Communication Officer Green Works & Challenge Fund for a Just Transition (CFJT) At

Region: North Africa: Algeria, Egypt, Tunisia & Morocco

Office: Tunis or Beirut, or Cairo as duty station

Hours: 36 hours per week

Application deadline: January 31, 2023

Do you have substantial knowledge and experience in the field of communication in the non-profit sector? Are you driven by a desire to contribute to a just transition and private sector development in the Green Economy in North Africa? Do you have good writing skills in several languages? Are you creative in working with various mediums to raise visibility of impactful work? Then Hivos is looking for you!

Job context

With its relatively young population, increasingly young people living in North Africa need to find a sustainable job. As a response to this, Hivos’ GreenWorks program and the Challenge Fund for a Just Transition aim to contribute to the creation of more economic opportunities for young women and men between the ages of 15 and 35 years within the Green Economy in North Africa.

At a time when underemployment, unemployment, and extreme vulnerability to climate change are gaining a stranglehold on North Africa, we set out to empower young people to find a decent job in the Green Economy, which Hivos defines as future proof. Such economies are anticipated to continue growing and will require young people to have a new skill set that is not tackled within the traditional education systems. In order to ensure that these economies are expanding in North Africa and that there is an adequate value chain supporting their growth, Hivos also aims to stimulate the formation of innovation clusters that are feeding these economies with viable business solutions.

To this end, the objectives of these programs are fourfold:

1. Innovation clusters are formed that enable businesses operating in the green and digital economies to scale
2. Business development support organizations and employability hubs increase their capacities to implement job creation and private sector development activities
3. Youth trained in 21st-century skills find jobs in future-proof and green employment economies
4. Social enterprises and small and growing businesses operating in green and future-proof employment economies scale their businesses thereby act as catalysts for green value chain micro clusters and create new jobs, improve conditions of existing ones and connect unemployed youth with job opportunities.

GreenWorks is funded by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and is executed by an alliance, which is led by Hivos and consists of more than 15 members, amongst which incubators, accelerators, think tanks, vocational training institutes, and angel investment networks in Algeria, Egypt, Tunisia and the Netherlands.

The Challenge Fund for a Just Transition (CFJT) is funded by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs through the Challenge Fund for Youth Employment, which is managed by Palladium, VSO Nederland, and Randstad. CFJT seeks to contribute to local climate change adaptation and mitigation efforts by creating just and decent jobs for young women and men in North Africa. The program operates in four countries; Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco through a consortium of partners.

Your responsibilities

We are looking for an experienced Communication Officer that can play a vital role in amplifying the work of GreenWorks and the Challenge Fund programs mainly, including other smaller projects, through a range of mediums. This also involves guidance and capacity building support to partners as required in the area of communications.

The core responsibility of the Communication Officer is to write and distribute relevant content to promote the programs’ brand, develop an actionable communication strategy, contribute to internal & external newsletters, write internal and external reports and manage our social media presence. Another part of the postholder’s responsibility is to provide support to the Regional Director as requested in developing MENA communications and visibility materials and products for the region. The postholder is also expected to work closely with communication staff at the Global Office, and actively participate in regular meetings with Hivos communication staff facilitated by the Head of Communications based in The Hague.

• Help define and manage the internal and external communication strategies.
• Develop an annual communication plan for each program.
• Develop written and visual content to promote and communicate our program activities.
• Contribute to the dissemination of news of our community members (beneficiaries, partners and donor).
• Support and monitor the communication of key information, including the design of call for applications, flyers, forms and reports.
• Administrate/manage Hivos MENA’s presence on social media.
• Work closely with project staff on communication matters related to program implementation.
• Work closely with the Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Officer to make use of valuable qualitative and quantitative data in a reader-friendly manner.
• Assist the Program Manager with writing reports for donors, and lead on design and layout of those reports
• Coordinate and liaise with the global communications team in The Hague, and provide input on regional work as requested.
• Actively support the Regional Director in raising profile of Hivos regional work and presence by producing communications/visibility products and materials, including drafting press statements on events and issues in line with Hivos’ regional positions.
• Carry out translations as required.
• Other tasks as requested by line manager and Regional Director.

Your profile

• To be eligible for position, applicants must be a national or resident of one of the duty stations stated above.
• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field (e.g.: Communications, Journalism, and Media). Master’s degree is a strong advantage.
• At least 5 years of relevant work experience in similar positions (as per responsibilities laid out above).
• Demonstrated track record of successfully developing and producing communications materials and disseminating information to a variety of target audiences.
• Exceptional English and Arabic oral and written communications skills, with work requiring minimal review, and with French an advantage.
• Years of experience working in teams is critical, and non-profit sector experience is strongly advantageous.
• Previous/current work experience in an international environment, within an international organization is a must.
• Able to work with individuals from a diverse background, and cultures.
• Strong knowledge & experience of social media platforms and content management software.
• Able to travel both internationally and domestically as requested.
• Job skills: proactive and dynamic, creative, can work independently & remotely with teams, able to meet deadlines, strong organizational skills, able to multi-task, strong team player & culturally sensitive

What we offer

We offer a stimulating work environment in a professional international organization with very dedicated staff. We offer a national contract based on Hivos local labor conditions, with remuneration commensurate with the experience and expertise. Contract renewable depending on performance and funding.

For Tunisia-based applicants specifically:

Until the conclusion of Hivos’ registration as a foreign NGO in Tunisia, this position will be hosted at Al Bawsala, a Tunisian non-profit association. A one-year local contract will be offered to the employee under Al Bawsala. Upon the conclusion of Hivos’ registration in Tunis, Hivos intends to transfer the employee’s contract under Hivos.