Senior Media and Communications Officer

This is an exciting opportunity to play a critical role in amplifying the voice of International Alert, the peacebuilding organisation focused on solving the root causes of conflict.

Reporting to the Communications Manager, you will lead in generating media coverage for the organisation with national, regional and international media. This includes coordinating the production of blogs, op-eds, letters to the editor, statements, press releases and talking points, and ensuring staff are prepared and trained for speaking to the media.

You will also be responsible for managing the creation of impactful stories about our work and the need for peacebuilding in the countries where we work. This includes coordinating the development of impact stories, photo essays, videos and other engaging methods of storytelling.

Additionally, the post-holder will play a key role in managing the organisation’s presence in strategic international events and our crisis communications.

We are looking for a candidate with a talent for presenting complex ideas in a clear, engaging and accessible way, with the confidence and knowledge to be creative with the media and tools at hand. You will have a proven track record of managing media relations for an international organisation, mentoring/training others in interview techniques and media work, and in writing and editing content for a variety of audiences.

Role duties and requirements:

Media management

• Coordinate, write and edit blogs, op-eds, letters to the editor, statements, press releases and talking points.
• Identify opportunities for pitching our blogs, op-eds, research, stories, events and other outputs to the media, in coordination with the wider team.
• Proactively cultivate and maintain contacts with national, regional and international print, digital and broadcast media.
• Respond to enquiries from the media and coordinate responses and interviews.
• Monitor coverage of the organisation using a third-party media monitoring service and share with relevant teams.
• Compile a daily digest of key news stories relating to peace and conflict for sharing with staff.
• Horizon scan for issues, events and other hooks for us to engage on with the media.
• Prepare and train staff for speaking to the media and writing blogs and op-eds.
• Manage and monitor the media email account and media phone, including out-of-hours media calls.

Crisis communications

• Participate in the Crisis Management Group as the media expert and deputise for the Director of Policy, Advocacy and Communications and Communications Manager when required.
• Contribute to developing media strategies in response to crises that have a potential to impact our brand and reputation.

Storytelling

• Together with colleagues, identify possible projects that would help demonstrate the impact of our work and the need for peacebuilding in the countries where we work.
• Coordinate the development of impact stories, photo essays, videos and other engaging methods of storytelling for use by the press, on our website, on social media and elsewhere.
• Write and edit impact stories, photo essays and video scripts.
• Commission photographers, photojournalists and videographers to accompany and support country teams in collecting stories of impact.
• Manage the dissemination plans for storytelling outputs, including the media and social media.
• Coordinate with the communications teams of strategic donors to identify opportunities for them to share our storytelling content via their networks and channels.

Events coordination

• Help coordinate the organisation’s presence in strategic international events, including horizon scanning for opportunities, developing proposals, contacting speakers, marketing and, on occasion, managing the running of events – in person or online.

Quality control and branding

• Ensure all communications outputs comply with our brand identity, house style and quality standards.

Contributing to the effective working of the team and to Alert generally

• Contribute to the development, implementation and monitoring of Alert’s influencing and communications strategies and work plans.
• Help maintain our content calendar and regularly update the team about upcoming content, to facilitate joined-up outreach.
• Monitor and post on our global social media channels when the Senior Digital Engagement Officer is on leave.
• Contribute to team-wide communications and knowledge management.
• Participate in organisation-wide events and discussions on related topics/projects as and when required.
• Any other tasks as may be reasonably required.

Please note that these are just some of the role requirements for this role. To view the full job description, please click here.