Job description

About FSD Africa

Established in 2012 and supported by UK aid, FSD Africa is a specialist development agency working to build and strengthen financial markets across sub-Saharan Africa. They work to reduce poverty through a ‘market systems development’ approach, which means they aim to address the structural, underlying causes of poverty by improving how financial market systems function.

FSD Africa believes that investing in building a financial system that is transparent, stable and accessible creates the conditions for a fair and sustainable future. This is one where inequality is reduced, corruption is tackled, and where individuals, businesses and governments alike are able to prepare for future challenges, from climate change to political instability.

From their headquarters in Nairobi, the team of financial sector experts work alongside governments, business leaders, regulators and policymakers to design and build ambitious programmes that make financial markets work better for everyone. Depending on the project, FSD Africa can provide a combination of grants, investment capital, market insights or technical assistance to ensure they achieve their objectives.

They focus their work where the need is greatest, and where they believe the potential for impact is the most significant. They have a specific mandate to invest in breakthrough, innovative ideas that they believe can have a transformative impact. By sharing risk with their partners, they’re able to address more difficult, persistent, or higher-risk challenges, in more unstable or fragile geographies, than traditional development finance organisations.

About the role

Targeted, tactical and influential advocacy is a key tool for FSD Africa. It helps to drive the impact of their programmes, enabling policy and practice changes that help to fundamentally change the shape of Africa’s financial markets for the benefit of all. It also positions FSD Africa as a trusted counterpart, giving them the license to operate in the spaces where change happens, as a thought-leader but also a world-class delivery partner.

The new Assistant Director will upgrade FSD Africa’s existing communications platform to reflect this ambition. He or she will have the mandate to not only hire new staff into a team structure that he or she decides, but also upgrade key infrastructures, processes and strategies that underpin and measure success. The Assistant Director will manage a suitable budget to enable success.

Key Responsibilities:

Strategy & Programming

Develop and implement creative, feasible and measurable strategies to influence decision-makers and support the efforts of FSD Africa's programmes to drive systemic change
Work closely with other departments to ensure the aims and work of the Advocacy and Communications team align well with FSD Africa’s main delivery teams
Develop an understanding of the political & media environment surrounding FSD Africa and the FSD Network and commission research as required to gather relevant information on potential audiences and opportunities
Support the Director of Strategy & Advocacy in clarifying the influencing agenda; liaising with the executive team and other key stakeholders (e.g. DFID) to understand the mindset changes and other influencing challenges that are required for FSD Africa's success
Evaluate the effectiveness of previous communication strategies (FSD Africa & FSD Network wide) in driving systemic change and action the recommendations
Implementation
Co-ordinate the roll-out of the strategy and continuously monitor its effectiveness and impact; analysing learning and making adjustments as required:
Hire and coordinate the team of colleagues, staff and consultants to take responsibility for delivering various aspects of the communications plan; provide support and training as required
Monitor implementation against the milestones of the communication plan and MRM framework performance indicators
In balance with the previous goal, ensure responsiveness to changing environment / political landscape / emerging events – leading adjustment of the communication plan if required
Support the development and implementation of significant campaigns to achieve organisational goals and impact
Oversee the development and implementation of innovative strategies for the use of social media to maximise the brand recognition and reach of the organisation

Public Relations

Lead FSD Africa’s PR function, including the press office and portfolio of events; personally represent FSD Africa and ensuring that their values, insights and positions are communicated
Co-ordinate the conceptualisation and implementation of impactful events and conferences; ensuring that an MRM framework is in place to ensure value for money and impact
Proactively develop a network of external relationships including with Development Partners and key national, regional and sector press
Participate in high-level meetings on behalf of FSD Africa ensuring their values, insights and positions are reflected
Manage and nurture relationships at all levels (especially with DFID and other Development Partners)
Work with senior managers to identify potential reputational risks and proactively develop appropriate protocol/messages

Knowledge Management

Work closely with the FSD Africa CEO; Director of Strategy and Advocacy; Head of Content, and Director of Results to ensure knowledge is managed and communicated effectively
Carry out audience analysis to understand who will potentially benefit from the knowledge that is generated by FSD Africa and what requirements they might have in terms of content and presentation
Work with the Executive team (especially the Director of Results) to understand how knowledge is currently managed and communicated both internally and externally
Oversee the development of a knowledge management system/platform that will effectively collect, curate and disseminate to the identified audiences
Liaise with the Director of Results to appropriately allocate responsibilities between the two departments and ensure that sufficient resources (people, systems, infrastructure) are in place for quality delivery

Departmental Leadership

Provide leadership to the department; ensuring that resources are managed effectively, and that staff and consultants are well motivated
Develop and manage the budget for Communications activities; ensuring that departmental finances are managed in line with FSD Africa’s policies and that good value for money is achieved
Ensure that the pillar is resourced with the expertise necessary to deliver on strategy & project implementation; through a combination of recruitment and management of staff and procurement of consultants
Ensure that each pillar team member is provided with clarity concerning goals and expectations of their personal role in achieving results, standards and behaviour
Plan and organise the work of the pillar team to accomplish project strategic & project goals and targets in the most cost-effective and impactful manner possible
Ensure the delivery of an engaging leadership style that motivates team members and results in high performance

Does this sound like you?

Essential Criteria

A minimum of 10 years of work experience in marketing and communications, with at least 5 years at senior management level
Foundational experience in lobbying with the government as well as experience forming deep relationships with financial institutions and policy makers (preferably in Africa)
Broad awareness and deep understanding of policy-making processes with strong experience in advocacy campaigns at a regional or global level
Proven track record leading a medium-sized marketing and communications team with measurable impact in a fast paced environment
Exceptional command of the English language (both written and oral)

Nice to have:

Demonstrable network of external relationships including key national, regional and sector press; willing to deal with external requests out of hours
Excellence at public speaking and thought leadership abilities
Ability to use social media strategically; come up with ideas for expanding the organization’s reach and impact
Strong experience in formulating, developing and implementing new strategies with a 3-10 year scope
Proven track record managing and reporting on complex donor-funded projects, managing risk and ensuring value for money; ability to manage project portfolio in the GBP 500,000-1mil per year range.
Experience of working in a multicultural environment
Previous experience of working in DFID-funded projects is preferred but not essential
Languages: English ,French, local African languages

Persons of all gender, race, sex, orientation, age, and identity are encouraged to apply.

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