Community Engagement Manager – (English/Ukrainian or Russian Speakers).

Job Description

Signpost is a digitally enabled responsive information service that supports and empowers populations in crisis, including asylum seekers, migrants, and people who have experienced violence. Our program equips people with information to understand their options so that they can make informed decisions about how to stay safe, get urgent care for acute problems, exercise their rights, and access services. It was developed by the IRC and Mercy Corps in 2015 to address asylum seekers’ and migrants’ pressing need for reliable information upon arrival to Greece, and is now active in 15 countries on 5 continents.

It meets communities on the digital platforms they already use and aims to deliver information that is contextualized to their specific needs and speaks to their lived realities. This approach draws on evidence that people are more likely to trust and act on information that is responsive to their needs, speaks to their lived realities, and that comes from “peers” rather than authority figures.

Signpost- Ukraine Crisis

IRC is launching its Signpost program in response to the Ukrainian refugee crisis in partnership with Google and existing volunteer-led initiatives. We plan to build a large ambitious program that spans Europe and empowers people displaced by the crisis in Ukraine with the most important information they need to navigate their next steps, and eventually rebuild their lives, with access to individual, person-to-person support along the way.

Position summary

The Community Engagement Manager leads a team of Digital Community Liaisons (DCLs) who respond to questions sent through social media, helping people displaced by the crisis in Ukraine to navigate the information they need to access services, know and claim their rights, and stay safe. DCLs provide non-judgmental support to people in need, always letting the client lead the conversation, and providing empathetic accompaniment to people navigating a new reality and complex information ecosystem. S/he oversees multichannel communication to ensure quality of response, with the safety and well-being of clients at the fore. S/he also identifies gaps in information and trends in information requests and reports those back to the Editorial team to support iterative design of information products.

Major Responsibilities

● Manage a team of Digital Community Liaisons (DCLs), routing messages to different team members based on workload, geographic focus, or other areas of expertise.

● Ensure that messages are responded to in a timely manner and that responses follow established best practice in client-driven communication approaches, psychological first aid, confidentiality, and escalation processes for acute protection needs.

● Coach, train, supervise and mentor direct-report staff, including communicating clear expectations, setting quarterly performance objectives, providing regular and timely positive and constructive performance feedback, and providing documented semi-annual performance reviews.

● Assess staffing needs and make recommendations on a continuous basis.

● Work with Social Media Manager to time ad campaigns appropriate to DCL workload.

● Provide regular reports on trends in information requests, feedback, and other insights to the broader Signpost team to inform editorial and social media strategy.

● Develop standard language for commonly asked questions in consultation with the editorial team.

● Keep up to date of new information content on an ongoing basis and ensure the DCL team is aware of and understands new developments in the context, including changes in policy, border conditions, documentation processes, etc.

● Work to optimize the technology tools that the DCL team uses to manage communication, working with Signpost Product Manager to flag and help troubleshoot any issues.

● Excellent oral and written Ukrainian Language skills required. Proficiency in Russian and English is desired.

Requirements

• Bachelor Degree in Communications, Multimedia or related field

• Highly skilled manager (at least 3 years of experience) with prior experience leading a team, including remote management.

• Prior experience working with or refugees, migrants, or other vulnerable populations.

• Prior experience in community engagement is desired.

• High emotional intelligence and top-notch communication skills.

• An understanding of the subtlety of language and an ability to apply communication guidelines in written responses.

• Strong computer proficiency and well acquainted with basic software tools – can navigate autonomously in Windows, Android, Skype, Microsoft Suite and Google docs.