Communication Advisor Global Projects At Flemish Association for Development Cooperation and Technical Assistance

VVOB is an international NGO with programmes and projects in 10 countries worldwide. Our head office is based in Brussels, Belgium.

When you join VVOB, you become a key player in VVOB’s mission to ensure quality education as a key enabler for achieving the sustainable development goals. We implement our programmes and projects with one shared passion: to ensure the improvement of quality education. Our teams of national and international experts achieve this by providing technical assistance to governmental and other education actors. In doing so, worldwide we ensure capacity building of governmental and other education actors.

Do you share our ambition to ensure that learners around the world can enjoy their fundamental human right to quality education, without exception? Are you convinced as well that quality education guarantees equal opportunities for everyone and is the key to a better world?

Do you still feel like you are in the right place? Great because we are hiring a Communication Advisor for VVOB’s communication department at Head Office in Brussels, to lead on external communication of our global projects .

Purpose of the function

· The Communication Advisor forms a bridge between the technical team of Global Strategic Education Advisors and the communication department at head office.

· The Communication Advisor strengthens the global project communication;

· and works on VVOB’s corporate external communication with content about and input from the global projects.

You will:

· For global project communication, your responsibilities include:

o developing communication products and outputs as required for the quality implementation and results of global projects

o developing communication plans and strategies for global projects

o providing innovative ideas for project communication to strengthen the quality implementation of global projects

· For global external communication, your responsibilities include:

o content development about VVOB’s global projects

o keeping abreast VVOB’s contributions to international conferences and other events that showcase the organisation’s in-house expertise, and proposing innovative ideas to highlight these contributions

o supporting the development of external communication products and outputs at head office, including:

§ newsletters

§ factsheets, concept notes and technical briefs

§ VVOB annual reports, folders and brochures

If you’re our Communication Advisor, your workweek at the office will include the following highlights:

• You start off your week by joining the global project team meeting: discussions include possible new funding opportunities from private foundations for multi-country gender projects, and the submission of an extended abstract on gender-transformative pedagogy for an international conference. With these discussions in the back of your mind, you draft an article that showcases VVOB’s quality work and thought-out standpoints on gender. You work closely with the communication department at head office to ensure it is published and disseminated through the most effective channels. After all, you want to reach and convince the right people!
• You join the bi-weekly progress meeting for a global project focusing on strengthening effective school leadership through blended learning trajectories. A brainstorm session is dedicated to finding solutions for reaching school leaders in remote areas of Ghana and Zambia, with limited connectivity. Your communication expertise is highly valued and rightly so, as you suggest an innovative solution that is user-friendly and cost-effective.
• One of the Global Strategic Education Advisors at head office is leading a working group with likeminded partner organisations to develop a toolkit for teachers on learning through play. You present the layout of the toolkit to the group, after working on it with an external graphic designer and the Global Strategic Education Advisor.
• You link up with your communication colleague in Cambodia, with whom you’ve been working on the development of an elaborate communication plan concerning a significant global project. You need to discuss the feedback you received from the Communication Lead concerning some of the key messages. Together, you discuss how to reformulate them, so they become less technically detailed, and more relatable and relevant.

Your expertise and experience

· Master’s degree in communication, journalism or similar

· At least 3 years of working experience in communication with an international organisation. Experience working in project communication is a strong plus.

· An innovative mindset and progressive, out-of-the-box approach to communication

· Excellent writing skills

· Good understanding of digital, social and other media, and how they are best used for specific purposes

· Familiarity with or interest in the education sector

· Excellent computer skills in MS office. Experience with other relevant tools and technologies for communication are a strong plus

· Authorised to work in Belgium

· Native-level proficiency in English. Additional language skills are a plus, Dutch and Spanish especially.

What we’re offering:

· A dynamic working environment in an international context

· An exciting job in a growing organisation with varied responsibilities and opportunities for professional development

· A fulltime contract of indefinite duration; 80% of a fulltime is also possible

· Salary according to salary scale A111 (cf. Flemish government); free travel to work by train, tram, subway or bus or bicycle allowance; meal vouchers; hospitalisation insurance and group insurance

· The possibility to work 50% from home in order to align your work and private life in the best possible way.