Who are we looking for?
ABOUT THE POSITION
War Child’s programs contain valuable insights from research, evaluations, and practical experience that show what really works for children growing up in war. As a Program Communications Specialist, you translate these insights into a clear and compelling story, making visible what War Child does, what works, and how donors contribute.
You transform research results and program information into accessible storytelling. Not only by writing, but by actively seeking out the stories behind the numbers. You dive into data and reports, recognize patterns, and extract relevant angles; your working method resembles data journalism.
You proactively gather information from colleagues in programme countries, from research and monitoring teams, and from the international communications team. In doing so, you connect knowledge from various sources and teams and ensure that our impact is clearly shared.
Your responsibilities
Translating program insights into communication
- You turn research results and program insights into clear and engaging storytelling, which, in consultation with your communications colleagues, is translated into appropriate communication tools for various target groups and channels.
- You structure and analyze information from programs, evaluations, and research, identify patterns and relevant perspectives, and thereby make visible where War Child’s impact lies.
Retrieving and connecting information
- You proactively gather relevant information within the organization, even when it is fragmented. You know how to find and activate the right people to bring to light the information needed for strong communication. In this role, you collaborate closely with international colleagues from the Global Engagement team, the Research & Development team, M&E specialists, institutional account managers, advocacy specialists, and colleagues from the NL program team.
Developing impact stories
- You translate program content into strong cross-media stories and accompanying communication tools.
- You develop creative storytelling formats and sections that make results and insights clearly visible.
- You write and produce high-quality stories and adaptive content that can be easily adapted for various channels, such as donor communication (by account managers), media (Doro media specialist), advocacy purposes (by advocacy specialist), and online platforms (by content team).
Coordinating donor communication
- You coordinate communication requests from institutional donors regarding projects funded by them, working closely with account managers, country teams, and communications colleagues.
- You identify and initiate opportunities for broader communication and visibility alongside formal requests (e.g., impact stories).
- You ensure that all communications comply with donor requirements, internal compliance, and War Child’s brand positioning.
Contribute strategically to positioning
- You follow societal developments and current events and link relevant themes to the impact of our work.
- You provide storytelling and content input to the advocacy specialist, the media relations specialist, and the brand & content team.
- You ensure that communication aligns with our brand strategy and advocacy positioning and complies with our agreements regarding integrity and child safety.
- You contribute to the external positioning of War Child as set out in our brand book and ensure consistency in tone and visual style.
Your profile
- You have demonstrable experience with data journalism, impact communication, or substantive journalism and independently uncover information.
- You have strong analytical skills: you extract patterns, trends, and stories from complex information.
- You possess hands-on production skills: you take ideas from concept to execution and produce content yourself.
- You have excellent writing and editing skills in Dutch (native language) and a good command of English, both written and spoken.
- You have experience translating research, evaluations, or program documentation into accessible communication. Experience with NGO communication or with international development/civil society organizations is a strong advantage.
- You have an affinity for programmatic work and understand impact, for example through a theory of change.
- You work carefully and sensitively with source information and ensure informed consent, privacy, and safeguarding.
What we offer
- Salary ranges from 4,135 to 5,142 gross per month, based on 40 hours per week (the exact amount is determined by the years of your relevant work experience);
- 8% holiday allowance based on the annual salary;
- An employment contract for 32 hours;
- 29 vacation days per year on a full-time basis (of which 3 pre-determined days off)
- A pension scheme fully paid for by War Child
- Net allowance for home working and travel expenses under our hybrid work policy
- Monthly mobile phone allowance of €25 net per month
- Good informal atmosphere in a growing, innovative organization that is passionate about the mental well-being of children growing up with war.
How to apply
APPLY
Apply quickly, but no later than 30/4/2026. Upload your CV (maximum two pages) and cover letter. You can share your cover letter in Word, PDF, or photo format. Applications will be considered upon receipt, and we will begin an interview as soon as suitable candidate(s) apply.
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By applying for this vacancy, you declare that the statements and information included in your application are accurate, complete, and made in good faith. You understand that misrepresentation, incorrect information, and withholding information constitute grounds for rejecting your application, withdrawing an offer or appointment, and, if already accepted, may lead to sanctions such as, but not limited to, summary dismissal. Additionally, you understand that you are required to submit a Certificate of Conduct (VOG) and that, if you are unable to provide one, no employment relationship can be established.
War Child Netherlands is an international organization, and we are committed to being a diverse and inclusive employer. We recruit our new colleagues based on their talents, competencies, and shared values; in doing so, we do not consider age, sex or gender identity, race, color, ethnicity, religion, culture, sexual orientation, physical disability, etc.
The safety of children and youth is essential to War Child Netherlands. Therefore, War Child Netherlands neither tolerates nor accepts any form of abuse. This subject is addressed in our recruitment and selection procedures. Furthermore, we ask all selected candidates to demonstrate that they are aware of, and committed to, the minimum standards applicable in the development and humanitarian context, such as humanitarian norms and values, the Sphere Humanitarian Charter, standards in the Humanitarian Standards Partnership, the Core Humanitarian Standard, international humanitarian law, the Code of Conduct for the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, and disaster relief charities (NGOs), and the 6 IASC Basic Principles regarding sexual exploitation and abuse.
Disclaimer
- Only applications received via our website will be processed.
- If we find a suitable candidate before the stated closing date, we may remove the vacancy from our website earlier than the stated closing date. Unfortunately, we will not be able to process applications received after the closing date.
- The closing date may be extended during our selection process. If you have not heard from us yet, we will include your application in the extended procedure.
Over ons
Our organization,
War Child, is a dynamic organization with an informal atmosphere, ample room for creativity and initiative. The image War Child projects externally reflects the work at headquarters: dynamic, innovative, ethical, and results-oriented. Wherever possible, we allocate as much of our budget as possible to helping children in war zones and keep costs low. Our employment conditions are in line with the Dutch NGO sector. The office is located in the Watergraafsmeer district of Amsterdam. We work in a hybrid model: alternating between home, the office, and, in this role, sometimes traveling to clients.
Safety
War Child operates based on humanitarian values ​​and standards. We ask the same of potential new colleagues. For War Child, the safety of the children and young people we support is paramount. We combat every form of abuse. Because we want children and young people to be at no risk whatsoever, this is addressed extensively during the recruitment of new colleagues. As part of the application process, we therefore request references pursuant to the Inter-Agency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme and a recent Certificate of Conduct (VOG).
Equal opportunities
War Child dreams that all children can live in peace, whoever they are and wherever they grow up. That is why War Child is proud to offer equal opportunities to everyone who wants to work with us. We promote diversity and want everyone to feel at home with us. War Child selects potential new colleagues regardless of their gender, race, nationality, disability, age, and/or sexual orientation.
Applications
We spend as much of our income as possible on supporting children and young people. Therefore, we work efficiently. This means that we only review applications received via our websites. Should we find a suitable person before the closing date, we will remove the vacancy from our websites. We will then be unable to process applications received after that date.