Head Communication and External Engagement

Position summary

The client partner is actively seeking a qualified, motivated, self-driven professional with long years of standing on communication and external engagement. Directly reporting to the Executive Director, he/she will take the lead in organisation's external facing engagements with donors, governments, media, and other relevant stakeholders, including grassroot organization. He/she will also take the lead in dissemination and showcasing the organisation's work, and support in creating the organisation as a credible brand on Gender Equality. The Head will ensure implementation of the organisation's communications strategy. He/she shall build and manage the communications team and vendors. The Head will provide technical support on the campaigns, on-line and in-person events, resource mobilization, and donor relations. He/she will manage public content including development of publications, policy briefs, concise and sharp summaries, high quality press releases, research briefs, speeches, and social media posts to support the Executive Director and Leadership Team.

He/she will build portfolio briefs by working closely with the Director (Research and Policy), Director (Partnership and Outreach) and the implementation Action Team. Ensure public events are managed well, and outcomes are captured well in the work of the organisation. The Head will also ensure timely reporting on the impact of communications work to the external stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• The candidate should have excellent verbal and written communication skills and able to independently put together briefs and collaterals as required for external communications.
• The candidate should be able to understand and articulate/present ongoing and past work of the organisation, including evidence creation, policy engagement and implementation action.
• The individual should be up to date and abreast of the external communication landscape of other organizations & influencers in the area of women's economic empowerment and gender equality, and provide clear insights to the Leadership Team.
• The person should be able to synthesize, develop and communicate the work and concepts to the external audiences & stakeholders through various targeted online and off-line content.
• The person should be able to build relations with media and other consultancy agencies to develop and disseminate the communication materials to various channels and ensure publication, in English, Hindi and select Regional language.
• The person should maintain and keep updated the organisation website, branding guidelines and other external facing materials in coordination with the central communications team.
• The candidate should also manage the social media content, and flagship publications such as newsletters and other annual series. He/she should maintain a calendar of events for the year.
• The candidate should maintain and keep updated a roster of partners and stakeholders for ongoing communication through newsletter and other consultations and events as required. He/she should also make sure that the organisation and its work is well represented in major gender related events in India and Internationally.
• The candidate will be responsible for the recruiting, management and mentorship of team members as per their ToR.
• The person will support other verticals in the visibility of events through appropriate channels, support in production of high-quality publication, and conceptualizing content in all possible formats for high level events.
• The candidate should be able to deal with vendors especially designers, copy editors and so on and be able to guide them to produce high quality visually appealing and interesting outputs.
• Should be a leader, and also be a team member, as required, ready to work in short deadlines, and at times adjusting to slow pace of external stakeholders.
• Any other tasks as assigned by the Line Manager.

Qualifications and Key Requirements

• Master degree in Mass Communication with at least 12 years of proven experience. Having previous experience on gender equality and women empowerment would be an added advantage.
• Solid understanding of Gender equality in India and south Asia
• Experience in video and graphic production, journalism, media relations, or creative writing and editorial management is required. Mixed/diverse experiences are preferred
• Experience in stakeholder engagement and network building is preferred
• Self-motivated, and has keen interest in the research, policy and implementation action.
• Ability to learn quickly from multiple subject areas and be a team player with excellent managerial and people skills to mentor and motivate other team members
• Willingness to travel as required and to remote places.
• Strong interpersonal skills and willingness to work in a team.
• Fluency in verbal and written English and Hindi