy-powered appliances for livelihoods. The initiative supports cleantech enterprises to undertake large-scale commercial deployment of their solutions through an integrated gendered lens and use the evidence generated to catalyse the sector.

The candidate will have the opportunity to work with top policy researchers to bring sustainability from the margins to the mainstream and get exposure to the inner workings of one of Indias leading think tanks. An ideal candidate should have experience writing and creating interesting content for various platforms such as social media, newsletters, articles and blogs. The candidate should have excellent story-telling skills to showcase the impact of the Powering Livelihoods programme through grassroots stories. Knowledge of the Indian media landscape is essential, experience engaging with news channels such as Doordarshan, DD Kisan, Sansad TV is a plus. Candidates with communications and digital marketing experience in the clean energy, startups and rural livelihoods sector will be preferred.

The candidate should be detail-oriented and work well under pressure. In addition to the duties and responsibilities below, the individual should be prepared, as and when necessary, to take on additional responsibilities.

Job duties and accountabilities

Primary Responsibilities

- Lead the strategic communication and outreach and ensure a steady flow of content on the Powering Livelihoods programme and the Green Economy research teams.

- Collaborate with various stakeholders such as programme partners, donors, enterprises or community leaders for content, creation and compilation of on-ground stories and regular updates.

- Promote impactful case studies from the space across media platforms/ programmes/channels of national repute (such as Doordarshan, DD Kissan, Akashvaani) and international forums.

- Identify (social) media-worthy information and curate engaging content, including collaborations with social media influencers to promote the PL and Green Economy programmes.

- Collaborate with other members and work closely across teams, including external vendors, to ensure synergies in outreach and communications and the creation and compilation of engaging, effective, and genuine communications content.

- Identify high-level partners at the national and international level with whom partnerships can be explored to communicate Powering Livelihoods' impact.

- Successfully promote DRE technologies in key geographies by engaging with local leaders, hyper-local influencers, local fairs, and relevant Whatsapp groups/communities

- Develop high-quality blogs and articles that can be published on the Powering Livelihoods and the organizations websites, humanising the stories.

- Ensure regular, streamlined updates to donors on outreach wins for the programmes to strengthen donor communication.

- Identify national, international, government and industry events where our Sustainable Livelihoods (Powering Livelihoods and Green Economy) work can be featured - speaking slots, panellists, side events, (poster) presentations, etc.

- Work closely with the Communications Specialist (Media) to inform and develop a media strategy for the programme teams (Powering Livelihoods and Green Economy). 

-  Identify journalists writing stories on rural livelihoods, technology for development, and clean energy, and support the Communications Specialist (Media) in pitching interesting stories to relevant media.

- Work closely with the  team to ensure that relevant content on enterprises is being provided regularly to media partners and agencies we engage with.

- Identify innovative written formats, such as debates and explainers, to publicise research and updates and make our analysis (Powering Livelihoods and Green Economy) consumable for various audiences.

- Identify international and national awards where entries for the Powering Livelihoods programme impact can be submitted.

- Assist in developing new digital dashboards and tools for the Powering Livelihoods programme.

Secondary Responsibilities

• Support the Communications Manager on events, media, and strategic partnerships. 
• Support the outreach team on content-related and coordination activities as and when required.
• Support the Strategic Communications Lead and Communications Manager on special projects.

Selection Criteria

Educational Qualification

- Masters/Bachelors degree in English, Journalism, Public Relations, Development Communications or any related field.

Work experience and other skills

- Minimum 4-7 years experience in strategic communications, with some experience in PR/journalism.

- Excellent project management and stakeholder management skills.

- Proven track record of delivering high-quality written content (films, newsletters)for different mediums.

- Excellent grasp of the English language, communication skills and eye for detail.

- Keen on understanding the clean energy sector, sustainable livelihoods, rural India.

- Natural penchant for storytelling across different mediums (films, newsletters, social media).

- Experience in influencer and digital marketing is a plus.

- Ability to navigate difficult situations with empathy and kindness.

- Demonstrated abilities to manage multiple priorities, projects and internal/external resources in a fast-paced environment, while meeting deadlines and quality standards.

- Strong drive and initiative, a self-starter.