TERMS OF REFERENCE

 

Title COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER
Project: Partnership for Local Economic Development and Democratic Governance (FCM International)
Location: Kyiv, Ukraine
Duration: October 1, 2019 – December 31, 2020
Type of Employment Full-time position with 40 working hours per week

 

Background

The Partnership for Local Economic Development and Democratic Governance Project (PLEDDG) is a development program funded by the Government of Canada through Global Affairs Canada (GAC) – that Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) is implementing from 2015 till 2021.

The PLEDDG Project aims to strengthen Ukraine’s municipal sector by increasing capacities in sixteen cities to advance local democracy and economic development, by creating a more enabling local environment for small and medium enterprise development, and by facilitating decentralization of authorities and integrated development planning at the local, regional and national level.

 

Purpose of Assignment

FCM’s Partnership for Local Economic Development and Democratic Governance (PLEDDG) Project requires the assistance of a Communication Officer to support the PLEDDG communication efforts in the field office. The incumbent will be responsible for supporting all communication needs of project, information sharing undertaken by PLEDDG, awareness raising and insuring visibility of the Project.

 

Key Responsibilities

Under the general direction of PLEDDG Project Director in Ukraine, managed by and working closely with the Senior Manager on Knowledge Management & Communication, the Communications Officer will:

  • Assist the Senior Manager on Knowledge Management & Communication in conceptualizing, developing and implementing the overall communications strategy, ensuring that all activities are in line with FCM International communications policies and visibility requirements for the Project;
  • Update the website and social media channels; through collecting information on project related activities, including conducting interviews with experts and search of data from various sources, monitoring partner cities websites and social media pages, other public information recourses to produce a content for PLEDDG web-site (pleddg.org.ua), e-mailing and social media channels;
  • Maintain the website, including provision of updates and troubleshooting, liaising with web-site supporting providers; and research, compile and produce reports on web statistics on a regular basis;
  • Administer social media channels and prepare creative contents for online dissemination;
  • Develop and manage relationships with regional and local media, including preparing press releases, press kits, coordinating press conferences and pursuing opportunities for targeted and regular representation in regional media;
  • Assist in identification, research and proofreading of knowledge products (success stories, best practices and case-studies) to disseminate best experience of PLEDDG;
  • Coordinate the editing/proofreading/ commenting efforts of key documents (studies/ manuals/ brochures/ posters etc.) being prepared for publishing, including coordination between editors, translators and publishers;
  • Review the texts prepared for the website and social media, translate and edit literary translations of communications related documentation;
  • Assist in production process with a special focus on qualitative aspects of production: quality control of translations, reviews of layout and graphic design products to ensure alignment with the corporate identity style);
  • Monitoring the performance of sub-contracting agreements and coordinate work with external contract providers within their areas of responsibility;
  • Organize a project library and inventory of project publications to plan distribution and identify when additional copies of publications should be ordered;
  • Make photos during events, edit photos if needed and maintain the photo library;
  • Ensure that the activities are implemented as planned and deadlines are kept;
  • Perform other duties as assigned by the PLEDDG Manager on Knowledge Management and Communications that are consistent with the overall scope of the position.

Qualifications

  • Higher Education in Humanities Sciences (International Relations, Communications and PR, Journalism), minimum Bachelor’s degree or equivalent/proofed communications and public relations experience;
  • A minimum of 3 years’ experience in communications journalism, public relations, including experience in media relations for nonprofit sector, international and donor-funded organizations;
  • Effective oral communication, presentation and collaboration skills and ability to manage relations with press, representatives of partner-cities, vendors, consultants, other donors and stakeholders;
  • Fluency in oral and written English, Ukrainian;
  • Experience in on-line outreach and multimedia as a must;
  • Experience with leveraging social media for communications as a must;
  • Very strong writing skills and experience in copywriting, editing as a must;
  • Computer literate: excellent knowledge of Microsoft Office including Excel, Power Point; Prezi; and knowledge of design programmers such as InDesign, Photoshop and CorelDraw is an advantage;
  • Knowledge of event management;
  • Excellent interpersonal and organizational skills, and the ability to communicate with local stakeholders to ensure the successful completion of activities;
  • Experience to function in a dynamic, working in a busy environment, ability to work under pressure and deadlines, prioritize work and use personal initiative.

In order to apply for this position, please provide a cover letter and CV with “Communications Officer” in the subject line to office@pleddg.org.ua by September 15, 2019.

Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.