Communications Assistant

SUMMARY

Job Title: Communications Assistant
Employment type: Full-time, one year
Location: Nairobi, Kenya

Reporting Structure: Reports to Programme Officer, Communications, IT and Knowledge Management (Communications Officer) and Senior Programme Manager: Publications and Communications.

Job Context

The Rift Valley Institute (RVI) is an independent, non-profit organisation, currently working in eastern and central Africa. The aim of the Institute is to advance useful knowledge of the region and its diverse communities, bringing a better understanding of local realities to bear on social and political action.

RVI is expanding its communications team to better plan and implement its communication activities to effectively promote the Institute’s work. The Communications Assistant will support this goal by managing website content, social media, and marketing, as well as assisting with knowledge management, IT support, video production and graphic design.

This role supports the implementation of the organisation’s strategic communication goals by improving both the quality of content creation and the effectiveness of online engagement.

Job Purpose

The role of the Communications Assistant is to assist the Communications Officer to manage RVI’s external communications. This involves maintaining and updating website content; posting content on social media platforms; maintaining online databases and RVI’s archive of contacts, publications, and other records; providing IT support to staff; and assisting with graphic design and video production. The post holder will also assist with simple IT support for RVI staff.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Website Management (15%)

• Maintain and update the RVI website with fresh content, ensuring news, publications, projects, events, and vacancies are up-to-date.
• Coordinate pre-agreed website enhancements, utilizing content management systems and collaborating with web developers for updates or maintenance.
• Work with RVI teams to keep programme and project webpages, job listings, staff profiles, and institutional information accurate and engaging.
• Facilitate the creation and dissemination of multimedia content to bolster the visibility of RVI’s work, in conjunction with consultants as needed.
• Track and analyse website traffic using Google Analytics and provide insightful reports to support RVI’s internal strategies and project management needs.

Social Media Management (20%)

• Administer RVI’s social media accounts to highlight the institute’s initiatives, including ‘X’, Facebook, Linked-In, amongst others.
• Gather and schedule content from across RVI, ensuring a consistent and engaging online presence.
• Assist with regular updates to RVI’s digital and content creation systems and processes and conduct staff training to ensure consistency across all platforms.
• Measure and track key performance indicators for social media, providing regular reports to evaluate and enhance RVI’s social media strategy.
• Support programme teams to craft and implement innovative strategies for expanding RVI’s social media footprint.

Communications and Marketing (20%)

• Prepare and disseminate RVI’s newsletter and programme updates, ensuring wide distribution across the institute’s networks.
• Manage and expand the RVI communications mailing lists, with a focus on RVI fellows, donors, courses and forum participants.
• Assist in creating targeted communications campaigns and promotional materials for RVI forums, courses and other projects.
• Assist in the creation and innovation of digital content for RVI’s platforms, offering guidance to programme staff in developing diverse media formats, such as videos and podcasts.
• Monitor engagement and effectiveness of RVI’s marketing and dissemination efforts, including courses, forums and distribution of research reports, by establishing key performance indicators for continuous improvement and reporting.

Knowledge Management and IT Support (20%)

• Manage RVI’s file storage protocols on Dropbox and the contact database on Daylite, ensuring compliance with organisational standards and providing training and support to staff as needed.
• Maintain and update RVI’s digital archives, ensuring accurate and up-to-date records of publications and multimedia outputs are accessible for monitoring and evaluation.
• Administer RVI’s suite of online software tools and services, including Adobe Creative Cloud, MS Office, Gmail, Slack, and Zoom, ensuring smooth operation and access.
• Administer the Google Workspace account, managing email setup and related digital infrastructure.
• Coordinate the posting of job adverts and handling application submissions through RVI’s systems and external platforms.
• Offer IT support to the RVI team, addressing technical issues and coordinating with external IT services for hardware maintenance and purchases.
• Support the maintenance and development of RVI stationery such as logos, letter heads, leave, travel, forms, timesheets and other institutional templates and forms.
• Support the automation of RVI administrative systems.

Multi-media content creation (25%)

• Assist in coordinating external designers to enhance RVI’s publication templates, ensuring they reflect the organisation’s brand identity.
• Support video production and post-production processes, contributing to the creation of engaging multimedia content that aligns with RVI’s communication objectives.
• Help in the design and editing of publications using Adobe InDesign, ensuring materials are visually appealing and reflect RVI’s standards.
• Contribute to various multimedia tasks as needed, such as taking photos at events, to enhance RVI’s digital and content offerings.

PERSON SPECIFICATION

Knowledge and Qualifications

• Diploma, certificate or bachelor’s degree in a related field.
• Knowledge and interest in the region of RVI’s work.
• Trained in or basic understanding of Adobe In-Design, Photoshop, Illustrator, and/or Premier Pro.

Experience

• A minimum of two years’ work experience in a related role if Diploma or Certificate holders and up to one year experience for BA holders.
• Working in multi-cultural environments and with people from diverse backgrounds.
• Demonstrable experience of working independently and as part of a small team.

Skills and Abilities

• Good understanding of social media management and content creation.
• Excellent verbal and written skills in English.
• Strong organisational skills, attention to detail and ability to work flexibly.
• Ability to learn and implement new systems quickly.
• Proficiency with website and social media management and digital communications tools, including Mailchimp and Wufoo.
• Knowledge of one additional language (Swahili, Arabic, Somalia, Amharic or French) spoken in the countries of RVI’s operation is an advantage.