Adam Smith International is currently seeking a Strategic Communications Advisor to liaise with all programme component teams to ensure the strategy is being implemented effectively, and to coordinate specific activities and approaches as needed.

Via these relationships, s/he will advise the programme senior leadership team and the oversight body on how to adapt the program’s strategic communications approach and image to ensure that the programme remains relevant, effective and responsive to the needs of beneficiaries.

Background:

The project’s stated aim is to enable the delivery of more accountable and transparent security and justice services on a progressively formalised basis, in increasingly resilient partnership with programme communities. In order to do this, it will work with both communities and formal/informal security and justice service providers to develop their capacity to design and deliver responsive services.

Position Summary:

The Strategic Communications Advisor will implement and maintain a recently developed program communications strategy, which responds to oversight needs and priorities of the programme, including:

• Internal communications
• Programme – external stakeholder communications
• Programme communications with oversight body
• Programme messaging to community-level actors
• Internal stakeholder communications
• Programme messaging to wider stakeholder groups

Reporting and Supervision:

The Strategic Communications Advisor will report to the programme team leader and will coordinate closely with the oversight body.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Implement and maintain the programme’s strategic communications strategy, and coordinate with all component teams and oversight body representatives to implement it.
• Provide technical advice, guidance and support to program staff in the integration of communications and awareness components into project activities.
• Support the programme’s engagement with the oversight body to ensure that the programme¹s activities are always aligned with its intent.
• Provide technical verification of activity implementation and completion as related to strategic communications components.
• Design, select and oversee strategic communication, public outreach, and messaging activities, in particular:
• Programme Internal Communications – helping to design and direct the reporting and messaging of each programme component team to ensure effective internal communication on the project.
• Programme – external stakeholder communications – review the current system used by the programme for communicating with key external stakeholders, and provide ideas for how it could be improved.
• Programme external communications– to the oversight body and wider stakeholder groups. Review the reporting format used by the programme to communicate with external stakeholders – particularly impact stories, programme summary documents, decision papers and long form reporting
• Internal stakeholders communications – helping the external stakeholders’ leadership to communicate effectively with their personnel
• Stakeholder messaging to local communities – devising a plan to support external stakeholders in their communication with personnel: defining their role and responsibilities and what services they can/cannot deliver.

Secondary Responsibilities

• Contribute to program weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual reporting and other ad hoc reporting as required.
• Coordinate with other projects to maximise synergies and opportunities for coordinated messaging
• Support a two way communication between the oversight body and program adopting both a listening and messaging approach.
• Other duties as required.

Required Skills & Qualifications

• Syrian nationals preferred for the position
• Master’s degree in communications, marketing, or a related field with a minimum of 5 years of work experience in media or other communications work; or Bachelor’s degree with 7 years of relevant work experience.
• Thorough knowledge of NGOs, CSOs and media agencies operating in opposition-held areas of Syria
• Strong analytical, organisational and communications capacity.
• Demonstrated experience in training on media and communications activities
• Excellent written and spoken English and Arabic skills
• Strong interpersonal skills and ability to work under pressure.

Apply by the 29th February via their website.